You’ve heard of carrot cake – but what about parsnip cake? This parsnip, orange and ginger loaf is bursting with flavour.
Taken from the new cook book by 2016 GBBO contestant Benjamina Ebuehi, her recipe is topped off with a gorgeous orange glaze.
London-based baker, food stylist and recipe writer Benjamina has collected 70 sweet and savour recipes in A Good Day to Bake.
Her book embraces the simplicity, mindfulness and therapeutic comforts of baking.
Be sure to look at our other sweet treats recipes for more ideas.
Parsnip, orange and ginger loaf
Serves 8-10
Ingredients
For the parsnip crisps:
- 1 parsnip
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 2 tsp maple syrup or honey
- Pinch of salt
For the cake:
- 160ml sunflower or vegetable oil, plus extra for greasing
- 160g light brown sugar
- Zest of 1 orange
- 2 eggs
- 200g parsnips, grated
- 210g plain flour
- 1/2tsp baking powder
- 1/2tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 2tsp ground ginger
- 1/4tsp ground cloves
- 60g walnuts, roughly chopped, plus extra to decorate
For the glaze:
- 90g icing sugar
- Juice of 1/2 orange
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/350F/Gas Mark 4. Line a baking sheet with baking paper and grease and line a 900-gram loaf pan.
- Start by making the parsnip crisps. Use a mandoline or potato peeler to thinly slice the parsnip. Place the peelings on the baking sheet and drizzle with the oil, maple syrup or honey and pinch of salt.
- Toss them with your hands to make sure all the pieces are coated and lay them out evenly so they don’t overlap. Bake for 15-20 minutes, turning once halfway through. Keep a close eye on them, as they can catch quite easily. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.
- For the cake, mix together the oil, sugar and orange zest in a bowl. Beat in the eggs and stir until smooth, then carefully mix in the grated parsnips.
- In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, ground ginger and cloves. Add to the wet ingredients and mix gently until just combined. Now stir in the chopped walnuts.
- Pour the batter into the loaf pan and bake for 45-50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the pan for 15 minutes before turning out on to a wire rack to cool completely.
- To make the glaze, mix the icing sugar and orange juice in a small bowl until smooth. You want it to be a thick but pourable consistency. Add a little more icing sugar if it’s too thin or a bit more orange juice if it’s too thick.
- Once the cake is completely cool, pour the glaze on top, letting it drip down the sides.
Top with the parsnip crisps and extra chopped walnuts before serving.
- Recipe courtesy of A Good Day To Bake: Simple Baking Recipes For Every Mood by Benjamina Ebuehi published by Quadrille, priced £22. Photography by Laura Edwards.
