We were thrilled to try European Gourmet Bakery Organic Vanilla Cake Mix and Organic Vanilla Icing Mix to create a dessert to showcase on a sponsored Insta post for Easter this month…introducing our new creation, the Speckled Root Vegetable Cake.
It turned out so nice that we just had to share it with y’all here as well.
THE CAKE: For our take on carrot cake, we added grated red beets plus the zest and juice of one small orange to one layer of the cake; the other layer featured grated parsnips and carrots plus a teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice. (We used 2 boxes of cake mix and 3/4 cup of grated veg per box of mix.) After 18 minutes of baking, we placed a tight layer of foil on each of the cakes and then baked them for a few more minutes until we used a cake tester to find that the middles were perfectly set.
THE FILLING & THE ICING: In between the root vegetable layers is a bit of blood orange curd; lemon curd would be really good here as well. The trick to the speckling on the icing outside of the cake is whisking one part vanilla extract with one part cocoa powder and flicking it onto the iced cake using a food-safe brush. (Practice first and add a little more vanilla to the mix for smaller flecks.)
THE BIRD NEST: The little nest on top was Justin’s creation! He arranged the sesame sticks in a small bowl, poured a dark chocolate mixture on top of it, and let it set in the fridge before adding the candy eggs from Dinstuhl’s here in Memphis.
Hope this gives you some sweet inspiration for your Easter meal next week. While you’re doing your planning, be sure to check out one of our favorite decorations, the speckled bird egg vases from our friend Bridgman Pottery.
All images here by Justin Fox Burks Photo Studio.