Cornbread with Acorn Squash - Testing

It's apparently a First Nations thing (the originators of cornbread) to add acorn squash mash to cornbread. This makes me very curious, so I'm going to try to incorporate it into my own recipe for cornbread.

1- This worked quite nicely. I made it in a shallower pan and in the Ninja oven, so the middle is a bit underdone and the top is a gorgeous brown (which means that baking it longer would have made to too dark). Next time I'll use a wide pie plate or cake tin, and maybe in the big oven, just to see? Anyway, I was looking for ways of using the acorn squash other than just baking it or stuffing it (I have an aversion to stuffed vegetables, I have no idea why), and there is precious little. I already have lovely soup though. I discovered that it is an Eastern Woodlands First Nations vegetable (my stomping grounds as a youth), and that acorn squash was used in the traditional cornbread.

½ cup milk (125g)

125g finely mashed acorn squash

6 Tbsps (3oz/84 gr) melted fat (butter, lard, olive oil, whatever)

2 large eggs

1¼ cups (210g) cornmeal 

1¼ cup (180g) flour

2 Tbsps to ⅓ cup sugar

1 Tbsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

1. Heat oven to 400°F.
2. Halve the squash, brush with a little oil, roast with the cut-side down until completely tender — 35-45 minutes. Scoop and mash smooth until there are no lumps.
3. Grease bottom and side of a round cake pan or line with parchment paper.
4. Whisk the milk, butter and eggs in large bowl.
5. Plop in the remaining ingredients all at once and stir just until the flour is moistened (the batter will be lumpy).
6. Pour it into the pan.
7. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown and it passes the toothpick test.
8. Cut into wedges and serve.