Sunday 29 July 2007

the ultimate carrot cake - pic




the original ultimate carrot cake.

Tuesday 24 July 2007

Nosh Recipes : Ultimate Carrot Cake ala Tropicale - Version 1.0

It's an adaptation of Aunty RW's recipe and still a work in progress but we have pics!
I call it Carrot Cake ala Tropicale because it contains pineapple which is a rather pleasing addition to your usual version. Here I've omitted the nuts because our family aren't big on cooked nuts - but I think a sprinkling of chopped pistachios with the icing might be something to try in version 1.1

Ingredients list for carrot cake
Aprox. half kilo carrots (cleaned and finely grated)
300 gms self rising flour
250 gms moscavado/brown sugar (however I think that molasses/dark brown cane sugar will make a better product)
1/2 tsp salt
3 tsp cinnamon powder
twist of nutmeg
4 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil ( or here they have product made from vegetable oil that has a buttery taste and I would recommend that as an alternative)
2tsp vanilla essence
150 gms canned pineapple chunks chopped (although in here I've used dry which I would not recommend as it is terribly fibrous)
1/2 cup raisins/sultanas (depending on how much you like the stuff or how fruity you wish to make your cake really)
Optional 80g. walnuts/peacans (as per aunty's recipe)

Ingredients list for cream cheese frosting*
*To make frosting simply whisk together all the following ingredients
1 tub 200gms Philadelphia light spreadable cheese (or equivalent)
200gms icing sugar
50gms butter
zest from 1/2 lemon

Method
I tend to mix all the wet ingredients together first before adding in the dry. Therefore mix carrots, pineapple chunks, raisins and sugar together first.
Then, add the 4 eggs, oil and vanilla essence till well integrated.

Then begin sifting in the dry ingredients i.e. In sieve, place together the self raising flour, salt and cinnamon powder introducing this into the wet ingredients by sifting and folding in.













Finally, add a twist of nutmeg to the mix and stir in; then transfer cake batter to a baking tin lined with buttered grease proof paper. Bake in a moderately hot oven (aprox. 200 - 220 degrees Celsius) for 20-30 minutes. To check if cooked through, pierce center of cake with a bamboo skewer. If the cake is ready, the skewer should come away clean. If otherwise, replace cake in oven and bake an additional 5-10 minutes and repeat the test.

Empty cake onto a cooling rack when removed from the oven and remove grease proof paper.






















To finish, flip cooled cake over and cover with cream cheese frosting. Place in fridge to set icing and voila - perfect cake to go with your next coffee break!

Aunty RW's Carrot Cake

My Aunty RW. made what I think of as the closest to ultimate carrot cake.
Beautifully moist in texture and ever so easy to put together although admittedly when I made it, I did not follow the original recipe. However it did result in an even simpler to put together carrot cake although I'm still playing around with the process to make the cake more moist. I find that it can get quite stoggy (thick) and dense in texture.

Apparently my mom used to make carrot cake just to make sure my brother and I ate our vegetables!

[ d e f i n i t i o n ]
Ultimate Carrot Cake
Moist crumbly texture without being cloyingly sweet. Must have slight fibrous crunch of finely shreded carrots, and be some how light although choc-a- bloc full of ingredients. False sense of being somewhat healthy and good for you! Must also be iced with Ultimate Cream Cheese Frosting.

Aunty RW's Recipe
Carrot Cake

500g carrots, grated
300 flour
250 brown sugar
2tsp baking soda
1tsp baking powder
_ tsp salt
3 tsp ground cinnamon
4 eggs
_ c vegetable oil
2ts vanilla essence
150g pineapples, chopped
80g raisins
80g walnuts or pecans, toasted and chopped

Preheat oven to 175C, prepare 12” x 8” pan.
In large bowl, sift flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon powder and combine with brown sugar, mix well. Add carrots and raisins. Mix well.
Add vanilla to eggs, beat slightly.
Add eggs, oil, pineapple, nuts to flour mixture and stir until all moisten.
Pour into prepared pan, bake 30-40 mins or until toothpick inserted into cake centre comes out clean.
Allow to cool for 15 mins, turn onto rack to cool.


Thursday 19 July 2007

Updates!

So back in England now and unfortunately on landing I got really sick with some strange bug I probably caught off the plane - so haven't really done anything other than groan and shiver in bed. Today however is a good day and probably the first since I've joined the land of the living.

Whilst I was back home in Singapore my Aunty RW. made this super carrot cake and I'm so inspired I'm going to try the recipe she sent today ( I have a couple of hours)
Also I have to say I got really inspired by the time I spent living with my Grandma and how she was able to knock up a super delicious kuay teow soup in all of 10 minutes just so the pincilla could have lunch!

So impressed I decided that I'd remember that and make more meals at home rather than coping out and ordering a chinese take away! I forget that meals don't have to be complicated to be enjoyable. They can be simple and nutritious!

I especially loved the garlic and spinach soup I was imbibing every other day as that is my nan's staple diet . Teehee - so much healthy home cooked food I have to say I didn't miss the usual hawker fair - My grandma even made some fantastic chicken rice which really fulfiled my hearts desire ;-) I think I put on a ton of weight though.

Anyway I shall try to faithfully take photos of today's carrot cake shinnanigans.
Also I'm out of kaya so I thought I'd make up a batch along with ye olde carrot cake.

Found a fab recipe online here http://www.makantime.com/kaya.htm