Parsnip Cake with Lemon Cream Cheese Icing (from Asparagus to Zucchini
cookbook)
1 2/3 cups whole wheat pastry flour or unbleached white flour 1
cup peeled, grated apple
1/2 cup hickory nuts or black walnuts, chopped 1
cup sugar
1.5 package (11 ounces) cream cheese, softened 1
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder 11
Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1 tsp baking soda 5
cups powdered sugar, sifted
3 eggs, beaten 1
1/2 tsp lemon extract (or vanilla extract)
1/2 cup canola oil finely
chopped black walnuts/hickory nuts
2 cups grated parsnips (or use half parsnips and half carrots) and
dried cherries (optional)
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 8-inch round cake pans
(or substitute a greased 9-by-13 cake pan). Whisk flour, sugar, cinnamon,
baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Combine eggs,
oil, parsnips, and apples in a second bowl; stir well. Stir wet mixture
into dry until barely combined. Stir in nuts. Divide batter evenly into
pans. Bake until cake springs back when lightly touched in the center,
25-35 minutes. Cool 10 minutes, then turn cakes out of pans to cool
thoroughly.To make icing, cream the cream cheese and butter. Beat in
powdered sugar and lemon extract until smooth. (I'd substitute honey
for the powdered sugar and decrease the amount to around 1 cup.) Cut
the cooled cakes in half horizontally with a long, thin, sharp knife.
Frost layers to make a four-layer cake (or make a two-layer cake instead).
Decorate with finely chopped nuts and/or dried cherries, if desired.
Makes 12-16 servings. Recipe by Punky Egan, Madison Area Technical College.
