Parsnip & ginger ice-cream, honeyed pears and chocolate clusters

Why vegetables make excellent desserts. And 6 (SIX!) recipes to prove it.

Vegetables make excellent desserts

People get a bit funny about seeing things they consider ‘savoury’ in puddings, but no one bats an eyelid at carrot cake, which is no less odd when you think about it. And many vegetables aren’t that savoury anyway. Beetroots, parsnips, pumpkins and peas all have, like carrots, a hint of sweetness just begging to let be allowed to party with the cream and sugar.

I love experimenting with veg-filled puds

Veg-filled puds in From the Veg Patch

It means I get to try nettle sorbet so you don’t have to, before realising that gin and cucumber sorbet is what I really meant to make all along (see Rough Patch for the recipe). I’ve made quite a few veg-puds in my time. For example:

In my cookbook, From the Veg Patch:

• Pumpkin and sage cake with feta and thyme frosting

• Courgette cake with lime buttercream

• Beetroot, tahini and almond brownies

And here on Tales From the Veg Patch:

Three Mince Pies (& a surprise filling)

Parsnip & Ginger Loaf

Parsnips for pudding

That last combo on the list above (parsnip and ginger) has been on my mind lately because I have a bucket in the shed of gnarly parsnips from the patch which need using up. I’ve also been tasked with cooking a birthday pudding for someone addicted to that dangerously delicious corner of chocolates which includes chocolate-covered raisins and Cadbury’s Fruit n’ Nut. Plus, those poached pears from the other week are still floating around in my head.

The upshot of this mental dessert trolley is an indulgent combination of all three in the recipe below. I recommend making them all, though obviously you can make just one component. But I’d call that a very parsimonious pudding.

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Parsnip & ginger ice-cream, honeyed pears & chocolate clusters

Any one element of this dish would make most people happy, so pick and mix as your time allows. Though each can all be made ahead (the clusters and pears will keep for 3-4 days in the fridge.) For the ice-cream, don’t be troubled by the liquid glucose. It’s necessary to prevent the water in the parsnip puree crystallising and is easily found in the baking aisle. You’ll have ice-cream leftover too, but that’s no chore.

Serves 6 with ice-cream leftover

• 3 pears

• 3 tbsp honey

For the ice-cream:

• 350g parsnips, peeled and cut into 2cm cubes

• Up to 500ml whole milk

• 4 egg yolks