Punctuation with Parsnip Cake

I’ve never once heard someone say, “Thank goodness it’s March.” Or “ Hot diggitity, it's parsnip season!” Parsnips plod through winter just out of sight, either cellared or left underground to be unearthed in early spring.  I think it’s safe to assume very few exclamation marks get attributed to them. 

It's more like a vegetable with a question hanging off the end of it.   What do you do with a parsnip?  What is a parsnip good for?   It's frequently underutilized and often misunderstood.  It looks like a frightfully pale carrot that’s never been allowed out of the basement.  Literally.  Often, it’s paired with turnips.  And none of these things help its reputation very much. Which is a shame because it is really a lovely and versatile root vegetable. 

So I’ve decided to bring parsnips out into the light of day, to keep company with all those toothache-inducing bunny rabbits and Easter bonnets.  Because parsnips that have nestled underground all winter can taste pretty sweet.  Sweet enough for cake?  Well, if the carrot can do it, then so can the parsnip.

And where better to road test such a cake than my monthly staff meeting: which is stacked with dietitians.  At this point you would be wise to flush out any preconceived notions about dietitians.  At least the ones in my office.  We do not go around tisk-tisking sugar and subsisting on baby carrots.  Mostly we go around ooh and ahh-ing about cake.  We are ladies that love cake.  And we shamelessly use staff meetings and birthdays to exploit it. 

So this month I took a carrot cake recipe and parsnip-bombed it.  Then I spiced it up with ginger and allspice. Out went the raisins, and in went some dried figs that I soaked in Cointreau.   I punched up the cream cheese frosting with a bit of rum.  And voilà!, the lowly parsnip suddenly had panache.  It didn't even wobble with all that booze.

My boss met this cake with the trepidation one might expect.  “Oh … parsnips?” she said slowly.  Her hesitation apparent with the question mark that dangled at the tip of her parsnip. 

But this cake caused such a stir—such a commotion—that I can no longer associate the parsnip with anything other than impassioned exclamations.  This boss of mine—a refined woman whom often looks like she’s stepped off L’Avenue des Champs-Élysées—had three pieces. 

A co-worker that was celebrating a certain special half-century milestone took home a leftover slice.  She confided the next day that she had urged a fellow commuter on the train home to try her cake.  That she simply must try her cake.  Her parsnip cake. 

I’m not exactly sure how it all went down, but I picture two women … with one fork … on a train … giggling over cake.  She also later said that she would remember her fiftieth birthday—not for the age—but for the cake that she had to celebrate it.  Which, when we get right down to it, is just the punctuation the parsnip deserves! 

Parsnip Cake

Inspired by Ina Garten’s recipe for carrot cake

Ingredients:

For the cake

¾ cup dried figs, cut into a bite-sized dice

~ ¼ cup Cointreau

2 cups sugar

1 1/3 cup olive oil

3 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour plus 1 tbsp

1½ tsp cinnamon

½ tsp ground ginger

¼ tsp nutmeg

1/8 tsp allspice

2 tsp baking soda

1½ tsp kosher salt

1 pound parsnips, peeled and grated (about 3 cups)

Zest of one orange

¾ cup walnuts, roughly chopped

For the frosting

¾ pound cream cheese, at room temperature

½ pound unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 tsp vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

¾ pound confectioners’ sugar

~1/4 cup dark rum

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Combine the figs and Cointreau in a small bowl and set aside.  Butter and flour two 8 inch cake pans and set aside.  Beat the sugar, oil, and eggs in a stand mixer until light yellow and slightly fluffy; add in the vanilla and then add in the figs and Cointreau that were set aside.  In a medium bowl, sift together the two cups of flour, spices, and baking soda; add in the salt and then add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients.  Toss the parsnips, orange zest, and walnuts with 1 tbsp of flour; add this to the batter, folding it in with a rubber spatula.

Divide the batter between the two cake pans and cook for 10 minutes at 400 degrees and then decrease the heat to 350 degrees and cook for about 40-50 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Let cool completely on a wire rack.  Meanwhile, combine the cream cheese, butter, vanilla, and salt in a stand mixer with a whip attachment; add the sugar in slowly and beat until fluffy.  Finish by pouring in the rum, adding more or less as desired.

When the cakes are fully cooled, gently turn them out of their pans.  Then, turn one cake upside down (with the flat side up) on a serving platter lined with parchment paper that can be pulled off after the cake is frosted.  Spread this layer with frosting and then place then second cake on top with the right side up (the rounded side).  Spread a thin layer of frosting on the cake, starting with the top of the cake and working your way down the sides; this will create a thin coat of frosting and it doesn't have to look pretty.  In fact, it probably won't.  This is called the crumb coat and it will help the finishing frosting go on smoothly.  A detailed explanation can be found here.

Place the cake in the fridge for 30-60 minutes to firm up the frosting and then frost the cake with the remaining frosting by starting at the top of the cake and working down the sides. Remove the parchment paper.  The cake can easily be covered and refrigerated (frosted) overnight, if not serving right away.

Makes 1 double layer cake.

Notes: 

-I know there are no "active" shots of this cake.  But can we just agree that the inside looks as nice as the outside?  

Chocolate Stout Coffee Ice Cream & Young

I’m going to come right out with it.  I was feeling feisty the day I made this ice cream.  Sure, I started off calm enough, with a morning yoga class and lunch at Area Four.  But things quickly veered off after the clam pizza. 

I accidentally sprayed myself with some serious sandalwood cologne that I mistook for perfume at a shop on Charles Street.  I left promptly, smelling of man forest.  Once home, I took one look at the screens my landlord hastily installed last fall—screens that actually prevent me from opening my windows—and decided they were coming down.  

I spent the next two hours with a screwdriver and Neil Young.  The scent of sandalwood lingering faintly in the background. I can certainly think of worse times.  And I would share them.  But I’m still in a Neil Young jag and “Carry On” is playing.  And so I must.

So where was I?  Oh yeah. After the screens, and a few other chores, I poured myself a cold one.  A stout.  The music got louder.  I ate brownies for dinner.  And I set out to make ice cream that was going to have beer in it. 

I ground up dark roasted coffee beans.  Cracked another pint (for the ice cream).  Knocked over some heavy cream.  Turned up “The Needle and the Damage Done.” Drank some more beer.  And then made ice cream. 

A strong ending, if you ask me.  This ice cream is assertive.  It’s unapologetic and grownup.  It’s the kind of ice cream that says: so what.  I like sturdy coffee and beer so thick and dark you can’t see your soul through it.  In fact, I’m going to make these items into dessert.  I’m going to have dessert for “dinner.”  And I’m going to reject your suffocating screens, thank you very much.  

So, sure, this ice cream is in chilly conflict with the delicate, floral ice cream I made last month.  But for something that goes “in like a lion,” lavender just ain't gonna cut it.  This is another flavor courtesy of Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams.  She makes it at her shop around Father’s Day.  Personally, I think it’s a perfect match for March.  Perfect for the time of year that often has a little bite to it.  For when we are teetering on the edge of spring.  And perhaps looking for a way to round out the stout, sandalwood, and screwdrivers; primed and ready to let a little unruly breeze in. 

Chocolate Stout Coffee Ice Cream

Adapted from Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home

2 cups whole milk

1½ tbsp cornstarch

1½ ounces cream cheese, softened

1¼ cups heavy cream

2/3 cup light brown sugar

2 tbsp light corn syrup

Pinch of salt

2 tbsp dark roast coffee beans, ground

½ cup dark chocolate stout (see notes)

Mix 2 tbsp of the whole milk with the cornstarch in a small bowl.  Whisk the cream cheese in a separate medium-sized bowl.  Combine the remaining milk, heavy cream, brown sugar, corn syrup and salt in a medium saucepan and place on medium-high heat; boil for 4 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent the milk from scorching. 

Remove the pan from the heat and add the ground coffee beans and let steep for 5 minutes.  Meanwhile, prepare a bowl with ice and water and put a smaller bowl (ideally both metal bowls) inside the bowl filled with ice and water.  Once the grounds have steeped, strain them out using a strainer with a cheesecloth over it. Squeeze the coffee grinds in the cheesecloth to extract all the liquid that you can and then discard the grounds.

Return the milk mixture (now infused with coffee) back to the saucepan and gradually mix in the cornstarch mixture; bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat and stir occasionally until it thickens, which should take a minute or so. 

Remove the pan from the heat and gradually whisk some of the hot liquid into the cream cheese until the mixture is smooth.  Add the cream cheese mixture to the remaining hot liquid and then add the stout and stir to combine.  At this stage, if you have little pieces of cream cheese or too many bits of coffee grounds, you can strain the mixture again.  (The resulting ice cream will have lovely little flecks of coffee grounds, but most does get strained out.)

Pour the mixture into your bowl on ice (alternatively you could pour it into a ziplock bag and submerge the bag into the ice).  Let it cool for about 30 minutes and then stick in the fridge overnight to let the flavors meld.

The next day, churn the mixture in an ice cream machine for 20-25 minutes, or until the mixture gets thick and creamy and pulls away from the sides of the bowl of the ice cream maker.  Pack the ice cream in an airtight container.  Cover with a piece of parchment paper cut to fit the container and freeze for at least 4 hours, or until the mixture is firm.

Makes about 1 quart

Notes:

-I used Imperial Choklat Stout from Southern Tier Brewing Company.  You may wish to check out a new local company, Night Shift Brewing.  They have a Taza Stout.  You can’t buy it yet, but hopefully soon.  I'm crazy for Taza, so I'm pretty excited about this melding of local chocolate and local beer.

-Corn syrup.  She’s a controversial lady.  I’ve used brown rice syrup (also not shy from controversy recently) in its place in ice cream recipes in the past and this recipe would probably take kindly to it.  This time around I used this.

-For the coffee I used French roast coffee beans and ground them in a coffee grinder, which can also be done at the market or grocery store. 

-If you forget to soften the cream cheese ahead of time you can stick it in the microwave for a few seconds.

-Did someone say Guinness floats? Why, yes, what a wonderful idea for St. Patrick's Day! (I typically skip the blackberry in mine.)