Catherine Berwick's Parsnip & maple syrup cake

Catherine Berwick's Parsnip & maple syrup cake

The winner of Good Food's 20th birthday cake competition, we think this is the new carrot cake

Difficulty and servings

Easy

Serves 8

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 20 mins

Cook time

Cook 45 mins

Freezable

Unfilled sponges can be frozen

Method

  1. Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Grease 2 x 20cm sandwich tins and line the bases with baking parchment. Melt butter, sugar and maple syrup in a pan over gentle heat, then cool slightly. Whisk the eggs into this mixture, then stir in the flour, baking powder and mixed spice, followed by the grated parsnip, apple, chopped pecans, orange zest and juice. Divide between the tins, then bake for 25-30 mins until the tops spring back when pressed lightly.
  2. Cool the cakes slightly in the tins before turning out onto wire racks to cool completely. Just before serving, mix together the mascarpone and maple syrup. Spread over one cake and sandwich with the other. Dust with icing sugar just before serving.

697 kcalories, protein 8.0g, carbohydrate 79.0g, fat 41.0 g, saturated fat 22.0g, fibre 3.0g, sugar 52.0g, salt 1.12 g

Recipe from Good Food magazine, November 2009.

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Latest comments and suggestions

Results 1-20

  • 29 September 2009

    Pip-a-doodle commented on this recipe

    This cake is just divine! I love cakes that use vegetable's in the recipe as they are usually so much moister - this recipe is no exception. 10/10 - Even the cat enjoyed it!

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  • 07 October 2009

    B.Neale commented on this recipe

    My nine year old son made this cake as described for his dad who adores maple syrup and pecans. This was an easy cake to make, fantastic to look at and tasted light and full of flavour . The whole family enjoyed this cake and I have passed the recipe on to so many people who are keen to try. As long as you know people are not allergic to nuts this was fun when offering people the cake and asking them to try and recognise the flavours and texture, they were totally shocked when they learned they had eaten parsnips and it is a fabulous way to get your children to eat veg. Fantastic, well done.

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  • 08 October 2009

    yummie commented on this recipe

    can anyone tell me, is it possibble to use golden syrup in place of maple syrup? just don't like the taste of the stuff, sorry :(((((

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  • 08 October 2009

    MrsC rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    just made this and its great! I would think you could use golden syrup as you heat up the butter syrup and sugar at the start - don't see why not! Fab cake - good twist on the original carrot cake.

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  • 09 October 2009

    Marian commented on this recipe

    Great recipe, very moist, but although the top instructions say cook 45mins. The actual recipe says 25/30 mins. This was definitely a 45 min. Will certainly do it again.

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  • 10 October 2009

    angelak10 rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Delicious! I don't like carrot cake and I sometimes find maple syrup overpowering so I was sceptical about this but it is just lovely. My daughter is devouring it as I type! The use of mascarpone for the filling is inspired, so much tastier than just heavy cream (more delicate like a good tiramisu). I actually forgot to use the orange juice and zest so I shall be making it again just to make sure! I do not like pecans so I used 50g of ground almonds instead and the result was so moist, I would hazard a guess that it is possibly an improvement on the pecans....but that is a matter of opinion. Carrots have got no business being in cakes, but parsnips are now very very welcome!!

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  • 10 October 2009

    anna commented on this recipe

    Hi there, can any one tell me if using carrots instead of parsnips will make a big difference. Thanks

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  • 11 October 2009

    Polopetch rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    Well, I tried this recipe with trepidation but fascination. took it to supper at a good friend's house who I knew would give honest feedback. all bar one of the guests loved it and a couple had two slices. I loved the maple syrup flavouring running through the cake and the icing. Will definitely make again. the best bit was getting the guests to guess what the unusual vegetable in the cake was.!!!!

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  • 11 October 2009

    Gerda commented on this recipe

    My daughter made this as a school project for DT as a "healthy" cake. Absolutely delicious. Definitely needed 45 minutes in the oven. She used golden syrup as I could not find maple syrup in the local shops.

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  • 12 October 2009

    Jane rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    One of the best cakes I've ever made. Really moist and totally foolproof!

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  • 12 October 2009

    kit4kat rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Took me quite a while to prepare all the ingredients...that said it was gorgeous once baked...the lovely spicy aroma while it was baking was devine. Not sure where I went wrong but my mascapone and syrup filling was a little runny...still tasted good though.

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  • 13 October 2009

    Ali B commented on this recipe

    hello, I love all your comments. This is the first time I have written in. Can anyone tell me how this would work in an aga cake baker? Would you put all the mixture in at once and then cut the cake in half? Thanks

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  • 14 October 2009

    pandosmummy rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Absolutely delicious! Big, big hit with family and friends. Impressive and easy to make.

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  • 17 October 2009

    Aliam rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Loved by all who tried it and no-one was put off when found out the ingredients! Will be making again soon as people at work want to try it!

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  • 17 October 2009

    mother*ship rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Loved this! Made it with golden syrup for reasons of economy and 75g less sugar for reasons of health and it was still absolutely delicious. Seemed somehow lighter than carrot cake, I will definitely be making it again and now I know it's so good I'll try it with maple syrup.

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  • 17 October 2009

    Willowby commented on this recipe

    Was intrigued by the addition of parsnip in this recipe and felt I just had to try it. The cake was absolutely fantastic, very moist and tasty. I cooked it in 3 19inch cake tins as I has enough mixture left over and sandwiched it all together in into a triple layer cake, I also added the rest of the chopped pecans from the pack Id bought into mascapone/syrup mix before sandwiching the cake. Very yummy, my new favorite cake recipe.

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  • 26 October 2009

    fiona commented on this recipe

    made this as a birthday cake and had great fun getting ppl to guess what was in it - no one got it, all were surprised when we told and our 13 year old friend was so horrifed to find out he had eaten parsnips he needed a large piece of chocolate cake to recover. Really enjoyed making the cake, very easy, tasty and moist and still godo three days later - am eating it as I type!

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  • 26 October 2009

    Gail rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Fantastic cake. Everybody enjoyed it. Would make it again.

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  • 27 October 2009

    fiona commented on this recipe

    forgot to say - we had so much cake we froze one half and decorated the top of the other with the icing - to which we then sprinkled crushed chocolate flake onto - very tasty!

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  • 31 October 2009

    Tracey rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Made this for my macmillan coffee morning at work - massive success, with everyone loving it. V easy and definitely a new favourite.

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Difficulty and servings

Easy

Serves 8

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 20 mins

Cook time

Cook 45 mins

Freezable

Unfilled sponges can be frozen

Ingredients

  • 175g butter , plus extra for greasing
  • 250g demerara sugar
  • 100ml maple syrup
  • 3 large eggs
  • 250g self-raising flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 2 tsp mixed spice
  • 250g parsnips , peeled and grated
  • 1 medium eating apple , peeled, cored and grated
  • 50g pecans , roughly chopped
  • zest and juice 1 small orange
  • icing sugar , to serve

FOR THE FILLING

  • 250g tub mascarpone
  • 3-4 tbsp maple syrup
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697 kcalories, protein 8.0g, carbohydrate 79.0g, fat 41.0 g, saturated fat 22.0g, fibre 3.0g, sugar 52.0g, salt 1.12 g

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