Spiced Parsnip Cake

Ages ago, Caleb tried a recipe for spiced parsnip cake from a co-worker and it turned out to be a disaster. The house smelled so heavenly, and we were so excited, but at the stated "bake until" time it was underbaked in the middle. Like banana bread, underbaked parsnip cake is hard to spot, the toothpick can come out clean while the middle is still too gooey. Tragically, our experiment was virtually inedible.

After that, we went a long time without considering parsnip cake. But reading through the Food52 Baking cookbook, I stumbled across a recipe from one of their contributors (hardlikearmour) for spiced parsnip cake that looked worthy of another try. We made it for a dinner party and it turned out super well, especially because I knew to watch out for the cooking time.

This is one of those cakes that is easy to whip up whenever you're in the mood for a little dessert. If you have a food processor, your cake will be ready in no time. If you have to hand-grate the parsnips with a little box grater, it might take you a little longer, but that's the hardest step. 

Although the ingredient list might look a little long for an "everyday cake", a lot of the components are spices and other simple pantry items. The ½ cup of coconut flakes lends a subtle flavor to the cake, but if you dislike coconut, or simply don't have any, replace the ½ cup coconut with another ½ cup of almond meal. While the original recipe calls for superfine or caster sugar, I've used regular granulated sugar without any discernible negative impact on texture.

The online and published versions of this recipe differ in the weight given for the 2 shredded parsnips by 50 g. When making this the first time, I erred on the side of the cup measurement, which was consistent across both recipes and weighted out to 200 g. The next time I used only 165 g of parsnips (it was all I had). The cake was still good, but I felt it wasn't quite as moist as the cake with more parsnip.

As far as baking time goes, my best advice is to plan on checking every 5-10 minutes after 35 minutes. My first cake took much longer to bake than the recommended 35-40 minutes for me. It was finally baked through around 55-60 minutes. My second cake was done cooking around 47 minutes. Why the difference? It could be due to a longer time preheating or a lower liquid content the second time around.   So, I recommend checking at 35-40 minutes, but I doubt it will be fully cooked until at least 45 minutes have past. Look for a fully golden brown top, the entire surface should be all one color, instead of having a middle that looks suspiciously darker than the rest of the cake. Another way to tell the cake is done is to check that the middle springs back when you touch it instead of sinking.

I've tried this cake with both the buttermilk glaze and a cream cheese frosting. I strongly preferred the cream cheese frosting variation, but you know yourself best. Add a little lemon or orange zest or freshly squeezed juice to the frosting for a nice counterpoint to the sweetness. To make the frosting, I modified a cream cheese frosting recipe from Baked Explorations to fully cover this 9-by-13-inch spiced parsnip cake.

Food52's spiced parsnip cake is a lovely little snacking cake. It's not very sweet. The almond and coconut flavors are subtle to the point of being barely there. I think it makes a great change from carrot cake and a perfect introduction to parsnips as an ingredient in dessert.

Original source: Food52 Baking

Spiced Parsnip Cake

Most of the prep time for this recipe is due to shredding the parsnips. If you have a food processor, you'll make short work of them and can have the whole cake in the oven in under 25 minutes. Choose either to glaze or frost your cake and plan assembly accordingly.

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Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 35 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour 20 minutes minutes

Servings: 15 -20 pieces

Ingredients

Cake

• 2 cups 250 g all-purpose flour
• ½ cup 55 g almond meal flour
• ½ cup 40 g unsweetened shredded coconut*
• 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon French four spice**
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon ginger
• ⅛ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup 110 g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• ½ cup 120 ml buttermilk, room temperature
• ½ cup 120 ml maple syrup, grade B preferred
• ¾ cup 170 g sugar, superfine or castor preferred
• 4 large eggs room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups 200 g parsnips (about 2 large parsnips or 3 small/medium)

[make either Glaze or Frosting, not both]

Glaze

• ¼ cup maple syrup
• ¼ cup unsalted butter
• ½ cup buttermilk room temperature

Frosting

• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter softened
• 7 ounces cream cheese softened
• 2 ⅔ cups confectioners’ sugar sifted
• ¾ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Instructions

Cake

• Preheat the oven to 325 F with the rack in the middle. Grease a 9-by-13-inch cake pan with butter or cooking spray, then line with parchment paper.
• Shred the parsnips with a box grater or food processor fitted with the shredder blade.
• Combine the dry ingredients (flour, almond meal, coconut, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt) in a large bowl. Whisk to combine and aerate the flour.
• Combine the wet ingredients (everything remaining but the parsnips) in a medium bowl. Whisk to fully combine. If using superfine sugar, the sugar should be fully dissolved.
• Add the wet to the dry ingredients, and stir until almost combined. There should be a few streaks of flour remaining.
• Add the grated parsnips and fold to combine.
• Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for about 40-50 minutes, until the center springs back from your touch, a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, and/or an instant-read thermometer registers 190 F.
• If topping with glaze, make the glaze just before you pull the cake out of the oven. Pierce the surface of the cake with toothpicks or the tines of the fork. Pour the glaze on top of the hot cake, avoiding pouring any between the cake and the pan.
• If topping with cream cheese frosting, let the cake cool completely. Frost with the cream cheese frosting.

Glaze

• Heat the maple syrup and butter together in a small saucepan or in the microwave until the maple syrup starts to boil and the butter is almost melted. Stir and let cool several minutes. Whisk in the buttermilk.

Frosting

• Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment or hand held mixer, beat the butter until completely smooth. Add the cream cheese and beat to combine, scraping down the sides as necessary. Add the confectioner's sugar and vanilla, then beat until smooth, about 1 minutes. Do not overbeat, as it will cause the frosting to deflate. Cover the mixing bowl and refrigerate the frosting for 30 minutes prior to frosting the cake.

Notes

*Or substitute another ½ cup (55 g) almond flour
**Can't find or don't want to buy French four spice (quatre epices)? Simply add ¼ teaspoon each ground white pepper, ground cloves, ground nutmeg, and ground ginger.