Raw vegan and grain-free cake made with parsnip hazelnut ginger date crust and creamy pear coconut ginger layer.
As promised I’ve got one delicious Parsnip Pear Hazelnut Cake recipe for you today. This is a raw cake that is inspired by a cake by Lily Vanilli that I used to bake few years back now.
I’ve always loved the combination of parsnips, pear, ginger and hazelnuts and I wanted to remake it in a raw cake. This is a lovely cake combination with soft gentle flavors and hints of ginger in between. Just beautiful.
As with all raw cakes they are simple and quick to make but do take some time to set before you can enjoy them and are the best to make the night before.
The base layer is a similar mix to my Parsnip Pizza, but with the addition of medjool dates and fresh ginger. This mixture is so yummy, you could just eat it as it is! The creamy top layer is a mix of coconut butter, pureed pears and ginger. I’ve added ginger into both layers, but you don’t have to, you could even leave it out if you like without affecting the recipe much.
You can decorate the cake any way you like, I wanted to keep it very simple and elegant because the colours are very soft and used chopped hazelnuts and a few thyme sprigs. Enjoy:)
Parsnip Pear Hazelnut Cake (raw, vegan, grain-free)
Raw vegan and grain-free cake made with parsnip hazelnut ginger date crust and creamy pear coconut ginger layer.
Ingredients
Parsnip hazelnut layer:
- 1 cup parsnips, peeled and coarsely grated (110 grams)
- 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, peeled and grated
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 3/4 cup hazelnuts (100 grams)
- 1/4 cup sunflower seeds (30 grams)
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- pinch pink salt
- 6 medjool dates, pitted
Pear coconut layer:
- 2 large pears
- 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, peeled and grated
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 cup coconut butter (200 grams)
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Topping:
- chopped hazelnuts
- fresh thyme sprigs
Instructions
- You will need 6" round cake tin with removable base.
- To make the base layer peel and roughly grate the parsnips, peel and finely grate ginger, squeeze lemon juice over, stir and set aside.
- Place hazelnuts and sunflower seeds into a food processor or high speed blender and pulse until roughly ground.
- Add cinnamon, salt and pitted medjool dates and pulse until the mixture comes together.
- Scoop the mix into a bowl with the parsnip mix and stir together until incorporated. You can also add the parsnip mix into the food processor and pulse just until incorporated.
- Spoon the mix into the tin, spread evenly onto the base and press down. Place into a fridge.
- In a double boiler gently melt coconut butter, leave to cool down.
- Stir in maple syrup and cinnamon.
- Peel, quarter and core the pears, place into blender or food processor with ginger and lemon juice and blend until smooth. Stir into the coconut butter mix and spoon onto the crust layer.
- Place into a freezer for about 1 hour to set, just enough so it's easy to remove from the tin. You can also leave it to set in fridge for at least 2 hours.
- Once the cake is set, carefully remove from the tin, place onto a cake stand and top with chopped hazelnuts and fresh thyme sprigs.
- Store in a fridge or slice leftovers to keep in freezer.
- Enjoy!
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
8Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving:Calories: 466Total Fat: 35gSaturated Fat: 16gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 17gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 254mgCarbohydrates: 40gFiber: 11gSugar: 25gProtein: 7g
Hana this looks amazing! You really have nailed your parsnip week ;-) I love all the favours in this, fab x
Thank you so much Michelle! Yay, I’m so happy you think so! These two recipes have been on my list for a while now, so happy I finally made them :) xx
What could I use instead of coconut butter?
Hi Agnieszka, it will be tricky to replace it in this recipe, because it holds the structure so well. But if you really want an alternative you could try replacing it with a mix of soaked cashews and coconut oil. You will have to experiment with it.
what about cacao butter??
Cacao butter could work as well, but the flavour is quite different. I’m not sure how it would taste, but you could certainly try :)
Wow, this sounds so good!!!
Thank you so much Valentina! xxx
Thank you so much Sasha! Parsnip and pear are absolutely amazing together, you must try it in a cake too! xxx