I can feel the heavy, dense, slow, cold qualities all around now – in my body, in my mind, all around the house. Deep winter is here.
This period of time is called “the hunger gap,” in the fields; the period between the end of winter and the beginning of spring. It’s kapha season in Ayurvedic tradition, when kapha dosha is building in our bodies, and we’re starting to crave lighter days, emotions, meals…but we’re not quite there yet. It feels like we’ve been eating root vegetables and hardy greens for months. And we have.
Soon enough, the first radishes and tender lettuces will be poking their heads out of the ground. But for the time being, I don’t think that I can bear to make another loaf of carrot bread, or banana bread (though I love every recipe like its a child) and we are months and months from having fresh local zucchini, so. Longing for the freshness of spring always makes each bite and recipe sweeter, so I’m hanging on + practicing being in the now. Our farmer’s market has a whole host of winter roots still available and parsnips are one of the delicacies to be excited about. This late in the season, they’ve been wintered over and are so so sweet – perfect for just about anything but particularly perfect for something that looks like cake.
And that’s where this Parsnip + Hazelnut Quickbread w/Meyer Lemon Icing came in.
If you’re asking “which one is a parsnip, again?” you’ve been missing out all along. Long, pointy, kind of like a big white carrot, parsnips are gorgeous, sweet, highly versatile root vegetables that are lovely as a substitute for mashed potatoes, and are wonderful roasted up for salads, bowls, in soups…anywhere you need a little root. Our local farmer’s market still has plenty of them, overwintered by the farms near us which makes them even sweeter.
Just like carrots, they have a hardy texture that makes them perfect for grating, and perfect for this cake. And, they’re one of the many vegetables that is particularly powerful for our bodies through these deep winter months.
Abundant in folate, thiamin, patothenic acid, vitamin B6, C, E and K, and low in carbohydrates, parsnip is a perfect winter food. It deeply nourishes, has a sweet flavor. that grounds and nutrifies, but isn’t exceptionally high in carbohydrate, which helps to keep kapha dosha at bay.
Is ridiculously easy, sweetened only with maple syrup and dates. It’s easy to digest, easy to pack and lovely warmed with a slather of ghee on top. I used nutty spelt flour here, but you could employ another unbleached whole-grain flour if you wish. Or, make it gluten-free using your favorite gf flour mix. I find that this cake comes together in a breeze with a food processor, but if you don’t have one you could use a high speed blender to make the egg/date/maple mixture. And then you fold it all together, bake it and drizzle it with a bit of Meyer lemon icing which is COMPLETELY optional. I love meyer lemon, and it feels like a little uplift in these dark months. If you’re going to use this cake exclusively as ride/adventure fuel, know that it’s harder to pack when iced, but it’s ridiculously flavorful and a very nice treat on the trail. (P.S. slathering it with date ganache and making a sandwich is a strong and suggested play!)
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