Easy Carrot Cake

If you watch cooking shows or bake at all, you've all heard that baking is an exact science.  You must follow recipes exactly and measure precisely.  Yeah, right.

Well, being the rebel that I am, I never follow anything exactly.  The food scientists will probably balk at my Carrot Cake recipe.  It's pretty simple, just takes a little more pep than something out of a box.  This will make a large 9" x 13" cake and a small 4" x 8" loaf to freeze for another time.  Or pour the whole batter into the large cake pan and make a thicker cake.  Or divide it up between whatever size cake pans you have - square, round, whatever.  Of course the bake time will have to be adjusted.

Prep ahead: Amounts are approximate:
4 cups grated of carrots
2 cups chopped walnuts
1 cup raisins
Spray the baking tins with spray oil or use Crisco to grease them
Preheat the oven to 350 - 375 (My oven is a Sears Dent-and-Scratch Store propane gas and the door is slightly off so 375 is what I set my oven to get a good 350.  Adjust accordingly.

Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl: (amounts are approximate, but don't go wild)
4 cups all purpose flour (plus reserve an additional 1/2 cup in case batter is too wet))
2 scant cups of sugar (scant so I think its fewer calories)
1/2 tsp salt
4 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp ground ginger
oh a dash more of cinnamon, won't hurt

Combine wet ingredients, separately: (amounts are pretty much as listed)
1 cup vegetable oil (canola or whatever)
4 large eggs (You may need a little more flour if the eggs are very large or jumbo).
1 cup orange juice
2 tsp orange extract

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix with a wooden spoon or whatever just until evenly moist. The batter should be heavy and thick, but not dry; if too moist because you have jumbo eggs, add up to 1/2 cup more flour.
Add the carrots, nuts and raisins and mix just until evenly distributed.  Scoop the batter into the cake pans (or loaf pans or muffin tins) and bake in a preheated oven at 375.  Ovens can vary in temperature so be sure to adjust: 30 to 35 minutes for large muffins and up to 55 to 60 minutes for a large cake.  Test with a dry knife after 35 or 40 minutes - if the batter sticks to the knife give it another 10 minutes - test again, it may need 5 more minutes.

Simple cream cheese frosting:  2 packages room temperature cream cheese or Neufchatel.  1 1/2 cups sugar (plus or minus) - you need not use confectioner's sugar- granulated is just fine.  1 tsp or more of lemon extract.  Beat with electric mixer or by hand.  Taste test - if you like it sweeter, add more sugar.  Add food coloring if you like.

Cut a big slice and enjoy!

Christmas Cookies Part Two

Today I made Aunt Margaret's Christmas Cookies.  Actually she used to make them for everything.  Christmas, New Year's, Easter, Birthdays, Mother's Day, Thanksgiving, you get the picture.

Her's were thicker and prettier than mine.  I make them thin so 1) I can get more cookies from the batch and 2) each one has fewer calories, so you can eat two.

Aunt Margaret’s Festive Italian Cookies

3 Cups Flour
2 Teaspoons baking power
½ Teaspoon salt

½ Cup sugar

¼ Pound butter

3 Eggs

1 Teaspoon vanilla

Sift first three dry ingredients together

Blend sugar and butter until creamy

Beat in eggs and vanilla

Add dry ingredients

Knead lightly

Roll out to ½ inch thick

Cut out round cookies with small cutter
(For a different shape, roll into ropes, cut and tie into knots)

Bake at 350 degrees for 10 – 12 minutes

Frosting

½ box Confectioners sugar

1 tsp lemon extract

1 tsp cold water or more as needed

Blend until a smooth, runny consistency is achieved

For colored frosting, divide into separate bowls add food color as desired

Frost the cookies by dipping, let dry

Christmas Cookies - Cuccidati and More

Well, I don't really like making cookies, mainly because I find it tedious...making dozens of individual cookies and baking them in batches...it just takes too long. Yet, I can't resist making cookies for Christmas. These two took all day Sunday.

The first are Cuccidati which I've posted before on Rebel. I did not grow up with these as they are Sicilian, but I've adopted them as my own since I first made them last season after seeing Clara make them on YouTube. Here are the ingredients. They are a pastry filled with figs and other dried and fresh fruits and nuts.

Fruits and Nuts

Through The Meat Grinder

Filling on dough

Roll Over

Cut

And Score

Baked

Cool

Frosted

CUCCIDATI  -  SICILIAN FIG COOKIES by Clara

FILLING:

Toast the nuts in a hot oven for 10 to 12 minutes.
Put all the following through a meat grinder and mix together:

¾ cups filberts (hazelnuts) toasted

½ cup almonds toasted

½ cup walnuts toasted 

½ cup pecans toasted 

2 pounds of dried figs

½ pound candied fruit/citron (substitute other dried fruit or even lemon or orange marmalade)

½ pound of raisins (mix dark and golden)

¼ pound of dates

1 whole large orange, skin and all

1 tangerine peel

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground cloves

½  teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon salt

Add 2 cups hot water

½ cup sugar

½ cup whisky or unflavored brandy (cognac)

This can sit overnight.  When ready to fill the pastry, put some of the filling into a zip-lock bag, cut a hole in the corner of the bag and squeeze (pipe) the filling out in a line at the edge of the dough, cut and roll so the dough surrounds the filling.

Dough/Crust

Blend by hand:

10 cups flour plus additional flour if dough is too soft

1 ½ cups sugar

2 heaping tablespoons of baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1pound lard (or Crisco)

Add:

1 cup cold milk

1 tablespoon vanilla

10 eggs, beaten (larger eggs might require more flour, smaller eggs might require a bit more milk)

Let stand at room temperature 1 hour before rolling (Add flour if the dough is too sticky or a little milk if too dry)

Divide the dough into manageable pieces and roll out to about 1/8  inch thick with a wooden dowel. Turn the dough over and dust with flour several times until the desired thickness is reached. (If you've made fettuccine you know the technique of wrapping the dough around the rolling pin and unrolling it on the revers side.)

Pipe out the filling in a line along the bottom edge of the dough, fold the dough over the filling making a roll or tube, gently seal the edge along the roll, cut along the top of the roll, cut on the bias into individual cookies. Place in baking sheet and snip the top/side of each cookie with scissors making 2 or 3 slits. Bake at 350, 12-15 minutes or till done.

NOTE: The amounts of dough and filling are roughly the amounts needed to use up each when making these cookies. HOWEVER, there will be leftovers...depending on the thickness of the rolled out dough sheets, the amount of filling you pipe onto the dough and how much excess dough you trim off, you may have more filling and/or more dough left. I usually ball up all the dough trimmings and roll it out, spread any leftover filling on the dough, roll it like a jelly roll, slice it into rounds and bake them like individual pinwheel pastries.

Frost with a mixture of confectioner sugar/water/lemon extract and decorate with colored sugar or sprinkles.  To make colored sugar, place 1/4 cup of sugar into a small container, add several drops of food color and shake.  Add more color for darker shades.

Watch Clara on YouTube


Part one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5tXODF4of0&feature=related

Part two:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhBZrPk2xaY

The second cookie is my Aunt Stella's variation on Italian Toto's.  Her secret ingredients are the black coffee, ground raisins and whisky/brandy - and the inordinate amount of cocoa.  Too many of these before bedtime will keep you awake.

Chocolate Frosted

Cookies Ready For Distribution

Aunt Stella’s Secret Recipe Chocolate Cookies

5 cups flour

1 cup sugar

½ can Hershey’s® Cocoa Powder

5 tsp baking powder

3 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp ground cloves

1 tsp salt (optional)

1 box raisins, ground in a meat grinder, 

(then doused with 1/4 cup unflavored brandy [cognac]or whisky)

1 cup strong black coffee

1 stick of margarine (or Crisco)

1 tsp real vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Mix the coffee and vanilla into the ground up raisins

Mix all dry ingredients and shortening/margarine

Make a “well” in the dry ingredients and add the liquid/raisins 

Mix with a wooden spoon until evenly moist - the dough is very stiff - like Playdough®

Form into balls (3/4 inch) and place on a greased cookie sheet

Bake for 12 -15 minutes

Aunt Stella’s Secret Recipe Chocolate Cookie Frosting

½ can Hershey’s® Cocoa Powder

1 tsp real vanilla extract

6 tablespoons margarine softened (or butter)

1 box confectioner’s sugar

Some strong cold black coffee

Mix the first four ingredients and add black coffee - a teaspoon at a time

Blend and beat with a wooden spoon adding more black coffee a little at a time as needed to make a smooth, soft, but not runny, frosting – heavier and thicker than chocolate syrup but not as thick as a cake frosting…about the consistency of molasses.

Dip the cookies into the frosting and place on waxed paper until the frosting dries and hardens. 

I think the cloves and raisins give the chocolate a spicy fruitiness that is both subtle and pleasant.  There is a definite Sicilian/Arabic influence.  

First Apple Pie of the Season

I haven't been posting because the menu hasn't changed much around here, especially during the summer.  Now, even though late September is usually not very autumnal in these woods, the ground is covered with ugly brown and yellow leaves with large fungus spots.  The constant wet weather has wrecked havoc with the fall foliage, despite what the tourist spokespeople are saying.

Anyhow, Leon and I picked apples at the local orchard on the weekend and I should hate for them to go bad.

Here's a simple, basic apple pie:

Filling 6 large apples, mix of Cortland and MacIntosh (varieties that I consider the true New England Apple Flavor), lemon juice, cinnamon, half cup or more of sugar.  (add raisins or dried cranberries)

Crust: 1 cup Crisco, 2 cups flour, 1/2 tsp salt, 3 Tbsp cold water, 1 Tbsp vinegar.  Divide in two (one a bit larger) and roll each between wax paper.  Larger crust on bottom, fill with apples, place top crust and pinch, brush with milk.  Bake at 475 for 45 minutes.

We're having spaghetti tonight and I don't think apple pie goes well as a follow-up, but we'll suffer.  Dinner's Ready!

UK Trip Nostalgia - Scones for Breakfast

No-Recipe Scones

Crawled out of bed this morning to make the coffee and thought how nice a scone would be to go with.

Couldn't be bothered looking up a recipe on the net, so gave it my best shot on the fly, so to speak.

Let's see, about 2 cups of flour, some baking powder, a couple spoons of sugar, a little salt, oh, three quarters of a stick of butter, just barely melted, enough milk to make a stiff biscuit dough and some dried cranberries and raisins.  Mix, form into a round and cut into wedges.  Bake at 375 to 400 (with my oven, I never really know for sure). 25 minutes later:

They were quite good.  Now at a cafe in London you get ONE scone with your coffee.  You're not likely to order another at a pound, fifty or more (over  $3).  Here at home we can sit and eat them like potato chips.

And we wonder why we can't loose weight!

Valentine's Day Breakfast - Panettone French Toast

Panettone is an (imported) Italian holiday bread with raisins and citron and has so much butter in it and wrapped so well that they will last for several weeks or more and still taste fresh. When our local discount outlet sells them after Christmas for $3.99, (I've seen them at the Italian market for $10 or more) I always buy a few for emergency sweet cravings.  This is partly why Leon and I have put on pounds.  As soon as these are used up, we are definitely going to lose weight.  There's logic in that statement somewhere, I'm sure...

I started using Panettone for French Toast and Bread Pudding before the Barefoot Contessa or Giada did on TV.  Slice the Panettone fairly thick, dip in scrambled egg/milk mixture (don't add sugar or vanilla) and make like French Toast in a skillet with butter.

Top with fresh fruit and a dusting of confectioner's sugar.  Breakfast is Ready! Happy Valentine's Day!

Another King Cake

Well I've done this so many times before that I will be short and sweet. You can find the recipe here and here, so I won't repeat it. Just a few pics. Had no lemons, so used orange rind instead. Oh, and this time I made a sweetened lemon flavored cream cheese filling.

Mardi Gras - New Orleans 1996?

People lining up their ladders before the parade so they can catch more "throws".

My dough was struggling to rise in our 62 degree house.  Why is it that 62 degrees on a sunny spring day is warm enough to run around in a t-shirt and shorts, but 62 degrees indoors in the winter is almost too cold to be comfortable without two sweatshirts and flannel jammies?

Into the oven - two small cakes instead of one - gotta bring one to Cousin Rose tonight.

Out of the oven.  Much nicer.

A little gold, green and purple.

Mom's Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Made pizza for dinner tonight. See a previous post for a dough recipe.

While we were having pizza, the coffee cake was in the oven.  

Mom always called this “Jewish Coffee Cake”. How it got to be part of our traditional Italian kitchen is thanks to the wonderful “melting pot” that is our country. I’m not sure where it originated or even if is a traditional Jewish recipe. I guess “Sour Cream Coffee Cake” is more politically correct. (I suppose you can make this cake more “Italian” by using almond extract and slivered almonds; or pistachio, or hazelnut – Tonight I used orange extract and orange zest.  Oh! Now that sounds good!

Sour Cream Coffee Cake

2 cups flour
¼ tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
¾ cup sugar (or up to 1 cup if you prefer sweeter)
¼ lb butter
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp real vanilla extract

Filling/topping: I always increase these amounts (more topping is better).
¼ cup+ granulated sugar or brown sugar
½ cup+ chopped walnuts
1 tsp+ cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350o
Grease a tube pan with shortening
Sift dry ingredients together in a bowl
Combine extract with sour cream
In a separate bowl, cream the butter and sugar then add the eggs

Add a portion of the dry ingredients to the butter-sugar mixture, with a portion of the sour cream, mix together and add alternating dry ingredients and sour cream mix until all are combined and batter is evenly moist (it will be a very stiff batter). Do not over mix. Note: I have had good results mixing all the wet ingredients together and then adding the dry ingredients a bit at a time – same result, fewer steps.

In separate bowl combine sugar, nuts and cinnamon

Spoon half the batter into a greased tube pan, spreading it fairly evenly, then ½ the filling mixture. Add remaining batter, distributing it evenly and top with remaining sugar/nut mixture. Bake 50 minutes to 1 hour - until a knife inserted into the cake comes out clean.

Mixing the batter

First layer of batter

First layer of cinnamon, sugar and walnuts

Out of the oven

On the plate

Almond Butter Cookies

Dinner the past couple of nights has been old standbys and leftovers, nothing special. But I decided to make some cookies. I love cookies, but I don't like making cookies. It takes too much to make so few.

Found this "All Natural" almond butter at a local discount store - Ocean State Job Lot - a place that always has some food items that are generally not in your local big chain supermarket.  I can't resist the all natural label.

It doesn't take any genius to figure that almond butter can be used in place of peanut butter in cookies.  Used a basic peanut butter cookie recipe (one half cup each of sugar, brown sugar, butter, almond butter, one egg, one and a quarter cup of flour, 3/4 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/4 tsp salt and added a half cup of toasted almonds, a half tsp each of pure almond extract and real vanilla extract).

They passed muster with Leon who likes peanut butter.  He actually had a positive comment "they're pretty darn good.  Almost as good as peanut butter cookies."  I think they're even better with a little Nutella.

Not Dinner but ...Morning Glory

 

Always on the lookout for a bargain, I discovered this item at our local Discount Food Outlet.  Sticky Fingers Bakery Morning Glory Muffin mix. $1.48, makes six large muffins.  OK, the expiry date is 2/23/11 but what's to expire?  I went back and bought 10 more.  They're that good.

I won't buy just any baking pre-mix.  Sometimes I'll settle for something less than "all natural" if I really need a quick brownie or a chocolate cake.  Usually I'll make from scratch so there's no transfat or artificial ingredients or high fructose corn syrup.  If it's a muffin mix, I end up "doctoring" by adding raisins or nuts or fruit. 

No need with these muffins.  The ingredients are "all natural" and include raisins, carrots, coconut, sunflower seeds, natural vanilla, spices.  Just add 1 cup of water, 1 egg and a third cup of vegetable oil.  Bake.  It keeps the house warm.

Probably won't be making dinner tonight ... maybe a can of soup or a grilled cheese ... we have puppy training class and gotta be out by 6:15. 

Happy Carnival - "Laissez Le Bon Temps Rouler"

KING CAKE #1 for 2011 - The picture doesn't do it justice

It's 12th Night, (technically 13th Night but I made the Cake last night), Three Kings Day, Epiphany, the beginning of Carnival Season in New Orleans and elsewhere.   OK, I've done this before so I'll just link you there: Home Made King Cake.  So this is more of a "Dessert is Ready" post.

Like I said, I made the cake last night.  Followed the recipe I linked to above but, even though the yeast "proofed" OK, the dough hadn't risen noticeably after two hours.  No way was I going to throw out all the time, effort and ingredients that went into making that dough.  So I mixed up another packet of yeast with a little water and a little sugar and a little flour and let it foam up for a while.  It made a"sponge" or "poolish" which I then incorporated into the "bad" dough and let the whole mess rise again, which,  it did.

I was surprised that I actually salvaged the dough and that it baked up as well as it did.  We had some for breakfast and will probably have a slice with coffee in a few minutes...."Laissez le bon temps rouler" ...."Let the Good Times Roll"... yeah, right.  So, save a link, the recipe is below:

KING CAKE

This is the traditional New Orleans Carnival dessert or Brioche. Carnival (Goodbye to the Flesh/Meat) begins after Epiphany and extends through Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday) the day before Ash Wednesday and Lent. Some lucky party-goer will find the plastic baby ( which is the Christchild - the King) and must bring a King Cake to the next get together. Commercially baked cakes bear a warning about the hidden choking hazard baked in the cake.

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup warm water

2 pkg active dry yeast

1/2 cup plus 1 tsp sugar

31/2 cups unsifted flour; 1 cup additional flour

1 tsp nutmeg

2 tsp salt

1 tsp lemon zest

1/2 cup warm milk

5 egg yolks, scrambled with fork

10 tbsp softened butter (1 stick + 2 tbsp)

1 egg beaten with 1 tbsp milk

1 tsp cinnamon

1 small plastic baby doll (or dried bean or coin)


DIRECTIONS

Pour the warm water into a large mixing bowl, add yeast and 2 tsp sugar. Mix and allow to rest in a warm place for 10 minutes until the mixture bubbles. Add the 1/2 cup of warm milk and the egg yolks.

Combine 31/2 cups of the flour, salt, lemon zest, the remaining sugar, nutmeg, and sift into the liquid mixture about a cup at a time, mixing well with a wooden spoon. After adding about 2 cups of flour, beat in 8 tbsp butter, 1 tbsp at a time until you can't see the butter. Add the rest of the flour mixture. Place the dough on a floured counter or bread board and knead, gradually adding up to 1 cup more flour. Knead about 10 more minutes, till the dough is smooth and elastic.

Place the dough into a large buttered bowl and butter the surface of the dough ball. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 11/2 hours, till double.

Coat a baking sheet or pizza pan with butter. Place the dough on a floured counter, punch it down a bit and sprinkle with cinnamon. Divide the dough in two and shape each into a cylindrical or rope shape, lay them side by side, pinch the ends together and twist them around each other. (Or make three ropes and braid). Form the twist into a ring or wreath and place it on the buttered baking sheet. Hide the plastic doll inside the ring. Cover with a towel and allow to rise for at least 45 minutes in warm place.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Brush the cake with an egg wash (1 egg with 1 tbsp milk). Bake for 25-35 minutes till golden brown. Allow to cool.

ICING

Optional: Prepare colored sugar by putting 1/3 to 1/2 cup sugar into each of three small plastic containers with tight lids. Into one place a few drops of yellow food coloring and shake well till all the sugar is yellow. In the second, place a few drops of green and do the same; in the last place three drops of red and one or two drops of blue to make purple and shake till well blended. (adjust color if you like).  As an option just divide the icing below in three parts and color one green, one yellow, one purple.

Use about 1/2 box of confectioners sugar (about 11/2 cups) and add 1 tsp real lemon extract. Add cold water one tsp at a time until the sugar icing stirs easily but not watery.

When the cake is cool drizzle the white (or colored) icing on the cake until it is entirely coated. Take the colored sugars and sprinkle on in bands of yellow, green and purple. (Three bands in each quarter of the cake). Place Mardi Gras beads around the cake for presentation.

(WARNING: Plastic toy in cake may be choking or dental hazard).