Spiced Parsnip Cake 🍂
The humble parsnip is so underrated. I love this veg roasted with goose fat and find the taste super unique. After our Christmas meal, I bought another bag because I thought we were going to make more roasts but that didn't happen and I was a bit confused about what I can do to use up the parsnips I had in the fridge. After some research, I decided to make a parsnip loaf. Idk if you have ever tried it but I made it last night whilst watching the madness in Washington DC and I must say, it tastes super similar to carrot cake but the parsnips make it a lot more fragrant. The cake is so light and tbh, I might even prefer this over carrot cake! Yes, ya heard it here first!I really did say that. Try this recipe out and I might even convert you 😘
The hardest part in this recipe is grating the parsnip, everything else is so easy to do. You don't even need to use an electric whisk so this is a very simple cake which delivers on flavour and texture. Enjoy and tag us if you make it!
Serves: 2 small loaves or up to 8 or 10 people
Difficulty: Level -1?
Wow factor: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐
Ingredients
250g plain flour
2.5tsp baking powder
2tsp mixed spice
¼tsp sea salt
3 eggs
1 orange, zest and 2 tbsp juice (I used 4 small easy peeler oranges and you can too!)
190ml your choice of oil (I used 80ml olive oil and 80ml extra virgin olive oil)
130g light brown soft sugar
130gr dark brown sugar
230g parsnips, peeled and grated
100g raisins
50gr chopped pecans
Optional for topping:
6tbsp icing sugar
2-3tbsp orange juice
orange zest
Instructions
Pre-heat your oven to 180 degrees celsius and line your loaf tins / choice of cake tin.
In a medium-sized bowl tip in flour, baking powder, mixed spice and sea salt. Whisk together and set aside.
In a large bowl, add eggs, orange zest, juice, oil and sugar. Mix well.
Pour the flour mixture into the wet ingredients and combine thoroughly.
Now use a spatula and fold in your grated parsnip, raisins and chopped pecans. Mix until you no longer see any lumps and everything looks nicely combined.
Pour batter into the prepared tins and bake for 30-35 minutes until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. I had to bake mine for 25 minutes, then cover the top with foil (so it doesn't burn on top) and bake for another 15 minutes. It depends on your oven but I would just keep an eye out after the first 20 minutes to ensure it doesn't go too dark.
Once it is done, take the cakes out of the oven and let it cool for 10 minutes before taking them out of the cake tins to cool on a wire rack. Let the cakes chill out for a few hours.
If you are keen to make the delicious orange icing, all you need to do is combine your icing sugar and orange juice in a bowl, and whisk until it looks thick enough to keep its shape. In other words, if it is too liquid-ey, just keep adding icing sugar until it is thickens up. Once it is at your desired consistency, drizzle all over your cooled down cakes. Sprinkle some more orange zest on top and you're good to go! Enjoy with a cuppa or coffee 🤩
