I’ve had a hankering for carrot cake for a few weeks after a conversation on social media about a bumper crop of carrots leading to recipes for carrot cake being posted. So when carrots were on offer and hubby came back with 3 bags of them plus 2 bags of parsnips it was suddenly my opportunity. Seriously, there are only so many things you can do with parsnips, so I thought why not try them in a cake. In that moment it felt like probable madness, however actually, you know what? The parsnips add a real kick to this cake. A warm earthiness and nuttiness that really adds to the sweetness of the carrots.
My main critic will always be my husband. He isn’t fobbed off as easily as the children, he has a sweet tooth and isn’t pulled in by any of the latest health trends or superfoods. So I tried him on one. He gave me the “what is it” quizzical expression which I interpret as “What the heck is the crazy woman now trying to give me”. To be fair, you can’t blame him, I am experimental in my approach and a fair few of these experiments just don’t work out. Upon trying it his response was “Actually that’s not bad”. Now for hubby that is a compliment. He isn’t overflowing with expression and excitement like me, thankfully or our house would be even more crazy! So this “Not bad” really meant “I wasn’t expecting it to taste nice but it is pretty good and I like it”. He agreed it was actually the parsnip that made it.
This cake is moist, light and a little to easy to eat. With 250g vegetables in it, it may feel pretty nutritious but you would have to eat a lot of cake to get a portion of veggie in! Having said that these will contain some vitamin A, some calcium and iron, so as cake goes, it is a good option.
- 150ml Rapeseed Oil
- 60g Brown Sugar
- 3 Eggs
- 150g Carrots (2 large)
- 100g Parsnips (1 large)
- 300g Doves Farm Self Raising Flour
- 1 tsp Mixed Spice
- 1 tsp Cinnamon
- Peel and grate the carrots and parsnip.
- Mix the oil and sugar together. Add the eggs and mix.
- Next add the grated vegetables and slowly add the flour and spices in.
- Pour into a greased and lined loaf tin.
- Bake at Gas Mark 5 for 30-40 minutes.
A green grocer gave me a similar recipe, I think it has orange and pecans in too. I can’t find my recipe but now I have yours, thank you! It’s a delicious combination!
Oooo I must try adding orange.
Cheeky! I promise it is nice. The kids had one after tea last night and they only eat cake that tastes nice these days.
Reminds me of the Vicar of Dibley series and the little old lady on the church committee who produced such cakes like chocolate and marmite.