Here's an epic vegetable cake: Swede (rutabega) Nutmeg Cake with Browned Butter Frosting and Salted Hazelnuts! It's moist, flavorful and soooo good. It's similar to carrot cake, but with swede / rutabaga instead.
Swede Cake
My mum loves her kale smoothies in the morning and grew huge cucumbers in the garden when we were kids, but when thinking about a vegetable for her Mother's Day cake I thought of the humble turnip.
That or spinach, I suppose.
She doesn’t like cooked spinach but still, I feed it to her with the regularity of a mum of toddlers who is used to soldiering on, re-offering spurned food frequently enough to wear the hater into submission.
I always thought it odd that as a child she carved turnips at Halloween, so I suppose that is why I thought of it.
Turnips remind me of my mum, so here is a swede recipe, even though they are not the same thing.
I realise that doesn’t particularly make sense.
Expect the unexpected, people.
Read: there were no turnips at the store.
Rutabaga Cake
This cake is very similar to carrot cake.
It's subtly spiced and even with a great pile of rutabaga (swede) in it, the veg can't be tasted.
The moist, fluffy cake combines well with the nutty flavour of the browned butter icing and the crunch of the salted hazelnuts.
It sounds crazy (like many of my other vegetable cakes!) but the flavors really work! I hope you enjoy this rutabaga cake!
Snippets of my week:
1. Giles Coren, inimitable foodie wordie man, spoke to me on Twitter. I take this to mean, in all seriousness, that we are to be great friends. We shall eat the food of Roman times, drink well-matched wines and laugh about the absurdities of life, while our children grow up, fall in love, and marry.
2. My Kale and Almond Biscotti was mentioned in The Province newspaper in Vancouver, Canada. Cool, eh?
3. Food52 featured my Pumpkin and Spice Dark Chocolate Bark via Instagram.
4. I failed my driving test. Teenage children whose mummies still make their packed lunches are allowed behind the wheels of cars and I am not. Okay, so perhaps I shouldn't have gone careering across a junction like a maniac, nearly killing both myself and the examiner. Oops. *Dons cycle helmet*.
Swede / Rutabaga
Swede and Rutabaga are the same thing, depending on what country you're from.
Swede, rutabaga and turnips are those veg that sometimes you just don't know what to do with.
They turn up in the veg box, and laugh as you scratch your head wondering what to make.
One way to cook them is Foodie Quine's turnip in microwave - it sings!
Before I head to the recipe, let me tell you a bit about my mum.
She did something pretty amazing a few years ago.
She moved to England from Ireland to help out and be a full-on Grandma.
My son was one and my daughter was about to be born, so Grandma retired and moved to help my husband and me with the little ones and to be a big part of our family.
She's just across the road when we need her and that is so very very special.
She's my recipe tester, chocolate-provider and sanity-saver.
Plus she doesn't get annoyed when the kids create epic, totally tubular waves all over the floor at bath time or smear yogurt on her sofa, and she loves them dearly. That's pretty special, too. Happy Mother's Day, mum.
Swede (Rutabega) Nutmeg Cake with Brown Butter Frosting and Salted Hazelnuts
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 150 g 1 cup, packed raw peeled and grated swede (rutabega)
- 3 eggs
- 175 g ¾ cup sugar
- 100 g ½ cup plain full-fat yogurt
- 100 ml ½ cup rapeseed or vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 250 g 2 ½ cups plain (self-raising) flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon bicarb of soda baking soda
- 2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon salt
For the brown butter frosting:
- 400 g 3 cups powdered icing sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3-4 tablespoons milk
- 115 g ½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
To serve:
- 30 g ¼ cup salted hazelnuts, chopped
Instructions
For the cake:
- Preheat oven to 180C/350F. Grease and line a 9” square cake tin with parchment paper.
- Beat the eggs, sugar, yogurt, oil and vanilla together well. Stir in the grated swede. Sift in the flour, baking powder, bicarb of soda, nutmeg and salt and gently stir to combine.
- Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 25-30 minutes or until an inserted skewer comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes in the tin and then turn onto a wire rack, removing the parchment paper, to cool completely.
For the frosting
- Put the icing sugar, vanilla and 1 tablespoon of the milk into a large bowl. Set aside.
- In a saucepan over a low heat, melt the butter and continue to heat until it turns brown and smells nutty. Pour into the bowl of powdered sugar and beat until thick and smooth, adding more milk if necessary.
- Top the cooled cake with the frosting and sprinkle with the chopped hazelnuts.
Nutrition
The nutritional information provided is approximate and can vary depending on several factors, so is not guaranteed to be accurate. Please see a registered dietician for special diet advice.
Okokimip
Can this recipe be made with white turnips?
Kate Hackworthy
Hi, turnips should work too! Let me know how it tastes with turnips instead of swede. Happy baking 🙂
Chris
The cake is really lovely and the flavour combination is wonderful.
Kate Hackworthy
Thanks Chris, the flavours worked well in this, admittedly, unusual cake.
Tonja
Hi,
First time to your blog. This recipe looks great! I am wondering about the self-rising flour. It is not something I use much of here in Canada. I read online that I can make my own by adding baking powder and salt to all-purpose flour, but that would mean 5 tsp of baking powder in the recipe. Does this sound right to you?
Thanks. Tonja
Kate Hackworthy
Hi Tonja
Sorry, it should be plain (all-purpose) flour, not self raising! Just use AP flour with the 2 tsp of baking powder and it should work fine.
Lita Watson
Can i make raw peeled and grated swede my own instead of using the packed one for this recipe? Will it make any change in the flavor of the dish?
Kate Hackworthy
Hi Lita
Raw peeled and grated swede would work absolutely fine. Let me know how you get on!
Rae
Can I freeze this & top later to serve?
Kate Hackworthy
Hi Rae, That should be fine. Just wrap it well. I hope you like it 🙂
Carol
Do you think this could be made low-carb using sweetner substitute and almond flour?
Kate Hackworthy
Hi Carol, I've never tested it with those substitutions, but if you're used to using them then it's worth a try! Let me know how you get on 🙂
cynthia
Oh my gosh, these are so unique and TOO cute. I love the little flourish of icing on the top -- beautiful. Love these!
Kate Hackworthy
Thanks Cynthia! The flourish as a byproduct of a major piping bag incident. It broke. I tried to make do with a ziploc bag, but it split. So I flourished through the split. Times are hard. Thanks for visiting my site; I adore yours. Let me sweep my virtual welcome mat and beckon you in for tea and cakes. We'll use the good cups.
Anyonita
Swede is one of my all-time favorite veggies! 🙂 I can't wait for fall just so I can make swede stew; in fall & winter, I put it in practically EVERYTHING but have never made a cake with it! Oh yes, I've been meaning to tell you this: the other night, you/your blog were in my dream! You were launching a veggie desserts cookbook & were having a launch party & I was helping you organize everything lol. We were arguing because you wanted the people to come in fancy dress as their favorite vegetable & I wanted them to come as their favorite dessert. Right at the end we compromised & did half & half & on the night we had like a team building exercise where everyone had to find an opposite partner & come up with a veggie dessert! Pretty ingenious! lol. Also, I ASSUME it was you. Since we've never met, it could have been anyone. But I kept calling my dream doppleganger you by your name & referring to recipes on your blog. MUST have been you! 😀
Kate Hackworthy
HA HA! That's hilarious! Sooooooo funny. And my perfect fancy dress theme! Sounds like we threw a great party 😀 ! LOL
Aunt Bee
This may be one of my favorite of your recipes in a while and I have liked them all! These are just exceptionally adorable! Well done! <3
Kate Hackworthy
Thanks Aunt Bee, very kind! 😀
susanna
i found you on food52 instagram! and i can't wait to start making your unique/cool recipies
Kate Hackworthy
Aw, thanks Susanna! I hope you enjoy them 🙂
Choclette
You never cease to surprise Kate. Swede (and definitely not turnip) is not something I'd have thought of for cake, but now you've mentioned it, i can see how it might work. The cakes look delicious and your mother sounds very special.
Kate Hackworthy
Thanks so much Choclette. The swede works surprisingly well!