cake

Parsnip Pear Spice Cake (Vegan)

January 13, 2018 by fiona@saluk.net 13 Comments

5 from 9 votes

Parsnip Pear Spice Cake (Vegan)

A warm wintry spice cake made healthier with parsnip and pear with no dairy or animal products and a vegan swiss meringue buttercream from aquafaba.

Course Dessert

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes

Total Time 50 minutes

Servings 16

Ingredients

2 cups grated parsnip
1 1/2 cups chopped pear
2 sticks vegan butter room temp
4 chia eggs
1 1/2 cups light brown sugar
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp cardamom
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 pinch salt
2 tsp baking soda

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 325F degrees and lightly grease two 8" baking tins
In a medium bowl beat together the butter, sugar, cardamom, pumpkin pie spice, and chia eggs until combined.
In another medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt and pour into the bowl with the wet ingredients, stirring with a wooden spoon to incorporate being careful not to overmix.
Stir in the parsnip and pear gently to evenly distribute throughout the batter.
Divide batter evenly between both pans (I use a kitchen scale to be precise) and put in the oven for 40-45 minutes or until a knife comes out of the middle clean.
Let the cakes cool for at least an hour before frosting.

It’s the moooost wonderful timeeee of the year! Or so they say…

I think that it’s the most…busy/hectic/stressful time of the year! Not to imply that I focus on the negative at all, in fact I would say I am usually quite the optimist.

Something about this year just felt so crazy, December flew by so quickly I feel like I barely had time to enjoy the festiveness of it all. I suppose it comes down to the fact that I moved this fall and also managed to catch the worst cold ever that lasted for weeks! Add that on top of all the holiday parties, gift buying (while trying to avoid the masses of people also doing their gift buying), busy days at work – it all really wore me down.

I took what I realized was the longest number of days off since college and I’m so glad I did. The much needed respite was really appreciated and deserved! It also allowed for plenty of time in the kitchen baking up a storm!

Parsnip – not just for dinner

While I was home I made something preeeeeeeety tasty. Parsnips seems to always appear on the menu in my parents house exclusively around the holidays. I suppose winter is the time to eat root vegetables seasonally, but this winter I realized I’d only ever had roasted or mashed parsnip and felt I needed to branch out.

Parsnip has a funny spongy texture which makes it quite absorbent meaning it takes on the flavor of the seasonings and spices you cook it with quite well. Why not add some sweet flavors and make it into a dessert!

Carrot cake has been done time and time again but why was its cousin the parsnip always left out of the dessert fun?

Parsnip and pear – the ultimate combo

The addition of pears to the cake was largely due to the fact that my parents had received a gift basket in the mail that included a lot of pears. I figured pears would add a lovely moisture to the cake but was concerned that they were also a little mild on the flavor side, hence the addition of a healthy dose of warming wintry spices! Cardamom makes a guest appearance in the spice mixture, I’m quite partial to cardamom and I think it pairs really well with the pears (pairs with pears ha).

This cake is made vegan by using chia (or flax) eggs in the batter and by using aquafaba in the frosting which is a vegan swiss meringue buttercream. I am a HUGE fan of swiss meringue buttercream and I love that aquafaba yields an amazing vegan version! If you haven’t already tried aquafaba you can check out my other posts featuring it to make vegan fluff and vegan pavlova!

This is the perfect cake for these cold winter days and a great way to use seasonal parsnip and pears! It comes together pretty quickly and adorned with some dried orange slices is the perfect centerpiece for a winter feast!

For the Swiss Meringue Buttercream I use this vegan version made with aquafaba found over on the blog Gretchen’s Bakery

Spinach Lemon Cake (Gluten and Dairy Free)

May 7, 2017 by fiona@saluk.net 8 Comments

5 from 1 vote

Easy Spinach Lemon Cake (Gluten and Dairy Free)

A very easy gluten and dairy free spinach avocado based cake with oat flour and aquafaba fluff made in your food processor or blender.

Course Dessert

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Ingredients

1 half avocado
3 eggs
2 cups fresh spinach
2 tbsp lemon juice
1-2 tsp lemon zest
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups gluten-free oat flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 pinch salt

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
Add avocado, spinach, eggs, vanilla, lemon juice and zest to blender or food processor and blend until pureed and there are no more pieces of spinach visible. It should be a solid creamy green mixture.
Add the dry ingredients to the blender or food processors (giving it a quick stir with a spoon to ensure it doesn't blow to the sides when you turn it on) and blend until combined. You don't really have to worry about over-mixing since it's gluten-free.
Pour batter into two 8" cake pans either greased or lined with parchment paper.
Bake for 25-30 minutes depending on how hot your oven is, insert a knife into the center and it should come out clean when ready.
Let the cakes cool on a cooling rack for about 30 minutes. I used this time to clean up and prepare my frosting.
For the frosting, I used 1/3 cup earth balance vegan butter, 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 tsp vanilla powder, a pinch of lemon zest and 1 cup of aquafaba fluff (you can find the link to the recipe in this blog post)

Spring is here! Can you feel it? Can you see it? Everything is green, the trees are sporting pretty little buds, the tulips are blooming, and the air has that spring-y smell in it that makes me sneeze!

Unless of course you live in a city in which case you are probably at that brief seasonal sweet spot in between sidewalks covered in questionably dirty snow and the air smelling faintly of hot garbage.

(City dwellers don’t be insulted, I love city-living and have many fond memories of my time in various ones, however, I am currently enjoying rural heaven with the salty sea air and the lush gardens I get to romp around in daily)

Whether you live in a concrete jungle or a real one, this recipe is a great way to usher in the spring vibes in the air thanks to its vibrant GREEN hue!

In the wake of St. Patrick’s day the internet was awash with green recipes to celebrate the shamrock-clad leprechaun who freed Ireland of snakes (that’s what the holiday is right?) jk I’m super Irish and know what St. Paddy’s day is all about.

One thing that struck me about all these recipes was that they were filled with green food coloring. I don’t know about you but I am no scientist and I certainly don’t understand what it is in food dyes nor do I have any inclination to ingest them. I have this imagery of eating something with food coloring and it turning all of my internal organs green which seems very unnatural and I can’t imagine my body would enjoy that.

I set out to find a way to make a naturally green cake and turned to my favorite green vegetable – spinach! Before you say ‘yuck!’, drop your computer, and run away from this webpage, I swear to you that you can’t taste it. Try to approach putting spinach in this cake the same way you might approach adding some spinach to your fave fruit smoothie. I made this for my brother’s birthday and didn’t tell him what the secret ingredient was until he ate a slice and he said it was tasty! The tangy lemon outshines anything else going on flavor-wise.

Popeye popularized the amount of iron in spinach but its health benefits don’t stop there, it is high in Vitamin A, K, and even calcium! You can put a decent amount in this cake without tasting it at all so throw in as much as your palette desires! One and a half to two cups is my recommendation to keep it on the sweeter side.

I am a huge spinach fan if you can’t tell. Maybe it is no surprise that I am a St Patrick’s day baby what with my love for all things green…

This cake doesn’t use just one green ingredient, it also includes the creamy goodness of avocado in place of any butter/oil. That was a nice little treat for you since I didn’t include avocado in the title of this recipe! Wasn’t that a good surprise?

Spinach, avocado, a few eggs, and some gluten-free oat flour – this cake is BASICALLY a salad, so go ahead and make it, then devour it.

Did I mention how easy this cake is to make? I didn’t. I can’t believe I didn’t say that right off the bat. This cake comes together in seconds as it’s all thrown into your blender or food processor then poured right into the pan! That’s right, minimal cleanup, healthy cake, seriously what is your excuse for not trying this right now.

For this cake I made a vegan vanilla frosting with earth balance, powdered sugar, and some aquafaba fluff I had leftover. If avoiding dairy isn’t your thang you can use your favorite buttercream frosting but this simple lemon vanilla one I made was pretty delish.

Now it’s time to go outside, take in a deep breath of that delicious spring air and run/bike/walk/drive to the store to get some spinach so you can make this cake tonight. I’m sorry to be so bossy but really you’re missing out if you don’t try this easy spinach lemon cake!

This post contains affiliate links, which means if you buy something from a link I may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. I only link to products I love and use, thanks for supporting Fiona’s Forbidden Fruit!

Vegan Carrot Cake

November 3, 2016 by fiona@saluk.net 5 Comments

It comes as no surprise that this recipe contains hidden veggies. In fact, I might go so far as to say that carrot cake may be the original hidden vegetable dessert!

Finding a version that is vegan isn’t always easy though, as they’re often laden with butter and eggs, but this one is sure to be a crowd pleaser.

The crowd pleasing aspect of this recipe was truly tested as it was one of the desserts I made for my dad’s 60th birthday celebration. It was so popular that not everyone was able to try a piece! (or maybe I just didn’t make enough….sorry hungry guests)

If you aren’t concerned about eating vegan or dairy free, feel free to try this with your favorite cream cheese frosting. The cashew cream, maple syrup and apple cider vinegar combine wonderfully in this recipe to make a light vegan cream cheese-like frosting that I think compliments that cake quite well.

You really do get a healthy dose of carrots in this recipe as it calls for a whole pound! These tasty orange veggies really do pack a nutritious punch. Growing up my mom put carrots in my lunch box for school every day and promised me that eating them would improve my eyesight. There was even talk of being able to see in the dark if I ate enough!

A few thousand baby carrots later, this ended up being my introduction to the harsh reality of false advertisement because at age 12 I got my first pair of glasses, despite my daily carrot intake. (I still eat carrots quite frequently though, probably with some subconscious notion that maybe my eyes still can improve)

Carrots do have a healthy dose of beta carotene and vitamin A which has been linked to eye health…They are full of fiber and antioxidants so feel free to tell yourself that a slice of cake is akin to a daily vitamin.

(I am 100% not a Doctor or any kind of medical professional so please don’t throw away your vitamins and replace them with cake based on my hyperbolic suggestions).

Carrot cake is one of those fun customizable recipes that everyone seems to have their own secret addition for. This recipe is just a basic no frills recipe, but feel free to add a handful of walnuts, raisins, or both if you’d like!

This recipe calls for chia eggs, if you haven’t used them before don’t be frightened, they are really quite simple. I buy these chia seeds and then put them in a cheap coffee grinder to grind them down to a powder and mix 1 tbsp ground chia with 3 tbsp water, refrigerate for 15 minutes. Be sure you don’t use the same coffee grinder for your coffee beans. I recommend having a separate one just for baking and you can use for chia seeds, flax seeds, etc. They’re usually $10-$20 and definitely worth not having bits of chia seeds in your morning coffee.

5 from 2 votes

Vegan Carrot Cake

Cuisine Dessert

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 45 minutes

Servings 15

Author Fiona Saluk

Ingredients

CAKE
2.5 cups flour
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
1-2 tbsp pumpkin pie spice depending how spicy you like it
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp salt
1 pound carrots peeled and grated
1 c white sugar
1 c light brown sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
4 chia eggs
3/4 c coconut oil
FROSTING
3/4 c soaked raw cashews
1 tsp coconut oil
1 tsp apple cider vinegar or lemon juice
1/4 c maple syrup
1 tsp cinnamon

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F and grease 2 9" pans with coconut oil spray (or your favorite cooking spray)
Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, ginger, salt, together until incorporated
In a food processor, combine white and brown sugar with chia eggs until bubbly and combined, about 30 seconds
Add in the coconut oil (may need to soften in microwave first if oil is too cold) and continue to process until mixture appears to become one color and no streaks of oil remain
Transfer the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients and incorporate without over mixing (too much mixing the flour makes it chewy).
Divide the mixture between the two pans and bake in the oven for 25-30 mins or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.
While the cake cools, combine all the frosting ingredients into a blender or food processor and combine until creamy and smooth.
Add about 2 tbsp to the middle layer and spread with a spatula, pour the rest of the frosting on the top layer for a dripped frosting look. (frosting is not hard like a traditional buttercream)
Optional: top with chopped walnuts or pecans

Pumpkin Spice Cake

December 1, 2015 by fiona@saluk.net 4 Comments

Pumpkin is a staple in fall/winter baking, yet it seems to be forgotten the rest of the year. I guess this makes sense in terms of eating seasonally, but luckily for us our food industry here in the USA is quite the industry so that we get whatever produce we want whenever we want. (I actually think this isn’t so great a thing and truly support eating seasonally and locally…but that’s for another type of blog post)

I am a huge fan of Pumpkin. When I was an exchange student studying abroad my senior year of high school in France, I was very sad to find that pumpkin was not sold in the baking aisle in cans. It wasn’t even really sold in supermarkets at all unless in the produce section seasonally.

Luckily I have very loving parents who were so kind as to send me a Thanksgiving care package when I was abroad and in it was a beautiful can of pumpkin. (Other students were getting Oreos, Peanut Butter, etc, but of course I asked for a can of vegetables) I have since learned the ways of baking with fresh pumpkins (and finding fun ways to roast the pepitas!) but I will use a can in the off-season now and again for a sense of nostalgia or when the pumpkin spice cravings overcome me.

Let’s not forget, pumpkins are a vegetable and so we should be proud of ourselves when we eat a meal with pumpkin in it – dessert or not! It’s always fun to bake in a bundt pan and this cake is no exception.

I topped it off with a whipped cream cream cheese frosting as I was feeling like a nice hearty cake, but it would be just fine on its own or with a light drizzle on top. It’s totally up to you how you want to customize it!