Category: Dairy

Parsnip Honey Cake with Honey Cream Cheese Frosting & Rainbow Carrot Chips

I’m not a baker. Let me start with that. Sure I can follow a cake recipe. And I’ve even made the occasional Elmo and Barbie cake for my kids birthdays. But I don’t “bake”. Especially not cakes like THIS.

I don’t know what it is. The whole layering thing. And the frosting. It’s just such a MESS. Case in point: I decided to defy all logic and attempted to layer my cakes without trimming them first, so that they were flat. Of course the layers started slipping and sliding, so I had to separate them, post-frosting and then do the trimming. Mess is not the word. My kids were pretty happy though. They got to enjoy the best part of the honey cake (the sticky top layer), all smothered in frosting.

Now since this IS a honey cake, trimming the best part off the layers is such a sin. So I highly recommend you follow this technique so that the layers bake flat. Wish I had followed my own advice but I just get lazy when it comes to baking.


Case #2 in point, I let my frosting sit out after whipping it, and it got kinda warm and runny, but instead of refrigerating it so that it would hold up nicely, I just wanted to stack the cake already. THIS is why I don’t bake. No patience. Baking is all about precision, patience and organization, and while I do possess those qualities, baking does not exactly bring them out in me. Maybe it’s because I just want to get it done so I can dig in to the cake already!

So why this cake? Well, I came up with this crazy cool concept of doing a carrot cake/honey cake hybrid. And if that wasn’t enough, I had to switch up the carrots for parsnips, and take it over the top with FRIED RAINBOW CARROTS STRIPS. It’s go big or go home. Especially if I am about to make a layered cake!

I developed this recipe in honor of Rosh Hashanah, when it is traditional to eat honey cake, for a Sweet New Year. Since many people have a custom not to eat nuts on Rosh Hashanah, I knew I couldn’t garnish my cake with chopped pecans, which would have been my first choice. Shredded coconut is another great option but I wanted a little hint to the surprise inside the cake – the parsnips!

Honestly, I can’t say this cake tastes like parsnips. It tastes like honey cake. But when you get a couple of shreds of parsnip in your mouth, you get a little hint of flavor. If you want more of a parsnip flavor, add some more shredded parsnips to the cake. It’s as simple as that :)

I honestly could not be happier about the way this cake came out. I totally winged the recipe, and not understanding the science of baking, it could have been a complete flop. I was almost not expecting the cake to work but it came out so unbelievably moist! And my kids kept running downstairs wanting to know what smelled so INCREDIBLE.


I KNOW this cake is good for one reason and one reason only. The world’s most pickiest taste testers LOVED IT. My kids gobbled up the cake, licked their fingers, and said OH MY G-D between fork fulls. I kid you not. This is a home run. Kid tested. Mother approved.

Parsnip Honey Cake

1 cup coconut milk (I use Coconut Dream Original)
3 eggs
1 cup oil
1 1/2 cups honey
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp salt
2 heaping cups shredded parsnips

Honey Cream Cheese Frosting
(may be doubled, depending on how much frosting you like)

1 stick butter or margarine
1 8 oz. pkg cream cheese (may use tofutti)
3 cups confectioners sugar
1 heaping tbsp honey
1/8 tsp cinnamon

Rainbow Carrot Chips

1 bunch rainbow carrots
canola oil, for frying

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour three 9-inch cake pans and set aside.

With an electric mixture, cream the coconut milk, eggs, oil, honey, brown sugar and vanilla. In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda and spices. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet, mixing until you have a smooth batter. Stir in the shredded parsnips.

Divide the batter evenly between the pans and bake for 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Leave the cakes to cool while you prepare the frosting.

Add all the frosting ingredients to a bowl and blend with a hand mixer until smooth and creamy.

Remove the cakes from the pans and trim so that they are completely flat (you can use this trick to bake completely flat layers). Frost each cake layer and scrape the sides to create the look of a naked cake.

To make the rainbow carrot chips, wash the carrots well and pat dry. Peel the carrots with a vegetable peeler, creating strips of carrots. Heat a few inches of oil in a deep skillet and fry the carrots in batches, until crisp and golden. Drain on paper towels.

Before serving, garnish the cake with carrot chips.

VARIATION: Use carrots instead of parsnips in the cake, or use a mixture of both.
OPTIONAL FILLINGS: chopped walnuts, chopped pecans, shredded coconut, raisins, dried pineapple.
OPTIONAL TOPPINGS: chopped or sliced nuts (walnuts, almonds or pecans), shredded coconut.
BUNDT or LOAF PAN OPTION: This cake may be made in a bundt pan or 3 small loaf pans. Place the pans on a baking sheet to catch spills. Grease and flour pan and pour batter inside it. Bake until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Top with cream cheese frosting and toppings of your choice.

Related Recipes:

honey cake with caramelized apples
carrot muffins
couscous with thyme, honey roasted parsnips, carrots & beets
pumpkin whoopie pies with maple cream cheese frosting

Post a Comment

Honey Hasselback Baked Apples
with Brie & Pecan Streusel


I heart brie. I never thought I could be a semi-moldy-cheese kinda girl but here. I. am.


When Natural & Kosher Cheese asked me to go all Rosh-Hashanah-out on their brie, I was only too happy to oblige. I knew I had to do something with apple & honey, because besides being the symbol for a Sweet New Year, fruit and honey just go so well with brie! Case in point: these dried fruit brie bites. Mmm mmm good.

If moldy cheese and fruit sound gross to you, let me tell you this: I did a cheese demo a few months back, and I had a room full of people who thought the same. Many of them had never tried brie before, and they had no plans to. But after watching me make my brie en croute with homemade fig jam, they warmed up to the idea of melted gooey cheese smothered in sweet fruit. A few bites later they were all over it, stinky cheese and all!


If you’re still on the fence, let me assure you that when I say stinky cheese, I don’t mean bleu-cheese-style. I would NEVER go near that stuff! Brie has an edible white rind that, yes, does have mold in it, but it is oh so mild. You can always cut it off if you want to get to the gooey interior of the cheese minus the (slight) funk.

Now that we’ve (hopefully) got you passed the brie, can we please discuss the hasselbacking? Y’all know I’m kinda obsessed with hasselback anything. And after this hasselback salami, now you all are too! I promised myself I’d be hasselbacking lots of other foods, and after seeing this video on cookinglight, I was all over hasselbacking my apples! How gorgeous are they? Gosh, I have so many hasselback ideas up my chef sleeve, I can’t wait to share them with you!


Now if you want to skip the brie on these and just go pareve for a fantastic dessert, feel free to leave out the cheese and use margarine or coconut oil in place of the butter. Top it off with some ice cream and you’ve got yourself a golden dessert for your holiday meal! (Or, do yourself a favor and stick to the cheese, and serve this up for a special Rosh Hashanah breakfast!).

Honey Hasselback Baked Apples with Brie

2 apples
1/2 wheel of Natural & Kosher Cheese brie
1 tbsp butter, melted
1 tbsp honey

Pecan Streusel

2 tbsp chopped pecans
2 tbsp oats
1 tbsp flour
3 tbsp brown sugar
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt
1 1/2 tbsp butter, softened

Method:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Core the apples using an apple corer and cut the apples into 4 equal wedges. Cut slits in the apple wedges, taking care not to cut all the way through.

In a small bowl, mix the honey and melted butter. Stuff thin slices of brie in between the apple slices and brush with honey butter. Bake, covered, for 15-20 minutes, until apples have softened.

In a bowl, combine the streusel ingredients. Spread the pecan streusel over the apples, stuffing it in between the slices. Return the apples to the oven (uncovered) and bake until the streusel is browned and crispy, 5-10 minutes.

Serve warm, with a drizzle of honey.

PAREVE OPTION: To make these pareve, leave out the brie and use margarine or coconut oil instead of the butter.


This post was sponsored by Natural & Kosher Cheese. Follow them on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, YouTube, Google+, or via their Blog

Related Recipes:

apple and honey tart
hasselback sweet potatoes with apples
dried fruit brie bites

Post a Comment

Harissa Whipped Feta w/ Za’atar Eggplant Chips

I recently did a spice roundup of some of my favorite spices and seasoning blends on Instagram. I love cooking with spices because I can pack on the flavor without piling on the extra sugar and additives that are found in sauces and marinades. Spices keep things clean and healthy, without sacrificing on flavor.

If I had to choose a favorite spice, it would probably have to be za’atar. Za’atar is a spice blend that is native to the Middle East. It includes sumac, oregano, thyme and sesame seeds – a bright combination that’s great with just about everything. I love it on pita chips, chickpeas, chicken, fish, eggplant, cauliflower…like I said, everything!

Another one of my favorite spice blends is harissa. Harissa is a North African chili paste that adds amazing depth of flavor to fish, meat, poultry, veggies and sauces. I love to mix it into my shakshuka, tahini, Moroccan fish, sour cream and even nacho cheese! There’s a reason that Time Magazine called harissa the “new sriracha” of 2015. And as a MAJOR sriracha fan, let me assure you that it’s quite the compliment!

The crazy thing about za’atar and harissa is that, while they are both good on their own, they are amazing together! I never realized just how well these spices complemented each other until I developed this recipe. And I. am. obsessed!!

So first, the chips, because I am a chip fanatic. I love that these eggplant chips are baked and not fried – but they are still perfectly crispy. The za’atar adds such an amazing unexpected punch of flavor to the breading that you can literally go through an entire tray in one sitting.

And the feta? Oh. Em. Gee. If you’ve never whipped feta before then GET ON IT! Most people don’t think of feta as a creamy cheese, but when you whiz this stuff up with a little Greek yogurt – it’s like a silky smooth dip that’s perfectly salty. Dunk those za’atar chips in and it’s a full on an explosion in your mouth.

What are some of your favorite spices and seasonings? Share them with me in the comments below!

Harissa Whipped Feta

1 7 oz. block of feta (not crumbles)
3 oz. Greek yogurt
1 tsp harissa, or, to taste
juice of 1/2 lemon
olive oil and harissa, for garnish

Method:

Place the feta cheese, yogurt, harissa and lemon in a food processor or blender and blend until completely smooth and creamy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Place the creamed feta in a serving dish and garnish with olive oil and harissa. Serve with za’atar eggplant chips.

Crispy Baked Za’atar Eggplant Chips

1 large eggplant, sliced in half lengthwise, cut into 1/4″ thick slices
2 cups panko bread crumbs
3 tbsp zaatar
salt and pepper, to taste
2 eggs, beaten

Method:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Cut the eggplant slices in half to create triangular wedges and set aside. Beat the eggs and season with salt and pepper. In a small bowl, whisk the panko bread crumbs with za’atar, salt and pepper. Set up a dredging station with the eggplant wedges on one tray, the eggs in another and the za’atar panko crumbs in another.

Dip the eggplant wedges into into egg, shake off the excess, and dredge in the seasoned panko crumbs. Spread eggplant out on two well-greased cookie sheets (make sure not to overcrowd them) and spray with cooking spray. Bake for 25 minutes until browned and crispy.

Related Recipes:

za’atar roasted chickpeas
malawach cheese pastries with za’atar
confetti latkes with harissa sour cream
cauliflower nachos with harissa cheddar sauce

Post a Comment

Corn, Heirloom Tomato & Goat Cheese Salad
with Basil Lime Vinagrette

I don’t think we New Yorkers can complain about the summer this year, it’s been relatively mild (poo poo poo!). I mean, I don’t want to jinx anything (watch it be mind-numbingly hot next week), but I haven’t had to shower three times a day and jump into whatever sprinklers I can find…like last year.


You know how they say, “If you can’t handle the heat, get out of the kitchen!”, well what if you can’t handle the heat in your state? Do you just move to a colder climate, like Antarctica?

I am seriously not one for hot weather, which is why I would never move to Florida. My husband, on the other hand, wants to move to the Sunny State, and I always remind him that while he may get the sun, he’s not gonna have much sunshine in his life with his overheated wife! That kind of weather just turns me into some sort of heatwave-monster and you DON’T want to be around me when that happens. Which is why I’m going to stay right here, in perfectly mild Brooklyn, thank you very much. And when perfectly mild Brooklyn turns into overly humid Brooklyn, I’ll just stay inside with my air conditioning and a cup of iced coffee, all calm, cool and collected.

Now when perfectly mild Brooklyn turns into muggy and raining Brooklyn (like it did this week), I turn to my perfectly colorful summer salad so I can at least imagine green pastures and bright summer days. It just doesn’t get brighter than this salad! With fresh arugula, heirloom tomatoes, perfectly crisp-tender corn and creamy goat cheese, you just can’t go wrong. Even if it is muggy outside. Smother it all in a light and refreshing basil lime vinaigrette and you’ll be OK wherever you are…even the Sunny State.

What summer salad gives you an instant pick-me-up regardless of the weather? Share it with me in the comments below!

Summer Corn & Heirloom Tomato Salad with Herbed Goat Cheese

1 pkg arugula
2 ears corn
10 oz. baby heirloom tomatoes
1 log Natural & Kosher fine herbs chevre goat cheese
2 tbsp pine nuts, optional

Method:

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and add the corn. Cook for 3 minutes, until tender. Remove the corn from the pot and place in a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking. When the corn is cool, cut the kernels off the cob, cutting close to the cob.

Spread arugula out on a platter and top with tomatoes, corn and slices of goat cheese. Sprinkle pine nuts over the salad and drizzle with basil lime vinaigrette.

VARIATION: Bread and fry the goat cheese for crispy goat cheese croutons, or use crumbled feta instead.

Basil Lime Vinaigrette
1/3 cup light olive oil
3 tbsp fresh squeezed lime juice
2 tbsp honey
1 clove garlic
1/2 cup packed fresh basil
salt and pepper, to taste

Method:

Add all the ingredients to a food processor or blender and puree until smooth and creamy.



This post was sponsored by Natural & Kosher Cheese. Follow them on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, YouTube, Google+, or via their Blog

Related Recipes:

summer tomato feta salad
watermelon corn salsa
pesto and goat cheese crostini

Post a Comment

Blueberry Sweet Potato Granola Salad

I gave you a sneak peek at this light summer salad a few weeks ago, and I’m so excited to finally share it here for keeps! Credit for this awesome combination actually goes to a restaurant named “BLUEBERRY” on Avenue M in Brooklyn. It’s a family-friendly place with fluorescent green walls (not their finest choice) and some great outdoor seating. I love to take my kids there because they’ve got great kid food and a frozen yogurt bar to boot! They’ve also got some really great salads on the menu, like a version of this blueberry salad (you’ve got to make a mean salad if it’s literally got your NAME written all over it, right?), and a delicious haloumi salad with grilled veggies and a sesame teriyaki dressing. I must reinvent that one next! They’ve also got an assortment of malawach and shakshuka, and you all know how I love me some Israeli food.

Thanks to Blueberry for giving me the awesome idea of putting granola on a salad, it’s such a fun way to add crunch, especially during the summer months. Enjoy!

Blueberry Sweet Potato Granola Salad

1 large sweet potato, cut into bite size pieces
1 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste
mixed greens
1 pkg blueberries
1/2 cup granola (make your own)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spread the sweet potato out on a baking sheet and toss with olive oil, salt and pepper. Bake for 25-30 minutes until tender and crisped around the edges.

Place greens in a large bowl and top with sweet potato and blueberries. Sprinkle with granola and drizzle with yogurt dressing.

Strawberry Yogurt Dressing

6oz. plain Greek yogurt
4 large strawberries
1 heaping tbsp honey
drop of vanilla extract

Puree the dressing ingredients in the blender until smooth.