Author Notes: This cake is a fall and winter workhorse. It is soft, spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg, and dark rum, sweet with apples and raisins, and ever so slightly spicy with parsnip. You can make it a night ahead; it holds well. Serve it as Christmas breakfast, with tea or coffee, or as a hostess gift. Make it just because you feel like it. The apple cider in the glaze isn’t too pronounced; if you want it to be more so, you can boil-concentrate three tablespoons worth with warming spices if you like.

Tipsy Apple-Parsnip Cake with Sultanas and Cider Glaze

Serves 8 to 10

• 1/3cup golden raisins
• 1/3cup plus 3 tablespoons apple cider, divided
• 1/3cup dark rum
• 1/2vanilla bean (or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract)
• 12tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature, + more for greasing the pan
• 1 1/3cups golden bakers sugar
• 4large eggs, at room temperature
• 2cups flour
• 2teaspoons baking powder
• 1teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2teaspoon (freshly grated) nutmeg
• 1/2teaspoon kosher salt
• 1large apple (I like Jonagold)
• 1parsnip
• 1cup confectioners’ sugar
• 1teaspoon lemon juice

1. Add the raisins, 1/3 cup of the apple cider, the rum, and the vanilla bean, scraped, both seeds and pod, to a small bowl or container. Cover the bowl or close the lid on the container and allow it to sit overnight. (Alternatively, you could simmer all those ingredients together for about 20 minutes. Just allow the liquid and the raisins to cool before adding them to the cake.)
2. Heat the oven to 350° F. Grease a 9-inch diameter Bundt pan.
3. Using an electric mixer on medium speed, cream the butter and the sugar for 3 to 4 minutes, until the sugar fully melts into the butter and fluffs up. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing as you go. Sift together the flour, the baking powder, the ground cinnamon, the nutmeg, and the salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet, mixing the batter on low speed, just until everything is incorporated.
4. Meanwhile, peel and core the apple. Peel the parsnip. Shred both. You can use a box grater, but I like to use the shredding disk of my food processor. Add the shredded apple and the parsnip to the batter.
5. Drain the raisins but reserve the raisin liquid. Add the raisins to the batter, along with 2 tablespoons of the raisin liquid. Mix on low speed, just until combined. (Any leftover raisin liquid should be put toward a cocktail or hot toddy for the cook.)
6. Spoon the batter into the greased Bundt pan and move the pan into the oven. Bake for 45 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Out of the oven, allow the cake to cool for at least 1 hour.
7. While the cake is cooling, make the glaze: In a small bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar with the remaining 3 tablespoons apple cider and the lemon juice. (Or, substitute some of the remaining raisin liquid for the apple cider.)
8. Take the cake out of the pan and move it to a plate. Pour the glaze all over the top. Covered, this cake is good for up to 2 days.

https://food52.com/recipes/31939-tipsy-apple-parsnip-cake-with-sultanas-and-cider-glaze