- Prep time
- 0:25
- Cook time
- 1:05
- Skill level
- Medium
- Serves
- 8–10
The humble Jerusalem artichoke: you either love it or you hate it.
Not to be confused with the globe artichoke, the Jerusalem artichoke is a knobbly tuber that's easy to grow and great for your gut health.
It's one of Kirsten's favourite winter vegetables, and while she loves it in a soup or sauteed with some garlic, it also makes a delicious cake.
Her recipe below combines it with nuts and spices, similar to carrot or zucchini cake, topped with that ultra delicious cream cheese and lemon.
Ingredients
Method
- 1.Soak the sultanas in the brandy in covered bowl for at least one hour, or longer if you can (overnight is ideal).
- 2.Preheat your oven to 180℃ and line a deep, 20cm cake tin.
- 3.Toast the hazelnuts in a dry frying pan for a few minutes until the nuts brown a little and the skins loosen. Leave to cool, then rub the nuts in a piece of kitchen towel to remove the skins. Roughly chop the clean hazelnuts.
- 4.Grate the Jerusalem artichokes or blitz with a food processor.
- 5.Cream the butter with the sugar until pale and fluffy.
- 6.Beat in the brandied sultanas.
- 7.Beat in the eggs one by one, adding a little bit of flour between each egg.
- 8.Sieve in the rest of the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt and spices.
- 9.Lightly stir in the nuts and chocolate.
- 10.Fold in the artichokes.
- 11.Scrape the mixture into your tin and bake for about 50 minutes until well risen, brown and an inserted skewer comes out almost clean. While the cake is cooking, you can make the cream cheese icing.
- 12.Allow to cool in the tin for 15 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Cream cheese icing
- 1.Beat the cream cheese and sugar together.
- 2.Grate in the lemon zest and squeeze in nearly half of the juice.
- 3.Beat it all together then slather over the top of the cooled cake.
- 4.Shave some dark chocolate or candied artichoke to garnish.
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