Carrot & Parsnip Cake.

This is a very simple cake. I normally make it when I have carrots, parsnips or nuts to use up or when there’s a birthday that I’m ill-prepared for and need a quick cake.

The carrot and parsnip make it super moist and delicious, and all the nuts and spices make it really textural and earthy. This one is popular amongst friends as ‘birthday requests’, and apart from the cream cheese, I always have everything in my pantry and fridge.

Ingredients:

3 carrots
1 parsnip
1 large handful of chopped nuts
(I use pecans, walnuts, pistachios and hazelnuts)
4 eggs
200g brown sugar
100g castor sugar
250ml olive oil
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground cardamom
1 tbsp ground ginger
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground fennel seed
1 tsp vanilla paste
350g self-raising flour

Cream cheese frosting:

400g full fat cream cheese, room temperature
150g unsalted butter, room temperature
350g pure icing sugar, sifted
Juice and zest of 1 lime

1 tablespoon of honey, for serving

Method.

Step 1.

Preheat oven to 180 C and grease and line a 24cm cake tin.

Step 2.

Peel and grate carrots and parsnip, set aside.

Step 3.

Whisk together eggs and sugars until light and pale. I like to take these quite fluffy, about 8-10 minutes of beating in a stand mixer, but you can also just do it by hand and not worry about whipping it so much, it’s still going to be good on the other side. Stream in olive oil, whisking to combine. Add vanilla and all spices, combine.

Step 4.

Sift in flour and fold together, don’t overwork. Fold in carrots, parsnip and nuts and pour into prepared cake tin. Keep a handful of nuts aside to decorate the top of the cake.

Step 5.

Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until a metal skewer or cake tester comes out clean. All ovens are different and you may find a variance in the cooking time of ALL THE THINGS, that’s okay, just keep checking it until it’s ready. Let the cake cool completely before assembling.

For the cream cheese icing:

Step 6.

In an electric mixer, with the paddle attachment, beat your room temperature butter until soft and smooth. Add in your room temperature cream cheese and beat until smooth, there should be no more clumps of butter or cream cheese and it should have a nice whipped look.

Step 7.

Sift icing sugar into a separate bowl, and add to the mixer 1 tablespoon at a time, beating well between each addition. After you first add a spoon of sugar, beat on the lowest speed until just combined, then amp up to medium/high for a couple of minutes before adding the next scoop of sugar. Continue beating until all sugar is combined and it feels completely smooth when rubbed between two fingers.

Step 8.

Squeeze in lime juice, and add in lime zest.

Step 9.

Spread between two layers of the cake and on top, then top with remaining nuts and I like to serve with a little drizzle of honey.