Eating GOLD!

I have heard of parsnip but I have not seen one before. While I was shopping at the supermarket a few days ago, I came across these white carrots and they were labelled as parsnips. What came across my mind at that moment was, “Aiyoh! why so EXPENSIVE?, all these Quay Lo food stuff here are like eating GOLD!” The price is so outrageous and you don't want to know it. Usually, when something that expensive, I am able to pass and walk away. That time, it was kind of a situation of curiosity killed the cat. I grabbed one and put into my cart and did not even know what I was going to do with it. All I knew was I wanted to find out how parsnip taste like.

When I arrived home, I quickly googled on parsnip recipes and I got one on cupcakes.  Since I have all the other ingredients on hand and I wanted to submit one more cupcake entry to The Aspiring Bakers, I started baking straight away! 

Parsnips resemble carrots except that it is white. 

When I tasted some grated parsnip before I added them to the batter. It was more sweeter and more fragrant than carrots. What I found out was, when they are cooked, they have a buttery and slightly spicy sweet flavor that reminds you of butterscotch, honey, and subtle cardamom.  When the cupcakes were baked, I quickly tasted one before frosting but I am not sure if I get the all the flavors mentioned earlier. What a big disappointment! To me, the texture of the cake was not much different from the carrot cake.  It was rich and spicy and since I have cut down the amount of sugar and frosted the cake with lemon cream cheese, it was not too sweet and I like it that way. The only difference between this cake and my carrot cake was the addition of chopped apple and toasted pecan. The two ingredients gave some crunch and the pecan added nutty flavor to the cake.  Perhaps the next time I make this cake again, I will increase the amount of parsnip to 1 ¼ cup packed so as to get a more distinctive flavor of the parsnip.  To enhance the appearance of the small cupcakes, I added a thin slice of candied ginger to the frosting. For the medium size cupcakes, I sprinkle some orange color sugar and topped with a yellow sugared flower. They actually turned out quite lovely aren't they? 

Parsnip Apple Pecan Cupcake

Adapted from The Café Sucre Farine with modification

Make:
12 small cupcakes

12 medium cupcakes

Ingredients:

4 oz. butter

¾ cup white sugar

1 cup packed brown sugar

4 eggs

¾ cup vegetable oil

2 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

¼ teaspoon ginger

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup grated parsnips, packed

1 ¼ cups peeled, diced apple, packed

1 cup toasted chopped pecans

Method:

Preheat oven to 350˚F. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars with electric mixer. Slowly add oil and mix well. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla extract. Combine dry ingredients; gradually add to wet mixture. Stir in parsnips, apples and pecans. Pour into cupcake liners, bake 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Let cake be completely cool before frosting. Let you imagination runs wild. Add your own decos and colors to the frosting for better visual effects.


Note: squeeze out some of the juice of the parsnip before adding to the batter.

Lemon cream Cheese frosting

Ingredients:

8 oz cream cheese, room temperature

1/c cup sour cream

½ cup icing sugar, sifted

1 tsp lemon juice

Zest from 1 whole lemon

Method:

Beat cream cheese till smooth, add sour cream and mixed well. Add icing sugar, 1 teaspoon at a time. Add lemon juice and zest, mix well.


Note: I am submitting this cupcake recipe to Aspiring Bakers #13: Enjoy Cupcakes! (November 2011) which hosted by Min of Min's Blog