Ingredients
For The Cake
225 ml (8 fl oz) sunflower oil, plus extra to grease
225 g (8oz) light brown muscovado sugar
4 med eggs
225 g (8oz) self-raising flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp mixed spice
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
75 g (3oz) sultanas
150 g (5oz) carrots, peeled and coarsely grated
150 g (5oz) parsnips, peeled and coarsely grated
50 g (2oz) Brussels sprouts, finely chopped
50 g (2oz) pecans, chopped
Finely grated zest of 1 orange
For The Candied Vegetable Decorations
250 g (9oz) caster sugar
1 carrot, peeled into ribbons
1 parsnip, peeled into ribbons
For The Frosting
250 g (9oz) unsalted butter, very soft
400 g (14oz) cream cheese
200 g (7oz) icing sugar, sifted
finely grated zest of 1 orange
Method
- Preheat oven to 170°C (150°C fan) mark 3. Grease and line the base and sides of a 20.5cm (8in) cake tin with baking parchment. Put oil, muscovado sugar and eggs into a large bowl and whisk together until smooth.
- Add flour, soda and spices to the bowl and mix to combine. Add sultanas, carrots, parsnips, Brussels sprouts, pecans and orange zest. Mix well.
- Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 1hr 45min or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Cover with foil after 30min to stop the cake from browning too much. Leave to cool for 5min in the tin, then remove from tin and leave to cool completely on a wire rack.
- Meanwhile, make the candied vegetables. Preheat oven to 160°C (140°C fan) mark 3. Mix together the caster sugar and 250ml (9fl oz) water in a medium pan over low heat, until sugar has dissolved. Turn up the heat and bring to the boil. Add the vegetable ribbons to the pan and allow to bubble for 5min. Turn off the heat and use tongs to remove the strips carefully, laying them out on a lined baking sheet spaced well apart (you may need more than 1 baking sheet). Transfer to the oven and bake for about 15min.
- Taking 1 tray out of the oven at a time and, working quickly, carefully wrap the peelings around the handle of a wooden spoon, one at a time – use multiple spoons to get this done quickly. Allow to harden slightly, then slide off and place on a lined tray. Repeat with remaining peelings. If they start to get brittle, return to the oven to soften. Store cooled, curled peelings in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
- To make the frosting, in a large bowl mix together the butter, cream cheese, icing sugar and orange zest. Slice the cooled cake in half and use half the frosting to sandwich the layers together. Spread remaining frosting over the top of the cake and decorate with curled candied vegetables
http://www.goodhousekeeping.co.uk/christmas/christmas-recipes/christmas-vegetable-cake
