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Why we should eat more beige food

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Parsnip, orange and ginger loaf from A Good Day To Bake by Benjamina Ebuehi (Quadrille, £22). PA Photo/Laura Edwards.

By Prudence Wade

Benjamina Ebuehi wants to reclaim the beauty of beige food.

While it doesn’t always have the best reputation for being particularly nutritious or tasty, Ebuehi still loves it – and has dedicated a whole chapter in her new cookbook to the ‘Best of beige’.

“You don’t need to add colour. It’s honestly a beautiful colour in its own right,” she says passionately.

Perhaps it’s also partly because Ebuehi, 29, wrote her latest cookbook, A Good Day To Bake, in lockdown. This means she was craving “comfort food” more than normal, and it’s these wholesome, comforting and – yes – beige bakes that permeate the book.

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A Good Day To Bake by Benjamina Ebuehi (Quadrille, £22). PA Photo/Laura Edwards.

Fans of The Great British Bake Off will remember Ebuehi as a talented baker who made it to the quarter-finals in 2016.

In the new book, Ebuehi doesn’t just want to change people’s minds about beige food though. She also wants to convince wannabe bakers to try new and interesting flavour combinations, and ingredients they might not have thought about before. “If people are comfortable with carrot cake, then I don’t think parsnip is that far away,” she reasons.

Unexpected ingredients pop up throughout Ebuehi’s sweet bakes – from sage doughnuts to fennel and peach cobbler. She admits a lot of her inspirations come from savoury recipes – particularly when eating out.

 

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Banana, tahini and rum cake from A Good Day To Bake by Benjamina Ebuehi (Quadrille, £22). PA Photo/Laura Edwards.

Banana, Tahini and Rum Cake

Serves 8-10

 

2 eggs

100g light brown sugar

100g dark brown sugar

75g tahini

300g bananas

3tbsp dark rum

150g plain flour

100g wholemeal rye flour

2tsp baking powder

¼tsp bicarbonate of soda

½tsp ground cinnamon

Pinch of salt

Walnuts, to decorate

For the glaze:

60g icing sugar

½tbsp dark rum

½tsp tahini

1tsp vanilla bean paste

 

Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease and line the base of a 20cm springform or loose-bottomed cake pan.

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and sugars together for a minute or so until combined and just a little bit paler. Mix in the tahini. In a separate bowl, mash the bananas with the rum. Add the bananas to your egg mixture and stir to combine. Add both the flours, the baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon and salt. Stir until just combined.

Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake for about 40–45 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Leave to cool a little in the pan while you make the glaze.

To make the glaze, mix together all of the glaze ingredients until smooth and you have a pourable consistency. If it is too thick, add a teaspoon of water at a time to loosen.

Pour the glaze over the warm cake and let it set for 10 minutes before turning the cake out onto a serving plate. Top with walnuts to decorate and let it cool completely before serving.

 

Parsnip, Orange and Ginger Loaf

Serves 8-10

 

For the parsnip crisps:

1 parsnip

1tsp olive oil

2tsp maple syrup or honey

Pinch of salt

For the cake:

160ml sunflower or vegetable oil, plus extra for greasing

160g light brown sugar

Zest of 1 orange

2 eggs

200g parsnips, grated

210g plain flour

1½tsp baking powder

½tsp bicarbonate of soda

2tsp ground ginger

¼tsp ground cloves

60g walnuts, roughly chopped, plus extra to decorate

For the glaze:

90g icing sugar

Juice of ½ orange

 

Preheat the oven to 180C. Line a baking sheet with baking paper and grease and line a 900-gram loaf pan.

Start by making the parsnip crisps. Use a mandoline or potato peeler to thinly slice the parsnip. Place the peelings on the baking sheet and drizzle with the oil, maple syrup or honey and pinch of salt. Toss them with your hands to make sure all the pieces are coated and lay them out evenly so they don’t overlap. Bake for 15–20 minutes, turning once halfway through. Keep a close eye on them, as they can catch quite easily. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.

For the cake, mix together the oil, sugar and orange zest in a bowl. Beat in the eggs and stir until smooth, then carefully mix in the grated parsnips.

In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, ground ginger and cloves. Add to the wet ingredients and mix gently until just combined. Now stir in the chopped walnuts.

Pour the batter into the loaf pan and bake for 45–50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the pan for 15 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely. To make the glaze, mix the icing sugar and orange juice in a small bowl until smooth. You want it to be a thick but pourable consistency. Add a little more icing sugar if it’s too thin or a bit more orange juice if it’s too thick.

Once the cake is completely cool, pour the glaze on top, letting it drip down the sides. Top with the parsnip crisps and extra chopped walnuts before serving.

 

A Good Day To Bake: Simple Baking Recipes For Every Mood by Benjamina Ebuehi is available now

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