Daring Bakers March 2013: Parsnip and maple cake

Ruth from Makey-Cakey was our March 2013 Daring Bakers’ challenge host. She encouraged us all to get experimental in the kitchen and sneak some hidden veggies into our baking, with surprising and delicious results!

Oh dear. Let me explain.

House flood, university exams, no-one to bake for at university, no time to blog... the list goes on. I'm popping back in to say hi and maybe bye... Pipsqueak's Noms may become regular again one day, but that day is well in the future. I'm loving baking and cooking, I'm learning more about eating well and creatively, budgeting, planning... and I'm thankful that I started this blog because it was the first step on that important journey. However, I only have time to bake, or blog about baking - not both! I can do the first without the second, but not the second without the first, if you see what I mean...



The last few Daring Bakers challenges haven't been ideal for me as they've involved things that are either very time consuming or make huge quantities, so the last one I did was December. However, when March's challenge rolled around, I was chuffed. Vegetable cakes! I'd had my eyes on a parsnip, maple syrup and pecan cake from BBC Good Food for a few weeks, and now I had a real excuse to make it. Since trying waffles, maple syrup has become a staple in my baking and on my pancakes/waffles/omelettes/straight out of the bottle... okay maybe not that last one (yet), but you get the idea - I love maple syrup. So does my boyfriend, probably even more than me, so I knew I'd have at least one compatriat in cake. My Mum likes pecans, so there was another confirmed eater. Overall, I got the feeling this would be a promising cake to bake...



I adored this cake and it's one of the few that I've made where I kept sneaking back to the fridge for more - I usually have a bit more restraint than that. It's fascinating as some people can identify the parsnip straight away, others can smell it but can't taste it, and others still (like myself) couldn't have guessed it was parsnip in a million years, but liked it anyway. I personally found it to be very much like carrot cake, but... better? I'd say better. Slightly different. Still moist. Moreish.



If it weren't for the grating I'd make it more often... seriously, I HATE grating, and grating 3 parsnips and an apple when I was meant to be revising... the revision actually sounded more enjoyable.



But it's worth it really. A hearty recommendation and a real recipe for the binder.



Grab the recipe HERE and get your grater ready...