This recipe was inspired and adapted from one of my grandma’s carrot cake recipes. And you can think of it a lot like carrot cake, but swapping out the carrots for parsnips and crushed canned pineapple (very 90s I might add) with pears. Plus, the secret to keeping this cake moist is the use of mayo! Yup, mayonnaise. It’s really just eggs and oil after all. I feel like my grandma had this cake recipe made just for me. I love mayo. If I had to bring one item with me to a deserted island, it would hands down be mayo… and maybe this cake too.

Parsnip Pear & Ginger Honey Cake

• 2 cups all purpose flour

• 2 tsp baking soda

• 2 tsp cinnamon

• ¼  tsp nutmeg

• 1 tsp freshly grated ginger

• ½ tsp salt

• 3 eggs

• 3/4 cup honey

• ½ cup sugar

• ½ cup mayonnaise

• 1 tsp vanilla

• 2 cups grated parsnip (2-3 parsnips)

• 1 cup grated pears (~2 pears)

• ¾ cup chopped walnuts, plus extra for topping

Grease and flour two 9” round baking pans. Stir together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger and salt in a bowl and set aside.  In another bowl, using a mixer set at medium speed, beat eggs, honey, vanilla, sugar, mayonnaise until well blended. Gradually beat in flour mixture until well mixed. With a spoon, stir in parsnip, pear and walnuts. Evenly pour into pans and bake at 325°F for 30-35 minutes.

To assemble the cake:

Make sure cakes are completely cooled before assembling. Evenly spread a layer of cream cheese frosting in between each cake layer and cover the outside with more frosting. Decorate with chopped walnuts and candied rosemary.  

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 500 g cream cheese, room temperature

• 1 cup butter , room temperature

• 2 cups icing sugar

• 2 teaspoons vanilla 

 Using a mixer beat the ingredients on medium speed until smooth.

Sugared Rosemary

• 5-6 whole rosemary spring, cut to desired lengths

• 1 cup water

• 2 cups sugar, divided

Boil water with 1 cup sugar in a saucepan. Once cooled, dunk rosemary in syrup and roll in remaining sugar. Shake off any excess sugar and let dry.