Honey Roast Parsnip Cake

This year we are attempting to grow our own veggies and plan to have a veggie patch in the garden. I'm not expecting big things from it as I don't seem to be very good at looking after plants. Potatoes and carrots seem to be our limit, along with a few strawberries that keep cropping up every year despite never taking care of the plant.

Thankfully we have friends that grow veggies, and they do it well. We were recently given some rhubarb that saw me through a rhubarb filled May, and then we were given parsnips.

Bigger than parsnips that I had ever seen before, and these were apparently the small ones.

There was only one thing for it, parsnip cake. I debated whether to grate the parsnips into the cake batter or cook them first. I thought roasting them would bring out their natural sweetness so went with that option. I had recently been sent a hamper of mustards & sauces including a Dijon mustard with honey so I thought I would use a bit of that, but you could just use the honey.

Honey Roast Parsnip Cake

425g Parsnips, peeled, trimmed & cut into chunks (prepared weight)
2 tbsp Olive oil
30g Honey
30g Maille Dijon Mustard with honey
200ml Sunflower oil
4 Eggs
200g Soft Brown sugar
2 tbsp honey
200g Self Raising flour
1 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp mixed spice

• Heat the oil in a roasting pan in a 200 C oven for 5 minutes
• Add the parsnips & roast for 20 minutes
• Mix the honey with the mustard & honey & pour over the parsnips & mix well
• Return to the oven & roast for an additional 20 minutes (or until soft & golden - you may need to reduce the cooking time depending on the size of the parsnip pieces)
• Once the parsnips are cooked add them to a food processor & blitz until smooth

• Add the eggs, sugar and honey and blitz again
• Add the flour, bicarbonate of soda, salt & spice and blitz until well combined
• Pour the batter into a greased & lined baking tin approx 32cm x 22cm
• Bake for 15-20 minutes until spongy to the touch (if you use a smaller tin you will need to bake for longer)
• Allow to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack & cooling completely

This cake is perfect for picnics and lunchboxes. It also freezes and keeps well and is in fact moister and stickier the longer it's left.