At the root of it

I bought some parsnips on a whim and had them languishing in the fridge for a week (whilst constantly telling myself that I was going to cook them really soon!)

Well, a few more days passed and they were still sitting there, so I wondered if this was the time to attempt making a root vegetable cake.

We hear about carrot cakes all the time, but parsnips are so much sweeter, naturally, that it seems as though parsnip cake should be the popular choice, with people only choosing carrots when the parsnips are out of season... Or something....

Anyway, here's how it's made ;-)

You will need:

2 large parsnips

1 1/2 cups of rice flour

1/2  cup of sugar

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon 

3/4 cup flavourless oil

1/2 cup rice milk (or soy, if you prefer)

1 1/2 tsp vanilla essence

1/2 tsp orange essence 

1 tablespoon of agave nectar (optional)

A handful of raisins (optional)

Preheat the oven to 220 degrees.

Peel the parsnips.

Mix all the dry ingredients together.

Grate the peeled parsnips directly into the dry ingredients (this takes some serious elbow grease - work those biceps!)

Add the raisins if you wish and mix so that the fruit and veg are spread evenly throughout the mixture.

Add the oil and the rice milk and mix thoroughly. The mixture will look a bit lumpy, but should still be at a cake mix consistency - don't be tempted to add more liquid to make it smooth.

Spoon the mixture into a greased, sprung cake tin and place in the bottom of the oven. 

Cook for 35 - 40 minutes.

(if your oven is a bit more compact, and you're worried about the top burning, place a piece of foil over the tin and cook for twenty minutes - remove the foil and continue to cook for the remainder of the time.)

It really is delicious!