birthday

Finely grated parsnip and orange zest are baked into mini bundt cakes spiced with cinnamon, cardamom, and cloves. Coconut cream and toasted hazelnuts are the finishing touches, lending a delicious, nutty flavor. These mini bundts are gluten free and vegan and perfect for a special occasion like a birthday!

So it’s my birthday today and following the tradition I set when I first started this little ole blog, I’m sharing my birthday treat with you on my actual birthday! I’m not someone who lies about their age or avoids questions about it so I’ll go ahead and let you know that today is my 30th birthday. Yep. The big 3-0. More than anything I’m having a hard time fathoming that I’ve been on the earth for that long. In some ways it still feels like I just attended high school. In other ways that shit seems like it was 40 years ago.

I was actually dreading today and the stigma behind turning this age because I let myself get drawn into a pity party a couple of weeks ago. There were tears, snot, and plenty of ugly contorted faces as this dumb little voice told me how lame it was that I had no real career at the moment (among many other things it told me I should also have by this age). Time passed and as I got closer to today, I told that stupid little voice to eff off. Instead of thinking of what I haven’t yet accomplished, I decided to look back on all that I was able to do before turning 30. And if you care for a little sharing moment, here’s an abbreviated bullet list:

• I graduated from college with distinction honors in anthropology
• I worked as an archaeologist for more than 6 years
• I traveled to Rapa Nui (aka Easter Island) in addition to Tahiti, Hawai’i, Singapore, France, England, Scotland, Wales, & numerous states in the US
• I became a published author 3 times over (thanks Chickpea!)
• I started and ran my own small business (soon to be up and running again!)
• I started a year long health coaching program
• I started yoga teacher training

I share this list not to boast or brag, but to remind myself that dreams don’t stay dreams for long when I set my mind to something. And, I share it to remind you that the same is true for you, too! Don’t ever get stuck thinking you’re not good enough, smart enough, or strong enough to do something. I’ve been there and nothing good ever comes of it. We are each capable of such amazing things. Every single one of us 🙂

And now for cake! Finely grated parsnip and orange zest are baked into mini bundt cakes spiced with cinnamon, cardamom, and cloves. Coconut cream and toasted hazelnuts are the finishing touches, lending a delicious, nutty flavor. These mini bundts are gluten free and vegan and perfect for a special occasion like a birthday! 😉

Spiced Parsnip Mini Bundts with Citrus & Hazelnut

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• Author: Courtney West
• Total Time: 35 minutes
• Yield: 8 servings 1x
• Diet: Vegan

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Description

Finely grated parsnip and orange zest are baked into mini bundt cakes spiced with cinnamon, cardamom, and cloves. Coconut cream and toasted hazelnuts are the finishing touches, lending a delicious, nutty flavor. These mini bundts are gluten free and vegan and perfect for a special occasion like a birthday!

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Ingredients

Units USM Scale 1x2x3x

for the mini bundts:

• 60g brown rice flour
• 25g oat flour
• 35g arrowroot flour
• 1/4 tsp xanthan gum or psyllium husks
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp fine grain sea salt
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground cardamom
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 25g (about 2 packed tbsp) finely grated parsnip
• 120g plant milk (I used some homemade brazil nut milk)
• 60g unsweetened applesauce
• 60g melted coconut oil
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
• contents of 3/4 of a vanilla bean
• 75g raw cane sugar
• zest of 1 small orange

for the coconut cream & garnish:

• 1 cup of chilled coconut cream
• 1 tbsp pure maple syrup
• contents of 1/4 of a vanilla bean
• tiny pinch of fine sea salt
• 1/4 cup coarsely chopped toasted hazelnuts

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Instructions

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Grease a mini bundt pan (or regular muffin/cupcake pan) with coconut oil and set it aside.

In one bowl combine the flours, xanthan gum, baking soda, salt, and spices. Whisk to combine. Add the grated parsnip and mix it in until it is evenly distributed throughout the dry mixture.

In a separate bowl, combine the milk, applesauce, oil, vinegar, contents of the vanilla bean, sugar, and orange zest. Whisk until smooth.

Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients and whisk until a somewhat thick batter comes together. It should resemble the consistency of pancake batter.

Fill the mini bundts about 2/3 of the way with the cake batter, then tap the pan on the counter several times to release any air bubbles. Bake the cakes for 18-20 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the baking time. The cakes are done when the edges are golden and the tops spring back when touched.

Allow the cakes to cool in the pans for 10 minutes before inverting them onto a cooling rack to cool completely.

To make the coconut cream, add the chilled coconut cream, maple syrup, the contents of the rest of your vanilla bean, and the sea salt to a bowl. Beat with a hand mixer (or stand mixer) until the cream is fluffy.

To assemble, put a good dollop of coconut cream on a mini bundt, then garnish with toasted hazelnuts. Enjoy!

Makes approximately 8 mini bundts.

Notes

• To make it easy on myself, I toasted the hazelnuts in the oven along with the mini bundts. Just make sure to watch them so they don’t burn!
• You’ll notice I say to use 3/4 of a vanilla bean in the cakes and 1/4 in the coconut cream. This is because I only wanted to use 1 bean total.
• For the coconut cream, park a can of full fat coconut milk in the fridge for at least 6 hours, then remove the thick coconut cream (leaving the coconut water behind).

• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 18-20 minutes
• Category: dessert