Parsnip Cake

Yes, I know exactly what you are thinking! Parsnip cake?! Cake?

After a recent trip to Shropshire, I came back to London laden with purple sprouters and parsnips from the veggie patch. The sprouters had no problem disappearing within the first couple of days, but the parsnips were less adept at the invisibility act. So I had a google, and I found a rather revolutionary (steady on) way of using them. Gone are the days of roasted parsnips and parsnip soup, let us welcome the days of taking a healthy vegetable and making it into a sugary cake.

The problem is, I am off sugar at the moment, on account of an experiment I am doing into whether the health benefits really are true (more on that in a future post). Therefore, I can only count on the enthusiastic praise of the lovely people that have eaten it, and also the morsel that I had to test.

A few pointers before I give you the recipe:

I used Golden syrup instead of Maple, and it was (probably) just as good.

It takes ages to grate the parsnips!

The recipe says cook on 160C fan for 25-30 minutes, but I put the temp up to 180C and baked for about 35-40 minutes.

Putting the cake mixture into muffin cases is just as yummy.

So here we go:

Ingredients

• 175g butter, plus extra for greasing
• 250g demerara sugar
• 100ml maple syrup
• 3 large eggs
• 250g self-raising flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp mixed spice
• 250g parsnips, peeled and grated
• 1 medium eating apple, peeled, cored and grated
• 50g pecans, roughly chopped
• zest and juice 1 small orange
• icing sugar, to serve

For the Filling

• 250g tub mascarpone    
• 3-4 tbsp maple syrup         

 

  

Method 

1. Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. 
2. Grease 2 x 20cm sandwich tins and line the bases with baking parchment.
3.  Melt butter, sugar, and maple syrup in a pan over a gentle heat, then cool slightly
   
   
   
4. Whisk the eggs into this mixture, then stir in the flour, baking powder, and mixed spice, followed by the grated parsnip, apple, chopped pecans, orange zest and juice.
   
   
   
   
5.  Divide between the tins, then bake for 25-30 mins until the tops spring back when pressed lightly. 
   
6.  Cool the cakes slightly in the tins before turning out onto wire racks to cool completely. Just before serving, mix together the mascarpone and maple syrup. Spread over one cake and sandwich with the other. Dust with icing sugar just before serving.

Recipe from Good Food magazine, November 2009