Parsnip & Carrot Cake with Walnut & Ginger
Carrot is a well-known addition to a cake but parsnip also works well due to its mellow sweetness. In this recipe, I combine parsnip and carrot with crunchy walnuts and a good kick of warming ginger.
Ingredients
- ¾ cup (185ml) olive oil
- ⅓ cup (65g) brown sugar
- 2 tbsp golden syrup or honey
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup grated parsnip (120g), packed
- 1 cup grated carrot (about 120g), packed
- 1 tbsp finely grated fresh ginger root
- 1 cup (150g) standard white flour
- ⅓ cup (50g) wholemeal flour or more white flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp mixed spice
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- ½ cup (50g) chopped walnuts
Spiced cream cheese icing
- 250 g cream cheese (or use the thick creamed part of a can of coconut cream to make it dairy-free)
- 2 tbsp maple syrup or honey
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- Chopped walnuts, to decorate
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 170°C. Line and grease a 20cm round cake tin.
- In a mixing bowl, combine the oil, sugar, syrup and eggs and whisk until smooth. Mix in the grated parsnip, carrot and fresh ginger.
- In a separate bowl combine the flours, baking powder, spices and walnuts. Add the dry ingredients to the wet mix and fold together until just combined.
- Scoop into the tin and bake for about 35 minutes until an inserted skewer comes out clean. Cool in the tin for 10 minutes then turn out cake to a cooling rack.
- Make the icing: use a spoon to beat together the cream cheese, maple syrup and ground ginger until smooth. Use a butter knife to spread onto the cooled cake. Decorate with walnuts and serve. Store in a cake tin and consume within 3 days.