Pineapple Parsnip Cake

Soooo...

This seems as good a time as any to say that I've been diagnosed as pre-diabetic. Things are going to have to change around here. I've always tried not to go wild with the sugar, being well aware that diabetes is not so much a possibility as a certainty on my Dad's side of the family. I've tried to pretend that I would take after Mom's side, but the observation that I am built like my Dad could not help but be made. Apparently that does include the tendency to diabetes. I do have the family sweet-tooth, however inclined I may be to cut the sugar in half when making desserts.

Yeah, this recipe is part of the problem and not part of the solution. I made it before I got the word from on high, so it won't get made again any time soon, I regret to say. It was delicious though, so go for it if you can. 

16 servings
1 hour prep time
plus allow some time to cool

Mix the Dry Ingredients:
2 cups whole spelt flour
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
6 to 8 pods of green cardamom

Put everything into a large mixing bowl. The cardamom must first be lightly crushed and the papery husks removed. Grind the remaining seed as finely as you can, and then add it to the bowl. Mix well. 

Mix the Wet Ingredients & Finish the Cake:
3 cups (375 grams; 3/4 pound) grated parsnips
1 14 ox (400ml) tin crushed pineapple
3 large eggs
2/3 cup mild vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line the bottoms of 2 8" square pans with parchment paper, and butter and flour the sides.

Peel and grate the parsnips, and put them in another mixing bowl. Add the crushed pineapple, along with all the juice. Break in the eggs, and add the oil and vanilla extract. Whisk everything together well.

Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Stir to combine thoroughly, but do not over-mix. Divide the batter evenly between the 2 prepared pans and spread it out evenly as well.

Bake the cakes at 350°F for about 40 minutes, until they spring back when lightly touched, or pass the toothpick test (no wet crumbs adhere to an inserted toothpick). Let cool for 10 minutes then remove from the pans to finish cooling on racks. They can be frosted and stacked, or not, as you like.




Last year at this time I made Barbunya Zeytinyagli. 

Posted in: Ontario Food