Orange and Pecan Parsnip Cakes

This recipe is a little spin on the parsnip cake I made a couple of months ago, and they're SO good. The treacle gives a much richer flavour than the maple syrup, and compliments the orange well. Feel free to leave the pecans out if you have nut allergies!

Ingredients:

175g unsalted butter

2 tbsp treacle

240g demerara sugar

3 eggs

250g self raising flour
1tsp baking powder

1tsp mixed spice

250g parsnips, peeled and grated
Zest and juice of 1 orange
50g chopped pecans

For the frosting:

75g unsalted butter

200g icing sugar
1 tbsp orange juice
Pecans to decorate
 

Pre-heat your oven to 180c and line a muffin tray with cases.

In a large saucepan, melt together the butter, treacle and sugar over a low heat until smooth.

Remove from the heat and leave to cool for a few minutes.

Next, whisk in the eggs before adding the flour, baking powder and mixed spice and mix well.

Add the grated parsnips, and stir until thoroughly combined. Lastly, add the orange zest and juice, along with the chopped pecans, and mix well.

Divide the batter equally between your muffin cases and bake for 20-25 minutes, until the sponges are springy to the touch, and a skewer inserted into the centre of the cakes comes out clean.

Leave to cool on a wire rack.

To make the frosting, put the butter and icing sugar in a microwavable bowl and heat in the microwave for 15-20 seconds, until the butter is just starting to melt. Gently mix together until it’s lightly and creamy. Add the orange juice and stir until well combined.

Once the cakes have cooled, use an icing bag to pipe spirals of frosting on top of each cake, and top with a pecan.