Parsnip Pear Cake

Sometimes you eat in a restaurant and you have something that will just turn your head with an "OMG this is amazing" double take.  This is what this recipe did for me. I love Carrot Cake but Parsnip Pear Cake? This was a bit of an unusual combination.  Geoff and I shared this at Aqua, a restaurant in downtown St. John’s.  We enjoyed a great meal with friends Karen and Bill and when the waiter came back and asked if there was anything else I said I wanted the recipe. He agreed as long as I promised not to go into competition with the restaurant. While I entertain a lot I certainly don’t think my kitchen qualifies as competition.  He took my BlackBerry to the back and photographed the recipe.  I had never done this before and it was worth the ask.  There is a photo of this on my Facebook page for those who want see what I pulled together.

Parsnip is a great vegetable, very sweet cousin of the carrot. I use it very regularly in soups and stews, mostly in the fall and now here it is in a dessert!

Parsnip Pear Cake with Carmel Icing

Carmel Icing

1 ½ lbs	Cream cheese (at room temp)
½ cup	Unsalted butter (at room temp)
2 cup	Icing sugar
1 ½ tsp	Vanilla
	Carmel sauce to taste

Put all the above ingredients in a mixer and mix until smooth.

Parsnip Pear Cake

2 cups	Parsnip, cut into ¼ inch coins
1 cup	Walnuts, toasted (you can also use pecans)
1 cup	Unsweetened Coconut, toasted
¾ cup	Pear, poached and finely chopped (this is normally about ¾ of a pear so do the whole thing and enjoy one quarter with a little ice cream),  keep ¼-1/2 cup of liquid (note: I favour the poaching liquid with cinnamon stick and nutmeg)
1 ¼ cup	White sugar
¾ cup	Brown sugar
2 cup	Flour
1 tbsp	Baking powder
½ tsp	Salt
1 tsp	Cinnamon
½ tsp	Nutmeg
3	Eggs
1 cup	Canola oil
2 tsp	Vanilla

·         Roast parsnip in aluminum foil at 350C for 1 hour, until soft.  When mostly cooled run through the food processor until mostly smooth, you can use some of the pear poaching liquid to keep the parsnip loose.

·         Poach pears, and toast coconut and walnuts

·         Beat the wet ingredients in a separate bowl (eggs, oil and vanilla)

·         Mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl, then add the wet ingredients and mix just until all moistened. Fold in Parsnips, coconut and walnuts.

·         Bake at 350C for 35-40 min

·         Frost with Carmel Icing

·         Enjoy!