Turnips in dessert??? Are you sure?? Oh yes!!! I am sure after making this turnip walnut cake :-)

I followed Masterchef season-4 very closely. I always wanted to try the masterpiece dessert: Shalgam(Turnip) Cake made by Chef Nikita. Unfortunately the recipe was never shared for viewers nor can you find it easily on Internet. 

So I thought why not make it myself and share the recipe. I was so happy to have a moist, spicy and soft cake as an output. 

Turnip ( Shalgam) is an underrated vegetable in our kitchens.. May be because of the radish like flavour that it has.. Few of us use it in salads and few prefer it cooked. Just like cabbage or radish, the flavour becomes mild when cooked. I love it in cooked form.  I am sure you would love this variation of using turnip in dessert too.

I prepared my own customized version of Turnip Walnut cake ( with little carrot and kiwi) with butter cream frosting. Here's the recipe:

Turnip Walnut Cake

Ingredients

For cake

1/2 cup butter 

1 cup powdered sugar 

1 tbsp moist brown sugar

3 eggs

1 cup or 3 boiled turnips 

1 and 1/2 cup all purpose flour 

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon powder

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg 

1/8 tsp or a pinch of ground cloves

1/4 tsp salt

1/3 cup chopped roasted walnuts 

1 tsp vanilla extract 

1/4 tsp orange extract

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup grated carrot (optional)

1 finely chopped kiwi (optional) or 1/4 cup pineapple pulp (optional) 

For butter cream frosting

1/2 cup butter 

3 cups confectioners sugar 

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

 2 tbsp milk

Procedure

For Cake

Prep work..

1) Remove the skin of turnips and chopped it into large pieces. Let it boil in water with little salt. I boiled it in a pressure cooker for 5-10 minutes. 

2)Put the boiled turnips in a blender to make it a smooth paste.

Procedure:

1) Beat butter and sugar together.

2) Add eggs and beat the mixture until it becomes fluffy.

3) Now in a separate container combine the all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon powder and nutmeg powder.

Sift the flour mixture using a tea strainer.

4) Now add the flour mixture little at a time in the egg mixture and beat it every time you add flour. Repeat this until all the flour is completely beaten to form a smooth paste.

5) Add milk, brown sugar,  vanilla extract and orange extract. Beat again.

6) Add turnip mixture, grated carrots and pineapple or kiwi pulp. Add roasted walnuts. Beat it once again so that all ingredients get mixed well.

9)Preheat your oven to 360 or 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

Pour the flour in a butter greased baking tray.

Bake it for 30-35 minutes. Insert a tooth pick to see nothing liquidy sticks to it. If so, cake is baked and done.

10) Let the cake cool down. You can frost it with the cream of your choice.

 I prepared a quick butter cream frosting with a violet color to match it with a turnip skin color.

Procedure for preparing Frosting

1) Beat the butter in a container with a beater such that it softens. 

2) Add little sugar at a time and beat the mixture again. Repeat the same until all sugar is mixed well. 

3) Now you will see cream getting formed. Add vanilla extract, milk and color if you wish. Beat it again. 

Note: If you want to make the cream sweeter, you can take one more cup of confectioners sugar.

Ahhhha...now your cake is ready.. Frost  it with the cream prepared and garnish it with walnuts.. 

Enjoy the lovely cake with your friends and family. 

Happy baking!!

Cheers,

Shweta