This is going to be one of those times.

A time when you find yourself faced with someone enthusiastically insisting you simply must try what could possibly be as pedestrian or as bizarre as :

1) chocolate and bacon.. in a milkshake
2) avocado as a secret ingredient in perfect mashed potato
3) yet another chocolate chip cookie recipe

and you find yourself politely nodding and agreeing, swearing in butter and sugar that you will definitely bookmark the recipe to try soon. But inside you’re really thinking, what does she know! She :

a) is vegan
b) eats muesli for breakfast, for goodness sake!
c) uses the words ‘Wonderful!’ and ‘amazing’ too often.

Well, guilty as charged, I’m afraid. Maybe I had cake for breakfast this morning and perhaps it’s the sugar high talking, but freshly toasted parsnip cake, really is amazing and wonderful and totally worth succumbing to every cliche to share.

To further feed the cliche, creating cake of a parsnip inclination turns out to be as simple as taking your favourite banana bread or cake recipe and substituting an equal amount of mashed parsnip for the banana component. Here I’ve used a recipe from Flour by Joanne Chang. Include other flavours if you wish. Walnuts are a suitable match, as well as coffee essence. Then if possible, wait until the very next day to toast thick slices of the cake and serve with a flourish of honey or maple syrup. I used pine cone bud syrup because I foolishly bought a rather pricey bottle of it while on holiday once and have been struggling to use it in a meaningful way. Parsnip cake turns out to be one such way.

Parsnip and cocoa nib cake :
(based on a recipe in Flour by Joanne Chang)

210g plain flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
230g sugar
2 eggs
50g melted butter
50g vegetable oil
about 340g of cooked parsnip puree [should be the same consistency as mashed banana]
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons plain yogurt
2 tablespoons cocoa nibs

Preheat oven to 160’C. Butter a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan.

In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

With an electric mixer, whisk the sugar and eggs until very light and fluffy. On low speed, slowly drizzle in the oil and melted butter. Mix in the parsnip puree, yogurt and vanilla until just combined. Fold in the flour mixture and cocoa nibs. Pour the batter into the loaf pan and bake for about 1 hour. The top of the cake should be well browned and spring back when pressed lightly.

Cool completely before removing from tin. This cake can be eaten straight away but is even better the next day, when sliced thickly and toasted.

Another year, another gateau. Baked, iced and ceremoniously divided into thick slabs. We forked it over cups of tea, sitting next to a gas heater set on high. I couldn’t help but smile that chocolate-stained smile that always makes him shake his head and laugh.

Another year, another birthday. While swilling a glass of red over dinner with friends, he declared, “I don’t feel any older”.

Well, what a relief, I thought. Because, I secretly do. And with every passing year, that creeping fear that I’m no closer to realising where I want to be or what I want to be doing.

But I do love birthdays, if not mine. So with wine, and a 10-course meal (with a friend who cheekily wants to tell the waiter that she’s allergic to micro herbs), and later bundled with giggles and wobbly heels into a cab, I’m happy we’re all a year older. Or is that a year younger?

When it comes to birthdays, the devil is never in the detail.

Devil’s Food Cake :
(adapted from a recipe in Baker & Spice by Dan Lepard and Richard Whittington)

150g 70% bittersweet chocolate, chopped
100g caster sugar
125ml milk
40g cocoa powder
3 eggs separated + 1 egg yolk
160g unsalted butter, softened
85g brown sugar
225g plain flour
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
170g plain yogurt

Preheat the oven to 170’C. Butter and line two 23cm springform cake tins.

Put the chocolate, caster sugar, milk, cocoa powder and 2 egg yolks in a bowl set over simmering water. Stir until chocolate has just melted, then remove from heat and set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter with the brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the remaining 2 egg yolks, then the flour, salt and bicarbonate of soda. Fold in the chocolate mixture followed by the yogurt. In another bowl, whisk the egg whites until firm and fold this through the cake mixture.

Divide the mixture between the 2 tins and lightly smooth the top. Bake in the centre of the oven for 30-35 minutes or until a skewer inserted into a cake comes out clean. Allow the cakes to completely cool before icing.

For the icing :

200g 70% bittersweet chocolate, chopped
25g cocoa powder
80ml hot water
1 tablespoon golden syrup
45g unsalted butter, softened
100g icing sugar, sifted
1 egg yolk

Melt the chocolate in a bowl over simmering water. In a small bowl, combine the cocoa powder, golden syrup and water. Add this to the melted chocolate and whisk until combined. Remove from the heat and whisk in the butter, icing sugar and egg yolk. You can add more icing sugar than the recommended amount if you wish. Chill this mixture until it is thick and spreadable.

A decade or so ago, I met and befriended an investment banker who frequented the sandwich shop I worked at. My job was a short-lived part time distraction I loved, which earned me a bit of spending money while I was still studying. His was a boring job, earning obscene amounts of money (his words) and he looked the part to boot. Very Mad Men, now that I think about it. Complete with grey fedora.

We hung out a few times and he spoke wistfully of wanting to travel around the country. One day, he paid for his sandwich and said that he wasn’t going to be back as he had quit his job to chase a dream. We didn’t keep in touch which was a shame, because I still wonder if he’s living his dream. If I met him again, I’d also like to tell him that I’m managing to slowly chase mine.

I never did like studying much. Perhaps it was because my parents placed so much emphasis on it as a sign of success. School, piano lessons, violin lessons, computer classes. None of it seems to amount to what I enjoy doing now, but I don’t regret any of it. Doing what you don’t like sometimes leads to the discovery of what you do like. After I graduated from University, I approached a few restaurants looking for a job and finally someone did give me a break. There have been many ups and downs since but I’m still making things with my hands, still feeding people and hopefully bringing smiles to faces.

Life before cake was happy and sweet. Life after cake is just as good. But with cake.

Wheat-free lemon poppyseed cake :
(based on a recipe in Flour by Joanne Chang)

120g brown rice flour
120g barley flour
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
150g unsalted butter, melted
60g cream (35% fat)
3 tablespoons finely grated lemon zest
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
3 tablespoons poppy seeds
4 eggs
220g caster sugar

Preheat the oven to 175’C. Line a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan with baking paper.

Sift the flours, baking powder, xanthan gum and salt together.

In another bowl, combine the melted butter, cream, lemon zest, juice and poppyseeds.

In a stand mixer, whisk the eggs and caster sugar on medium speed for about 5 minutes or until light and fluffy. Fold in the flour mixture, then the butter mixture, until combined. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 1 hour or until the cake is golden brown and a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool slightly before glazing the still-warm cake with a lemon icing.

For the glaze, mix 70g icing sugar with 1 to 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and spread it over the cake.