Maple and pecan parsnip cake

Some people can still be a little put-off by vegetable-based cakes, but carrot cake is pretty commonplace, and beetroot goes decidedly well with with dark chocolate, so I thought it was about time to play around with parsnip.

Parsnip is a very sweet, aromatic root veg anyway, so I think it needed something to complement that. Maple syrup seemed ideal. Found this recipe, which is nice and simple – as long as you don’t grate your fingertips…

You add the filling at the last minute – it’s just mascarpone, with a few tablespoons of maple syrup stirred in. The result is slight dense, very moist, lovely and maple-y, with the slight crunch of the pecans, and a faintly parsnip aroma. Though it’s one of those cakes that, if you didn’t tell people it contained parsnips, they probably wouldn’t guess immediately.

EDIT: I finished this up yesterday, and in retrospect, it’s a bit too “parsnippy” for my liking. The parsnip is just such a pungently aromatic veg, it’s slightly too strong. I might try this same recipe with carrot, as it tends to be milder and less stridently flavourful in cakes.