Vegetable Cake

With such a bonanza of beautiful fruits available all year round there is no end of sweet treats that one can bake or make. However, if you want to try something a little more from the leftfield (and who doesn't?) then why not push the fruit bowl to one side and instead reach for the vegetable basket. More than just a mere novelty, vegetables are an outstanding addition to the home bakers arsenal, providing a wonderfully atypical range of flavours and textures, from the soft and spicy carrot cake, to the light and delicate courgette cake.

This recipe uses of a trio of seasonal vegetables to create something really rather charming indeed. Lightly spiced, moist and irresistibly moreish it's a thoroughly delicious alternative to the more conventional cakes one might turn to at teatime and fun fun fun to make. Mixing, beating and folding, chopping, peeling and grating it will all be kicking off in your kitchen! So what are you waiting for?

Prep time: 20 Mins
Baking time: 60 Mins
200g Unsalted Butter (Softened)
210g Soft Dark Brown Sugar
3 Large Eggs
1tsp Baking Powder
200g Plain Flour
1tsp Ground Cinnamon
150g Fresh Pumpkin (Flesh only, no seeds please!)
100g Fresh Parsnips (Peeled)
100g Fresh Carrots (Peeled)
1tbsp Golden or Maple Syrup

Let us begin. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4, grease a 20cm deep, loose bottomed tin and line with baking paper. In a large mixing bowl cream together the butter and sugar, then beat in the eggs one at a time. Add the cinnamon, then sift in the baking powder and flour then mix to a smooth, consistent batter. Grate in the pumpkin, parsnips and carrots, then gently fold through before spooning into your prepared tin.

Bake the cake in the centre of the oven for around 60 minutes, until a metal skewer can be cleanly removed when inserted into the middle of the cake. When you are happy the cake is baked remove from the oven, leave in the tin for 10-15 minutes, then carefully turn out onto a wire rack. Brush with a little golden or maple syrup, leave to cool completely and your work is done. Time for a slice or two...