You'd never know this delicious cake is full of fiber and free of cholesterol!
I love parsnips. They're just about my favorite winter vegetable, aside from turnips. But you can't make cake with turnips. Parsnips, which are really like white carrots (except a little drier), are perfect for making cakes, as this vegan adaptation of a Parsnip and Maple Cake proves.
Why would you want to make cake with parsnips, or for that matter, with carrots? It's a tasty way to get more fiber in your diet, which most of us could stand. And although I used half whole wheat flour for this cake, I wouldn't have felt guilty using all white flour, since I was getting such a fiber boost from the parsnips.
Here's how:
Parsnip and Maple Cake
3/4 cup margarine
1 2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup maple syrup
2 1/2 cups flour*
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/2 cup soy yogurt
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
3 medium parsnips, peeled and grated (about 3 cups grated parsnips)
1 cooking apple, peeled and grated
1/2 cup pecans, roughly chopped
zest and juice of 1 orange (about 1 tablespoon zest, 1/2 cup juice)
Frosting:
1 cup vegan cream cheese*
2-3 tablespoons maple syrup
powdered sugar, for sprinkling on top
Prepare two round baking pans, about 9 inches across with cooking spray. Sprinkle flour in the pans and shake off the excess. Set aside.
Preheat the oven to 160C or 325F.In a small pan, melt margarine, sugar and maple syrup over medium heat. Let cool.
Sift together the flour, baking powder, cloves, allspice and cinnamon. When the margarine mixture has cooled, stir it into the flour mixture. Add soy yogurt and stir to blend. Pour in the orange juice and stir to combine thoroughly. Add the cider vinegar, then the remaining ingredients—the grated parsnip, the grated apple, the pecans, and the orange zest.
Pour the mixture into two round cake pans, 9 inches wide. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Remove from oven and let cool for 30 minutes.
Make the frosting: beat the cream cheese until it's smooth. Stir in the maple syrup, a spoonful at a time, until it's thin enough to easily spread but not too runny. (I placed mine in the refrigerator for 15 minutes and it firmed up a bit.)
Remove one cake from the pan and set on a cake plate. Spread frosting over the top and place the second cake on top. Sprinkle with powdered sugar (place two tablespoons powdered sugar in a metal sieve and wave it over the top to sprinkle).
Notes: I used half regular flour, half light whole wheat flour. For the apple, I used a Bramley, but you could use any green or tart apple. The vegan cream cheese I used is new to the market, made by Pure. I really liked it.
