My favorite Carrot Cake

Several years ago when I was in college I went to visit my dear friend and Bible study leader, Abigail.  She knew about my love for magazines and offered to by me any one that I wanted.  I saw the Spring 2005 issue of Taste of the South Magazine and that was it!  I fell in love with the magazine immediately and of all the issues (and I have every one...) this particular one has been my favorite! A section on strawberry recipes, one on great southern cakes, casseroles, and deviled eggs.  My favorite hash brown casserole recipe was adapted from this magazine, as is a burrito casserole that I love (and will be posting soon) and of course this fabulous cake!

I made this cake back in August for my dad's birthday to serve to him at one of the CRU beginning of the semester meetings.  Carrot cake is his favorite and this one is super special with the coconut and pineapple and nuts and all the fabulous stuff in it!  Some people prefer their carrot cake to be more plain but this is my favorite--tons of extras in the icing and cake--you'll love it!

my mini portion in a custard cup--have to taste test right??

the finished cake

Carrot Cake

from Taste of the South magazine

2        cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2  tsp. baking soda

1 1/4  tsp. baking powder

1/4     tsp. salt

2        cups sugar

1 1/4   tsp. ground cinnamon

1 1/4   cups vegetable oil

4         large eggs, at room temp.

1         tsp. vanilla

2         cups finely shredded carrots

1/2      cup chopped pecans

1 (8 oz.)can crushed pineapple, well-drained

3/4      cup flaked sweetened coconut

1         recipe Decadent Carrot-Cake Icing

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease & flour three 8-in round cake pans or two 9-in round cake pans (i used a 9x13 this time); set aside.
• In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, sugar, and cinnamon; stir well.  Add vegetable oil and eggs; blend well with an electric mixer at medium speed.  Stir in vanilla, shredded carrots, pecans, pineapple, and coconut.
• Ladle batter into prepared pans, dividing equally.  Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean.  Let cake layers cool for 10 minutes in plans.  Invert onto cooling racks and let cool completely.
• Frost cake layers with Decadent Carrot-Cake Icing. (Since this cake is very moist, it is recommended to place layers in the freezer for at least one hour before frosting.)

I sliced this cake in half so I could frost it in between layers as well, but that was SUPER hard due to all the mix-ins.  Next time I do this in a 9x13 pan I will just bake it in 2 pans if I want the extra icing...

Decadent Carrot-Cake Icing

2 (8 oz.) packages cream cheese, softened

1 cup butter, softened

6 cups confectioners' sugar

3 cups flaked, sweetened coconut

1/2 cups raisins (i usually omit)

1/2 cup chopped pecans

 

In a large bowl, cream together cream cheese and butter with an electric mixer at medium speed.  Gradually add the confectioners' sugar, beating until smooth.  Stir in coconut, raisins, and pecans.

**I have always gotten at least 1-2 cups of extra icing, so you could probably get by on 2/3 of a recipe for this, or  make another half recipe of the cake into cupcakes :)**

TWD: double apple bundt cake

 For this week's TWD challenge, Lynne of Honey Muffin chose the Double Apple Bundt Cake from pp. 184-184 of BFMHTY. 

With shredded apples and apple butter in the mix, this really is a perfect (and perfectly moist!) cake to celebrate actual fall weather!

I left out the nuts & raisins this time b/c some of the girls in the Bible study aren't huge fans, plus it means that I actually have a chance that hubs will try it!

I also didn't make the glaze...a lemon glaze w/this doesn't sound appetizing to me, but I'm contemplating adding a caramel glaze before Bible study tonight.

 Dorie says that the grated apples melt into the batter and it is so true!  You don't get the texture from them, just a pure fresh apple flavor as well as the lovely spices and moistness from the apple butter.  Fabulous!

Thanks so much to Lynne for this pick, and be sure to check out her blog for the recipe and the TWD leave your link post to see who baked along this week!

TWD: another two-fer!

I was on vacation last week and was unable to make the Brrr-ownies chosen by Karen of Welcome to Our Crazy Blessed Life, but I wanted to try them b/c I knew that super-picky hubs loves brownies and York peppermint patties, so may love these as well.  I had planned to just bake that recipe for this week, but when I saw that Kimberly of Only Creative Opportunities chose the Lot's of Ways Banana Cake for this week I decided to make them both--I'm always looking for a reason to use up those bananas in my freezer!
After a week with my parents and sister (and without hubs) and then a kinda weird day at the office where I am only helping to train instead of doing "my job" (and i don't have a desk or computer anymore!) I was ready to get some baking therapy.

The Brrr-ownies came first so I could let the ingredients for the banana cake come to room temp.  I had read lots about peppermint patty craters in the tops and brownies sticking to the foil, so to remedy those issues, I popped the peppermint patties in the freezer for about 15 minutes before chopping and adding them to the mix so they wouldn't become overly melty, and I was extra careful to super-grease my foil.  I really think these came out perfectly!  Super fudgy and rich but with a lovely cool sensation.  joy in my heart!  Hubs isn't home yet, but I think he will love these :)

Then came the banana cake.  I had some toasted coconut in the freezer as well as some dried cherries, so I used those, and I was out of light brown sugar (gasp!) so I subbed white sugar and substituted 1/4 cup of it with dark brown sugar.  Other than that, I made the recipe as is--from the first ingredients listed.

first picture--once again full of fog!  stupid southern humidity

I really think that banana cake/bread is one of the best smells you can have in your home!  I decided to make it easy and bake it as a bundt, which would also make it easier to transport to my mom's house (I'm gonna share it w/her and my sister--I think they will be happy (:  )  I pulled it out of the oven, let it cool for a bit, and then scraped some of the bits that had stuck to the pan to try a taste.  Oh. My. Goodness.  Seriously, my eyes rolled back in my head.  This is heavenly!  I am so glad that I made it and I think my family will love it!  I'm gonna take them at least half the cake (sliced up on a platter) and will wrap & freeze some pieces for myself for those days when only banana cake can make the world right again ; ).

I hope you all enjoyed these recipes as much as I did!  Thanks so much to Karen & Kimberly for these wonderful picks, and visit their respective blogs for the recipes, as well as the TWD leave-you-link post to see who else baked along this week.

TWD: Dressy Chocolate Loaf Cake

For this week's Tuesday with Dorie assignment, Amy Ruth of Amy Ruth Bakes chose the Dressy Chocolate Loaf Cake from p. 286-287. 

Once again, I contemplated skipping out b/c the cake didn't sound fabulous to me, but I forged ahead and made it very last minute...to the point where I had to stick the cake in the fridge and cut and frost it while it was still pretty warm in order to have it done by 10 pm!

Despite my procrastination, I thought it was a pretty quick and easy cake to throw together.  I made a few substitutions based on what I had on hand: I ran out of regular cocoa powder halfway through so I used half regular, and half hershey's special dark.  I also didn't have enough sour cream so I used half sour cream and half vanilla yogurt.  I was kinda worried b/c both my yogurt and sour cream were low fat and I was afraid that it might make the cake less moist, but I was wrong!  (and seriously, how can you be worried about not having enough fat when there are 2 sticks of butter?!?)  I also really think that the dark cocoa  was a change for the better--I ADORE dark chocolate w/raspberry and that's what it tasted like :).  Oh yeah, and I used raspberry rhubarb jam for the filling, but I told my coworkers it was just raspberry...ooops!  I also was using a slightly smaller pan than specified so I only filled it just over halfway full and baked the remainder in my freestanding heartshaped silicon cupcake liners.

Well, I sure am glad that I made this b/c it was amazing!  The cake was extremely moist with an almost velvety texture, and though I had slight reservations about the fruit filling I thought it definitely brightened the taste.  And the frosting!  How amazing is that!?!?  All you had to do was melt some semisweet chocolate and stir in sour cream!  Amazing!  Even though I had to slice and fill the cake while it was still slightly warm, I had no trouble at all cutting the layers and stacking them.

With my cupcakes I sliced each one in half and tried a few different fillings: nutella, chocolate peanut butter, and one with the jam.  As much as I love those chocolate spreads, the jam was definitely my favorite.  I don't know why, but the one I filled with nutella tasted very cinnamonny--and of course there was no cinnamon in the cake...weird.

Sadly, I did not get good pictures.  I waited until right before leaving for work this morning to try and get a good natural light shot, but it is so miserably hot and humid that this is what I got:

 It fogged my lens up! 

The first one up towards the top is somewhat clear, but it did not take any time at all to feel like I was photographing a fog, and by the time I got home from work, this is all that was left:

The cake was a hit at the office, except for sweet Larissa (though she still ate two pieces I think...).  She took a bite before I told her there was a fruit filling and just looked at me weird. Then she asked it it was orange or pineapple!  heehee--silly friend.  Hubs was also intrigued by the cake--he saw it on the counter and said "Cool! It looks like a meatloaf!"  which I don't understand b/c he HATES meatloaf and usually refers to it as gross.  But he didn't try it due to the jam.  Silly boy.

Thanks so much to Amy Ruth for this pick, and be sure to visit the TWD LYL post to see who baked along this week!

a brunch for special ladies

Sorry that I have been MIA for a bit...life has been ca-razy.  I will update more on this later, but here in Bowling Green, KY we've also had some of the horrible flooding that has affected the midsouth lately, and it was my birthday, and I have some developments coming up in the next few months that I will tell you at the beginning of June,  and my house is a mess!

Before I post about recent happenings, I decided that I would like to give you some yummy yummy recipes that would be perfect if you want to have a mother's day brunch.  I will be having a family cookout, but I made these yesterday for some other very special ladies--Nurses!  That's right, today is Nurse Appreciation day--so get out there and hug a nurse or bring her (or him...there are male nurses, just not at my office) some goodies!

 some of our lovely nurses in front of their breakfast table

the spread :)

And now for the recipes...

So this coffee cake...when I saw it in one of my holiday baking magazines (you know...when i freak out and spend all my money...) I had to make it.  However, I did not need one this big for me and hubs (i'm already too fat...).  So I made it for my sister-in-law and her girls.  It got rave reviews...but I hadn't gotten to try it!  So when I started planning on what to make for Nurse Appreciation breakfast I couldn't get this one out of my head.  I actually scoured the rest of my recipes for an easier overnight coffee cake, but nothing looked this delicious, so at 8:50 pm I began to make the cake...not even my butter was softened!  I generally go to bed right around 10 and, needless to say, that didn't happen last night.  But I think it was worth it!

YUM!

Cinnamon-roll coffee cake
Cuisine at home Holiday baking 2009

For the Caramel Topping:

• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• pinch table salt
• 1 cup chopped toasted pecans

For the Streusel:

• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 stick unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 1 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp table salt

For the Cake:

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. table salt
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1/4 cup low-fat vanilla yogurt (I used regular sour cream)
• 2 eggs
• 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 350* F.  Coat a 9 inch round, 2 inch deep cake pan w/nonstick spray (i did not have this size pan, and used a 10 in. round springform pan.  a bit of the filling leaked out of the bottom, so if you go that route I would recommend lining your springform pan w/parchement, or at the very least, set it on top of a baking sheet--which i did)

Stir together the 3/4 cup brown sugar, cream, and a pinch of salt for the caramel topping in a measuring cup (not sure why the measuring cup is "necessary").  Pour caramel into the prepared pan, spreading to coat bottom of the pan. Sprinkle pecans over caramel.  Also, I was a bit "off my game" last night and measured this out backwards at first...1/4 cup brown sugar to 3/4 cup cream.  Then I realized it was WAY too liquidy...anyone know a recipe that calls for that mixture that has already been combined??


Process the 1/2 cup born sugar, 1/3 cup flour, the 1/2 stick butter, cinnamon, and 1/4 tsp. salt fo rthe streusel in a food processor, pulsing until the mixture is sandy but without clumps; set streusel aside.

Whisk the 1 1/2 cups flour, baking powder, baking soda, and 1/2 tsp. table salt for the cake in a bowl; set dry ingredients aside.

Whisk together buttermilk, yogurt (or sour cream), and eggs in a measuring cup with a pouring spout (pouring spout is helpful here...); set aside.

Using a hand mixer (?? I used my kitchenaid), cream together the 1 stick butter and 3/4 cup granulated sugar in a bowl, only until combined.  Alternately add flour mixture and buttermilk mixture to the creamed mixture, strating and ending with dry ingredients.  Blend only enough to incorporate the dry ingredients into the batter.

Spread half of the batter over teh caramel in the cake pan, then sprinkle w/half the streusel.  Carefully spread remaining batter over streusel in cake pan; top w/the remaining streusel. Okay, I don't think the seperation of the streusel is necessary.  Half of what I had on the bottom just made a mess and fell off, so when I make this again I will at least do 3/4 in the middle, maybe all of it.

Bake coffee cake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 50-60 minutes.  Cool cake for 5 minutes on a rack, then run a paring knife around the sides to loosen cak.  Invert onto a serving platter while hot.  Let cake cool slightly before serving. 


Next is an overnight sausage breakfast casserole, a la Sarah!  I got some basic guidelines from Cooks.com and then threw together a dish based on what I had on hand.  Here it is!

Overnight Sausage Breakfast Casserole

• 1--1 1/2 pkg. Kings Hawaiian Bread 
• 1 lb. pork sausage, cooked and drained
• 6 large eggs, beaten
• 2 cups milk (or one cup skim milk + one cup cream)
• 1/2 tsp. black pepper
• 1/4 tsp. onion powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 1/2 cup fiesta blend shredded cheese
• 1 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (i really just eyeball the amount of cheese...) 

Tear Hawaiian bread into bits and layer across the bottom of a greased 9x13" pan 
Layer half the sausage over bread, followed by half of the cheese.  Then repeat layers.
Whisk together eggs, milk, and spices until combined.  
Pour over bread/sausage/cheese mixture, pressing down on the top of the solid ingredients to make sure that egg mixture reaches the top.
Refrigerate overnight if desired.
When time to bake,  preheat oven to 350* F.  Bake for 35-45 minutes until set.

**I also think this would be GREAT with veggies mixed in...peppers, onion, mushrooms, etc...but there are some picky eaters at my office so I stuck to meat and cheese ;) 

TWD: two for the price of one!

I missed last week's treat due to illness, but got to make it later on and that Swedish visiting cake was WONDERFUL!  Such a simple recipe and it turned out great!  I was also very exicted to use my cast iron skillet from my granny for the first time.  Thanks to Nancy of The Dogs Eat the Crumbs (sounds like my house!) for this simple and delicious pick!

For this week, Melissa of Love at First Bite chose the Sweet Cream Biscuits from page 23.  I was so excited to make these because just the other day I was talking to hubs about how I need to learn to make biscuits!

Well, these were wonderful!  Super easy to throw together, once again only requiring a couple of dishes and very little mess...and so addicting!  I'm not really sure why Dorie says to cut these w/a 2 in. biscuit cutter--they were tiny, and I will definitely use a bigger cutter next time--but they were the perfect size for popping into your mouth! (bad choice...my tummy is too full...)  She also says you will get about 12 biscuits...I got at least 2 dozen...another reason why I questioned the size of the biscuit cutter.  I even googled "diameter" to make sure I wasn't just confusing it with radius! lol.

I ate a few with my favorite cream honey and some fresh lemon curd : )

I was surprised at how high the little biscuits puffed up!  If only my puff pastry would get his high...

I definitely recommend BOTH of these recipes, and it was a nice change of pace to have something a little less "fancy" and time consuming.  Both of these can be thrown together in minutes and make for wonderful snacking...I think I'm gonna use some of the rest of the biscuits for mini ham sandwiches for hubs to snack on tonight.  He's gonna love me!  : )

And don't forget to stop by the TWD site to see who baked along this week!

Easter and a Berry Surprise Cake

First and most importantly, Happy Easter!  I hope that your holiday and celebration of our risen Lord has been as wonderfully special as mine!  We started the day by going to church with my parents for a wonderful sermon and reminder of what this season is all about.  Then picked up some things from home (including Butch) and drove to my aunt's house in Owensboro, KY to celebrate with family, and also celebrate her birthday.  It was a very special time--as you may remember, my granny passed away last summer and this was our first Easter without her.  Also, Aunt Gail is in the middle of some very intensive cancer treatments, so it was definitely a time to treasure.  Sadly, we didn't get any family pictures!  :(  Oh well...I think she took pictures of Butch in her Easter shirt ;)

My parents had asked me to make a dessert that we could also use to celebrate Aunt Gail's birthday...I had recently made lemon curd and had thought about doing a pie, but also had Dorie's Berry Surprise Cake lurking in the back of my mind...This particular recipes was chosen in January of 2009 before I was blogging, but when Jacque of Daisy Lane Cakes was going through all the TWD recipes that she had missed and posted on this one I knew I would have to make it!  The cake was originally chosen by Mary Ann of Meet Me in the Kitchen (where you can find the recipe).  It consists of a sponge cake (or genoise) that is hollowed out to contain a mixture of cream & fruit, then "iced" with fresh sweetened whipped cream.  Absolutely gorgeous, light, and perfect for springtime!

First you make the cake--from the original TWD P&Q on this recipe I had read that almost everyone's cakes had risen very high and then fallen flat (due to the temperamental attitude of the heavily whipped "diva eggs" as Dorie calls them, lol).  I was honestly kind of hoping for this, b/c when Jacque made it she sliced off a bit of the bottom of the cake, put the filling where the cake had fallen, and put the bottom on top like a lid...it seemed much easier to me than trying to slice and scoop and all that.  Well, shock of shocks, my genoise barely sunk at all!  I actually tried to push it down a bit, but then gave up and cut a circle about half an inche from the sides and scooped out some of the cake with my fingers.  I did, however, still use Jacque's idea of slicing off the bottom of the cake and using it as a lid. 

 

After making the cake "bowl" you brush the inside of the cake with a raspberry sugar syrup to make it moist (genoise by nature is very dry).  Then fill with a thin layer of the cream filling, top with berries (i used raspberries, blackberries, and strawberries), add more filling, and then put the "lid" on.  (btw...I added about a fourth cup of fresh meyer lemon curd in with the filling, just to brighten it a bit.  Also added one extra tablespoon of sugar as some people said that it was not quite sweet enough.  Then you frost it with sweetened whipped cream and decorate with more berries (and I was asked to write "happy birthday gail" on it as well).

Well, this one was a HUGE hit.  It's great b/c it isn't overly sweet.  Just light and fresh.  Perfect for Easter!

              

(tried to get it home to get a good natural light picture...it did not like the hour long drive...)

I used the remaining cake that I had scooped out to fill these adorable little sherbert glasses and make mini trifles--cake, syrup, berries, and a bit of the cream filling.  delish!

I hope you are all having a wonderful Easter holiday to celebrate our risen Lord!

meyer lemon yogurt cake

As you know, I recently happened upon some lovely meyer lemons and have been trying to decide how to use them up.  After being sick for the past two weeks they were beginning to shrivel up, so I knew I had to act quickly!  I contemplated muffins, meyer lemon curd, a few types of bundt and pound cakes, but decided upon this Yogurt Cake form Ina Garten that I had seen on so many blogs.  I didn't make many changes, but did double the recipe which was perfect for my 6 mini-loaf pan which I had not used in quite some time,and the exact amount of zest and juice that my lemons gave! 

The cakes are extremely moist and springy with just the right lemon flavor.  I baked them up and have nibbled on one, and wrapped the remainder up nicely and to be frozen and either given away or pulled out for those rainy spring afternoons when I may just need a bit of sunshine. 

Meyer Lemon Yogurt Cake
recipe adapted from Ina Garten

makes 1 loaf pan's worth of cake

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1 cup plain yogurt (I used non-fat)
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
2 t. Meyer lemon zest (from 2 lemons)
1/2 t. vanilla
1/2 cup vegetable oil



glaze:
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/3 cup sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a loaf pan and line with parchment and then grease and flour the pan.

2. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk together yogurt, sugar, eggs, zest, and vanilla.

4. Combine wet and dry ingredients until only just blended. Whisk in vegetable oil.

5. Bake for 50 minutes. For mini-loaves bake for about 30-35 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with moist crumbs.

6. While the cake bakes, cook your lemon juice with your sugar over medium heat until the sugar dissolves and the mixture runs clear. Poke holes in cake and pour lemon glaze over the cake while still warm from the oven.  Allow syrup mixture to soak in before removing loaves and serving or wrapping to freeze.

Giant cupcake cake, friends, and my trip to Nashville

This weekend I had the wonderful pleasure of visiting my very best friend to celebrate her daughter's first birthday! I cannot believe that this lovely little lady is already a year old...or that my friend is the mom of a toddler! (it is crazy enough that she has a child!)

Of course I made her cake, and what a special cake it was! I got to use my new giant cupcake pan that my mom got me for Christmas--it is similar to this wilton one, but is silicone. To make it especially festive I added a few tablespoons rainbow sprinkles to my favorite white cake recipe (mix them in with the dry ingredients to prevent them from sinking to the bottom) to make a homemade confetti cake!

the trimmed bottom layer before frosting


not so pretty before icing...but the shape is fun


Ta-DA!
iced with the birthday party color scheme

Some important things to note when using this kind of pan:
-Since it is an incredibly deep pan it is best to use a "low and slow" baking method. I baked the cake at 325 F for about 90 minutes (checking every ten or so minutes after an hour) before it was cooked through.
-I also over-filled the pan. Though the recipe I use is officially for cupcakes Martha gives instructions in the book on how to bake it as a two layer cake. I made the full recipe but probably could have gotten 4-6 regular cupcakes in addition to my giant here. (that would have been really cute...a momma cupcake w/her babies! ) I will probably only fill the pan's compartments 3/4 of the way full next time I use this pan.
-It was kinda scary to cut! We ended up just slicing it like a regular cake, but making the top and bottom halves distinct pieces (I don't know if that makes sense...but that's what we did :)

Everyone LOVED it and it was a super fun cupcake themed party!

The night before and morning of we decorated the house and it was so cute! My friend and her husband planned a Gorgeous setup with pictures and mementos all over the house so we could see highlights from her first year.

Happy birthday!!

Such a special day! And I finished a little hat for her while I was there and she looks so cute in it!

It was just wonderful to spend time with Jordan and being able to serve her by helping out with the party--she has done so many wonderful things for me over the years and has been a true friend through everything--it is rare to have someone so special after so very many years! We have stuck by each other and gone in and out of closeness, but are always able to pick right back up where we left off. I love you dearly Jordan!!

two of the most beautiful ladies I know :)

____________________________________________________________________
It was honestly hard leaving. I drove home on this rainy afternoon listening to melancholy music and thinking. I went to their church with them this morning and the pastor is another dear friend from my youth--the church and birthday party both had so many people that I know and love from Bowling Green where I live now, but they have moved on. It felt like I was just at home--but then I had to leave. So often after visiting friends I feel like my life picked up and moved but forgot to take me! I guess that is part of living in a college and "transitional" town. So many dear friends have now moved to the Nashville area or Louisville--I'm just kinda stuck in between.

Most of the time I am so thrilled with my life, but at times like this I realize that I am missing some of the deep and vulnerable relationships that I used to have. Moving where my friends live now would not make it like it used to be (I need to remember this) because we have all changed, and it seems that even my friends who all moved to the same town don't see each other that often! I just need to step out in faith and seek those types of relationships again. It is just hard after you give so much of yourself to people and get so used to them moving away. I have honestly shied away from the Bible studies and discipleship that I used to be involved in because I got so tired of having another group of friends pick up and move again--it is emotionally draining. But we are created to have community and fellowship so it's time for me to start seeking that again. Thanks to all of you--my bloggy buddies and "real-life" friends who keep up with all of my random thoughts and escapades and encourage and pray for me through it all. I guess this is another thing to add to the resolution list!