This weekend was a beautiful one.
The mornings started out as lovely, drowsy snapshots. The kind where rain patters against the window, sounds are muffled by low-hanging clouds, and the pavement is shiny with the glow from dying streetlamps.
The kind where you roll over in the early blue light, realize you have nowhere pressing to go, and curl in against your equally sleepy bedfellow.
The kind where your feet are warm and your thoughts fuzzy around the edges, and there is a whole day of possibilities ahead...so you take one more hour to just lie tangled with your lover and, half-awake, savor the stillness.
I love those rare days.
Fortified by a gentle start to the day and a bowl of hot oatmeal, we bundled up with a farmers'-market mission for our springtime Saturday: acquiring some parsnips.
Last week's local newspaper catered to the food-geek crowd by publishing an unlikely treatment for parsnips, rendering them in cake form. I have a well-established love affair with all things cake-ly. And over the past weeks, the cooking deities have been peppering my path with recipes featuring parsnips. So, after being primed with subliminal taproot messages and a lovely start to a rainy day, my mission was perfectly clear: there was parsnip cake in our future.
This cake came together nicely, without too much fuss. {If you've ever made a carrot cake, this has a similar workload.} The parsnips had a nice dark, spicy smell to them, similar to very fresh carrots. {While I didn't mind the look of them, Bart was a little put off by their appearance: "They look like albino carrots. They should have beady little red eyes, too."} During baking, the smell wafting through the apartment was lovely. And the final result was deemed A Keeper. It was almost carrot cake-y. And just a touch spice cake-ish. Nice and moist, with a lovely cream cheese frosting. It rolled around in your mouth, smooth and tender, and I was sad when my slice was gone. We sent half of it away with friends, and the rest has been getting progressively whittled throughout this afternoon. A snippet by him, a nibble by me. Which is exactly what you should so with a tasty cake on a gray Sunday when the pavement is wet.
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| Parsnip cake ~ Sunday, 3/27/11 by K. |
Ingredient note: The parsnips turned up easily enough at the local farmer's market, but we also found some later in the day at our regular run-of-the-mill grocery store. The almond meal (a.k.a., almond flour} turned out to be a little more tricky; we had to go to Zupan's, a schmancy specialty foods store, to find it. I believe Whole Foods and other natural foods retailers also carry it, or you can order it from bobsredmill.com. While I recommend finding the almond meal, in a real pinch you could substitute with flour.
The pastry chef who concocted this recipe recommends choosing small to medium sized parsnips, as they are sweeter and less fibrous than the large ones. The diameter of the top should be about 2 inches or less, and the flesh should be white and free from bruises. The flesh browns quickly after peeling, so submerge them in water with lemon juice to retain whiteness if you are not using them right away. If you are shredding them for cake, however, they'll be hidden, so you don't need to soak them at all.
Baker's note: I don't care for the strand-like texture of shredded ingredients in cake, so I used the large whacking blade on my food processor and chopped/ground the parsnips fine, rather than using the shred disc attachment.
Parsnip Cake
Makes one 9-inch cake
Adapted from pastry chef Danielle Pruett of Clyde Common, Portland, OR
Published in The Oregonian, March 22, 2011, article by Ashley Gartland
Italicized baking notes from Table For Two
Cake:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup almond meal (such as Bob's Red Mill brand)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon {I used 1 full teaspoon, plus 1/2 tsp. ground ginger}
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
3 eggs
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled (1 1/2 sticks) {I used 1 stick melted butter + 1/4 cup canola oil, for moistness}
1 3/4 cups shredded parsnips (from about 4 medium parsnips) {I finely chopped/ground mine in the food processor}
Frosting:
1 pound cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick), at room temperature
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon rum (optional)
1/3 cup whipping cream
To make cake:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and position rack in center of oven. Spray 2 9-inch cake pans with nonstick cooking spray and line with parchment paper; spray the parchment paper with nonstick spray.
1. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, almond meal, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt. Set aside.
2. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, blend the sugars, eggs, and vanilla on medium speed until well combined. Blend in the flour mixture on medium speed until well combined. Drizzle in the melted butter and continue mixing on medium speed until combined.
3. Fold in parsnips with a rubber spatula.
4. Pour batter into prepared pans and spread it evenly. Bake until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, about 20-30 minutes. Carefully remove cakes from pans and place on wire rack to cool completely.
To make frosting:
1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add powdered sugar and mix until just blended, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
2. Add vanilla, lemon juice, and rum (if using), and beat on low speed until just combined. Slowly mix in cream on low speed until smooth. Once cream is incorporated, beat frosting on medium-high for a few seconds. Use immediately or refrigerate until ready to use. Allow to come to room temperature before using.
To assemble the cake, spread frosting between the two layers. Frost sides and top of cake. Depending on how thick you like your frosting, you may have 1/3 to 1 cup left over.
