Carrot Cake: for the (Not-So) Serious Connoisseur

Put It On a Plate First!

I cannot explain how it came to be, or when it happened, but I love carrot cake.  It is by far my favorite dessert.  Yes, I will choose this wonderfully dense and full-bodied treat over even chocolate.  The problem with carrot cake, like many somewhat esoteric foods, is that finding a really good one can be difficult.  Not long ago (geologically speaking), the one restaurant I knew where I could find a decent slice of this delightful confection stopped carrying it.  Appalled and devastated, I searched in vain to find a replacement.  I had almost given up when…

I recently stumbled across a recipe that was close, so in classic Katey fashion; I tweaked and modified the ingredients and processes until I had a dessert that adequately met my definition of good carrot cake.  Okay, that is not true.  I nailed it on the first try; I just don’t like to brag.  It is bad kitchen karma.  Without further delay, here is my rendition of a classic dessert.

Kate’s Carrot Cake

Ingredients

The Cake:

2 cups – Flour

2 cups – Sugar

2 teaspoons – Baking Soda

1 teaspoon – Baking Powder

½ teaspoon – Salt

1 teaspoon – Ground Cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon – Ground Cloves

1/8 teaspoon – Ground Nutmeg

4 cups – Grated Carrots

4 large Eggs

1½ cups – Vegetable Oil

1½ teaspoons – Vanilla Extract

1 can (8 oz.) – Crushed Pineapple w/Juice

¾ cup – Finely Chopped Pecans

The Frosting:

1 package (8 oz.) – Cream Cheese

½ cup – Butter, softened

3½ cups – Confectioner’s Sugar

1¼ teaspoons – Vanilla Extract

The Topping:

¼ cup – Finely Chopped Pecans

Preparation

• In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg, until well combined.
• Add remaining ingredients, carrots, eggs, oil, vanilla, pineapple, and pecans, to the dry ingredients and stir until well blended.
• Pour contents into a well-greased 9X13-baking pan and bake at 325 degrees for 40-50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
• Place on cooling rack and let cool completely
• To make the frosting, combine cream cheese, butter, confectioner’s sugar, and vanilla in a mixing bowl and mix on medium speed until ingredients are smooth and creamy.
• Spread frosting evenly over the fully cooled cake and dust with chopped pecans.
• Cover and refrigerate. 

Serve

• Resist the urge to eat directly from the pan.  Use a plate.
• I prefer it cool, but warm cake is delicious too.
• Best served after a light dinner; this cake will fill you up! 

Tips

• I get all my ingredients out on the counter before I start combining things, otherwise I will forget something.
• I prefer to use a glass baking pan, though metal would probably work alright.
• If your powdered sugar has been sitting for a while, it may help to sift or whisk it prior to mixing with the creams.  This will cut down on the mixing time.

As always, happy cooking, my friends!

(and save me a slice... wink, wink)

Love,

Kate

Super Duper Moist and Delicious!

Tropical Banana Bread

Kate's Tropical Banana Bread

Banana bread was one of my early ventures into cooking / baking from scratch.  My very first batch was pretty darn good (to my surprise), but over time I have experimented with new ingredients and differing measurements until I finally achieved the OMG factor.  These days, my Banana Nut Bread is the stuff of legend.  One day I will teach my methods to a young apprentice who may carry on the traditions.  Until then, my recipe remains a guarded secret – heavily protected by several other recipes in a stack of papers behind my flour canisters.

I will share this delightful little variation that I came up with yesterday, though, inspired only slightly by a shortage of overripe bananas in my kitchen.  Get out all of your mixing bowls and measuring cups; you will need them!  Warning: for me, baking from scratch also involves working entirely by hand.  I do not use blenders, mixers, or processors in the combining of ingredients.  That usually means my arms are pretty tired when I am done.  Hopefully, you are in a little better shape.  This version is still in the testing and development phases, but the early taste tests have been extremely successful.  Keep the wooden spoon handy to fend off hungry onlookers!

Tropical Banana Bread

Ingredients

3 Cups – All Purpose Flour

1½ teaspoons – Salt

1 Tablespoon – Baking Soda

1 teaspoon – Baking Powder

1½ Cups – Butter, softened

2 Cups – Brown Sugar, lightly packed

¾ Cup – Granulated Sugar

6 Eggs, beaten

3 Cups – Overripe Bananas, mashed

1½ Cups – Pineapple, crushed and well drained

1 teaspoon – Vanilla Extract

1½ Cups – Pecans, chopped

½ Cup – Dates, chopped

1 Cup – Coconut, shredded/flaked (plus a handful to sprinkle over loaves)

Preparation

• In a medium sized mixing bowl, sift together flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder
• In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter, brown sugar, and sugar until dough like substance forms
• Add eggs, bananas, pineapple, vanilla, and and flour mixture to butter and sugar and mix until well combined
• Stir in pecans, dates, and coconut and mix well
• Pour mixture into well-greased mini-loaf pans and sprinkle a few coconut flakes over each loaf, keeping away from edges (produces 7-8 mini loaves)
• Bake at 325 degrees for about 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center of the loaves comes out clean
• Let cool completely before serving (about 2 hours)

The Troops Lined Up for Inspection!

Serve

• Makes a great snack warmed slightly with butter and a glass of cold milk
• Or just eat it as is, no butter needed!
• Keep bread refrigerated, will also freeze for later use, though I have never had any left to freeze.

Tips

• Be sure to drain the pineapple extremely well.  Press as much moisture out as possible.  The bread is extremely moist already.  I did not press enough moisture out of the pineapple on the first round and the center simply would not finish baking.
• Do not melt the butter before mixing; just make sure it is nice and soft.  I hand mix with a wooden spoon.  You can use a mixer if you have one.
• I measure out all of my ingredients and even whip the eggs before I start creaming the butter and sugar, which means I dirty a lot of bowls; but when I do it that way, I do not forget ingredients (there are quite a few to keep track of!).
• Start checking the bread after about 35 minutes.  My oven bakes a little unevenly, so I usually need to shift pans around and such, and depending on a million factors, the bread may bake faster or slower than expected.
• Seriously, cool the bread completely before you eat it.  It actually gets better after sitting in the refrigerator for a day.  Waiting is hard, but you will not be sorry.

Let me know how it turns out!

Enjoy, and happy cooking,

Kate