Spice Cake with Parsnips (dairy-free, gluten-free, egg-free, refined sugar free, vegan)

My mother always made a spice cake for my sister’s birthday. It was her favorite and she would have loved this one. Its light and moist texture will make even the pickiest cake eater happy. Topped with a spiced cream cheese frosting, its a delight.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. You’ll need:

9×13 baking dish, lightly sprayed with non-stick cooking spray
1 cup cooked and pureed parsnips (steam the parsnips until tender; blend in food processor with a little water, up to 1/4 cup, to make puree; you’ll need approximately 1 pound of parsnips to make a cup of puree)
1 1/2 cups all purpose gluten-free flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon allspice or nutmeg (I don’t like nutmeg so I usually use allspice but if you do like nutmeg, feel free to use it instead of the allspice)
1/2 cup date sugar
1 tablespoon lucuma
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup avocado oil
3 tablespoons ground flax combined with 1/3 cup hot water, cooled
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup non-dairy milk
1/2 cup club soda
1/2 cup hemp hearts (or if you can eat them, chopped walnuts)

Before beginning anything else, combine the ground flax and hot water so that it can stand for about 5 minutes and cool for later use. Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Whisk to aerate and set aside. Combine the parsnips, oil, date sugar, lucuma, vanilla, baking powder and flax gel and beat to combine with a hand or stand mixer. Add to the dry ingredients along with the milk and club soda and beat until well combined.

Spoon into the prepared baking dish. Mixture is quite thick so needs to be spread evenly in the pan. Bake for 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Remove and let cool on the counter for an hour before frosting.

To make the frosting, combine: