Parsnip Loaf Cake

This Parsnip Loaf Cake is a tasty, easy vegetable cake recipe. The parsnip gives it a subtly nutty sweetness and moisture and it's very simple to make in 1 bowl. It's like a moist parsnip pound cake.

I know, you’re thinking parsnip? In a loaf cake? Trust me, you’ll love it. Adding parsnip to a cake should be as common as adding carrot.

This Parsnip Loaf Cake is super quick and easy to make, and tastes absolutely incredible. The texture of the parsnip fades in the moist and fluffy cake, leaving behind a wonderful moisture and deep, sweet flavor.

I adore parsnip in cakes as it brings a beautifully sweet nutty flavour. It also means the cake is moist and lasts for ages without drying out. 

I love using it in cakes, so I added parsnip to this Madeira-style cake. With delicious results. I hope you’ll love it too.

This parsnip loaf recipe was originally posted on 29 April 2013 and republished on 26 Feb 2021 with new images and text. The recipe remains the same.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

This parsnip bread is moist, rich and utterly divine. 

The flavor of the parsnip fades way, but really does make it moist. 

It’s a simple no-fuss recipe.

It’s a budget-friendly cake with simple ingredients.

A 1-bowl cake recipe.

It’s a fun hidden vegetable cake. Nobody will guess that there’s parsnip in it!

This recipe is a great way to use up leftover parsnips.

The parsnip makes it last for ages. We were quite restrained and didn’t finish it for four days, but it still tasted perfectly fresh and didn’t dry out.

Ingredients and Tools

Parsnip - You know, those root vegetables that look a bit like white carrots. They add a lovely moisture and nutty sweet flavor to this cake.

Butter - butter adds a lovely richness to the parsnip bread. You could use margarine, but butter really shines through in this recipe.

Sugar - to sweeten the cake and add to the structure. I use regular granulated white sugar.

Eggs - to help bind the cake. To make it eggless, use a flax egg (for each egg, dissolve 1 tablespoon flax meal in 2 tablespoons of water and leave to sit for 5 minutes).

Flour - use all-purpose (aka plain flour).

Baking powder - to help the cake rise and get beautifully fluffy.

Milk - to add extra moisture to the batter.

Tools

You’ll need:

Grater (I use a regular cheese grater to grate the parsnips)

Mixing bowl

Electric mixer (or beat/whisk vigorously by hand)

Oven

Loaf pan (450g/1 ½ lb)

Tips

This recipe is great for using up older parsnips that are a bit bendy and old. They’re a bit harder to grate, but it’s still totally possible.

If your parsnips are organic, you don’t need to peel them, but be sure to clean them really well. Parsnips sometimes get dirt stuck in little crevices. I like to dunk them under water and use a vegetable brush to clean them thoroughly.

As with most cakes, you can beat the wet ingredients really well (and should, to get loads of air into the ingredients), but when you add the dry ingredients you should mix by hand so that air doesn’t get beaten out.

Serving Suggestions

This parsnip loaf cake is delicious served on its own, or you can slice it and serve with a little butter.

Enjoy it at Afternoon Tea for a celebration. Check out my Best Afternoon Tea Recipes.

Try it served drizzled with vanilla custard.

Serve with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Enjoy with a cup of tea or mug of coffee for a tasty snack.

This cake has a dense pound cake-style texture, so you could even cut slices and grill them on the barbecue! Sound crazy, but it’s sooo good when the sugars char and it gets grill marks. Top with ice cream that will melt into it and it’s utterly delicious.

Serve the parsnip loaf topped with fruit compote and a little whipped cream. It would be incredible with pomegranate compote or blueberry compote.

Enjoy it for breakfast: serve a slice topped with plain yogurt and fresh berries.

Vegetable Cake Recipes

I hope that you'll be inspired by this Parsnip Bread to explore more vegetable desserts.

My blog is full of them, so give some of these a try and I'm sure you'll love veg cakes!

Apple Kale Cake
Lemon and Cucumber Cake
Chocolate Beetroot Cake
Sweet Vanilla Pea Cake with Lemon Frosting

Check out all my other vegetable desserts.

Parsnip Desserts

Carrot cake is so popular. And rightly so!

You can't ever taste the carrot, but we all know that it makes carrot cake so beautifully moist!

Parsnip works in a very similar way in this parsnip loaf. It's a root vegetable that's naturally sweet. 

Parsnips have a very mild nutty flavor, so they really do work incredibly well in cakes and bakes. 

Try some of these other parsnip cake recipes!

Maple Parsnip Cake with Sweet Potato Frosting

Winter-Spiced Parsnip Cake with Mulled Wine Drizzle

Vegetable Peeling Cake (carrot, parsnip)

Lemon, Poppy Seed and Parsnip Muffins

Carrot, Parsnip and Coconut Flapjacks

Apple and Parsnip Crumble

Did you make this Parsnip Loaf recipe? Please let me know how it turned out for you!
Leave a comment and star rating below and share a picture with the hashtag #veggiedesserts. I love seeing your recreations of my vegetarian and vegan recipes.

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