Giving Thanks for Root Vegetables

I am very thankful for yesterday; a day spent with amazing people AND amazing food. You know it was a feast because the number of desserts nearly outnumbered the number of main/side dishes! There was a fantastic apple coffecake, Cazuela pie, freeform fruit tart, and a parsnip spice cake. I wish I could post recipes for all of them but since I only made the latter that's what I'll share with you.

Often shoved into the corner of the produce section, parsnips look like albino carrots. Also like carrots they're root vegetables but perhaps a touch more bitter. Regardless, they can be transformed into an amazing cake with a little work. 

Parsnip Spice Cake with Maple Icing

The maple icing hardens very quickly and is NOT spreadable once it cools--so don't wait too long before applying it to the top of the cake. The cake is wonderful as a dessert or served at brunch alongside a strong tea like Earl Grey, to balance the icing's sweetness.

Cake:

1  pound  parsnips, peeled and sliced into 1 inch thick rounds.

1  cup  packed dark brown sugar

1/2  cup  granulated sugar

5  tablespoons butter, melted

1  teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2  cup apple juice

3  cups all-purpose flour

2  teaspoons baking soda

1  teaspoon ground cinnamon

1  teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2  teaspoon salt

3/4  cup 1% milk

Cooking spray

Icing:

1 cup packed dark brown sugar

1/2  cup 1% milk

2  tablespoons butter

1/4  teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar

1/2  teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup chopped or whole pecans, toasted

Preheat oven to 350°. Place the parsnip in a saucepan; cover with water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer over medium heat 20 minutes or until tender then drain. While parsnips cook, toast pecans then transfer to a bowl to cool.

Place the drained parsnip, 1 cup brown sugar, granulated sugar, 5 tablespoons butter, and 1 teaspoon vanilla in a food processor. Process until smooth, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Transfer mixture to a large bowl, add apple juice and mix well with a hand or stand mixer.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and 1/2 teaspoon salt, stirring well with a whisk. Add flour mixture and 3/4 cup milk alternately to parsnip mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Pour batter into a 9 x 13 inch pan lightly coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely in pan on wire rack, 2-3 hours. To speed up cooling: cool in pan for 10 min, then remove and cool cake on wire rack and return to pan or serving platter for icing.

To prepare icing, combine 1 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup milk, 2 tablespoons butter, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Reduce heat, and simmer until slightly thick (about 5 minutes), stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Add powdered sugar and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla; beat with a mixer at medium speed until icing is smooth and only slightly warm. (Icing will continue to thicken as it cools.)

Working quickly, spread the icing over the top of the cake the layer and sprinkle with toasted pecans. Allow icing to cool to room temperature. For storage, cover cake with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator. Reheat slices in microwave (15-30 seconds) before serving.