(My) Cakes

[Sundae]

Have already decided not to work tomorrow.
Coughing too much and not enough of a voice to be useful in a classroom.

Anyway.
This means I'll make the spesh choc-caramel cake for Mum on Monday.
I think she is relieved about that - less coughing over it, we both hope.

Today I made carrot mini-cakes for Mrs K at school (see above - has friend with cancer).
I found a recipe which made nine - I'd already offered one to Mum and as it turns out, eight fit perfectly into our little cake tin.

They're larger than fairy cakes (UK) but not as large as US muffins, and certainly not muffin texture. Hence mini-cakes.

Apart from a little grating they were super easy to make. As I said before, all I needed was three carrots, I had everything else, including the decorations on top (shop bought, chocolate, on sale).

Again, I have this issue with the cases peeling off.
When I've seen cakes in photos the cases have already been removed. But when so many decorative cases are sold, surely they are designed to be left on?
Am I overcooking them? Mum said the cake was gorgeous. And I gave her the most baggy one of course.

Hmmm.

Took them round to a school employee who lives nearby.
I was at school with her as it happens.
And volunteered in class with her elder daughter, and her younger daughter is in Tiger's class. So it's not like we don't have a connection! She'll take them in for Mrs K tomorrow.

[BigV]

Carrot cakes.

LOL.

[Lola Bunny]

They look adorable.

I just made carrot cake too. My recipe calls for you to add pureed cooked carrots into the batter. This seems less work than grating the carrots? If you think you may be interested, let me know and I'll put up the recipe. It was very yummy and moist. There was coconut shreds, walnuts, and crushed pineapple added. Not sure if you're adverse to any of those ingredients. I didn't add pineapple into my cake and later found out from a friend that pineapple makes carrot cake absolutely great.

[DanaC]

Noooooo! Don't puree carrot!!!

[Lola Bunny]

Originally Posted by DanaC

Noooooo! Don't puree carrot!!!

Why not, Dana?


And here's the recipe I tried.

Carrot Cake
Makes two 9 or 10 inch round cakes

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Ingredients

• 3 cups sifted all-purpose flour
• 3 cups granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 Tablespoon baking soda
• 1 Tablespoon Cinnamon
• 1 1/2 cups corn oil
• 4 eggs
• 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts
• 1 1/2 cups shredded coconut
• 1 1/3 cups pureed cooked carrots
• 3/4 cups crushed and drained pineapple

Mix together all of the dry ingredients-Flour, baking soda, salt cinnamon and sugar.
Add oil eggs and vanilla, beat well, scraping the sides of the bowl a couple of times.
Fold in the carrots, pineapple, coconut, and walnuts.
Divide the batter evenly between the pans. Smooth the batter level, then spread it slightly from the center to the edges.
Bake in the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes, or just until the tops are springy or a cake tester comes out clean.
Cool the cakes in their pans on a rack for 10 minutes. Then invert onto racks.

Pan Prep: I use either a spray oil or Crisco to grease the pans well, followed by a dusting of flour, followed by a layer of parchment paper or waxed paper that has been cut to fit the pan. That's it. No need to re-grease and flour the waxed paper as some cookbooks will ask you to do.

[Sundae]

I'm interested in the recipe, yes!
I've always wondered if I couldn't just liquidise carrots and have the same effect, but no-one I've spoken to has ever tried it. In fact they've looked at me a bit funny, like I was uber-lazy for thinking grating carrots was a chore. As I've found out, the amount of grating isn't all that excessive anyway. Probably easier than washing out the liquidiser!

Here is the mini-cakes recipe I followed; I used icing from a previous recipe as I was very pleased with it. This one called for orange zest but the traditional cream cheese, sugar, butter is so easy and such a classic.

From Butcher, Baker (blog)

Mini Carrot Cakes – adapted from The Best Carrot Cake
Makes around 10 mini cakes

70ml vegetable oil or rapeseed oil, plus extra for greasing
1 egg
100g muscovado sugar
150g grated carrots
50g raisins
35g pecans or walnuts, chopped [optional but I had walnuts in the cupboard]
90g self-raising flour
1 tiny pinch of salt
¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda
½ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp freshly grated nutmeg or mace
¼ tsp Mixed spice

1) Preheat oven to 150°c. Line a fairy cake tin with liners or, like me, set out the silicone fairy cake cases on a baking tray.

2) In a large bowl beat the egg, then add the oil, sugar, carrots and nuts. Stir in the remaining ingredients and mix until well combined.

3) Fill the cases 2/3 full with the mixture. Bake for 30 min, or until cakes are risen and cooked through. Allow to cool before icing.

I left out the All Spice. I'm sure we have some, but I was not up for clambering around on kitchen chairs searching for it.

I've read about pineapple in carrot cake. I've not tried it because I'm the main source of home made cakes for the people I bake for. It would be an interesting new slant, but for now they're just excited to taste the old favourites as they remember them.

[DanaC]

because he wouldn't like it...

[Lola Bunny]

My nephew's birthday cake, made by my sister. I can't remember where I post my cake pictures, and since this is a cake thread, I posted it here. This year, I requested a smaller cake since we normally have so much leftovers. This is a 3 layer cookies and cream cake.

[Lola Bunny]

The cake lit up. The candles on the two sides were supposed to sparkle but they were a big fail. In any case, I still thought it was pretty. You can't see it but star confettis were sprinkles all over the table top. The girls absolutely loved them. They were gathering most of them up so there were not much left to clean.

[Clodfobble]

Originally Posted by Sundae

Probably easier than washing out the liquidiser!

Do you also have a thing called a blender, or do you not use the word blender at all?

[Lola Bunny]

Originally Posted by DanaC

because he wouldn't like it...

Oh, hihi...

Originally Posted by Clodfobble

Do you also have a thing called a blender, or do you not use the word blender at all?

I used my blender to puree the carrots. I just looked over Sundae's carrot cake recipe. Such little amount of ingredients, I like. It does, however, use more spice. I'll try it one day. As for grating, it is a hassle for me though.

[DanaC]

I have a blender.

[Sundae]

A blender is a liquidiser, isn't it?

Mum wants me to make some more carrot mini-cakes this weekend.
She's going to top up the ingredients cupboard in return.

[Clodfobble]

Originally Posted by Sundae

A blender is a liquidiser, isn't it?

I dunno, that's what I was asking. It sounds like it is.

[Aliantha]

Sundae, when you cook the little cakes, do you put the patty pans in a muffin tray so they keep their shape? If you do, I would recommend leaving them in the tray to cool so they sweat a little bit, which would cause them to hold onto the wrapper.

Alternatively, try filling the papers up a bit more so that as they cook, they rise slightly over the top which will also help hold the papers in place.

Or, maybe try a different brand?