Bring a plate....

I love carrot cake. I remember doing an internet search for carrot cake recipes couple of years ago, and the hits providing recipes were endless. The end results varied hugely too.

This recipe is the best I've tried and comes courtesy of my friend Karyn. I made it today to take to our neighbours' party as my 'plate' offering. For those not familiar with Kiwi-speak, being asked to 'bring a plate' to a party or event means bring a plate of food. Many a immigrant such as myself has been caught out with that phrase - only to turn up to someone's house with a set of crockery!

Karyn’s Carrot Cake

3 eggs
¾ Cup oil
2 Cups raw or brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla
½ tsp salt
3 cups (350 grams) grated carrot
2 cups wholemeal flour
1 cup coconut
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
¾ cup apple juice

Put eggs, oil, sugar, vanilla and salt in a large bowl. Beat to mix thoroughly, then fold in the grated carrots.

Toss all the dry ingredients together. Tip them on top of the wet mixture and fold in carefully, adding the apple juice while you mix. If the mixture seems too wet, do not add the last 2-3 Tbsp apple juice.

Turn the mix into a large square or rectangular paper lined tin, and bake at 180°C for 45 – 60 mins or until a skewer comes out clean.

Ice with double the recipe of cream cheese icing.

Cream cheese icing

2 Tbsp cream cheese
1 Tbsp butter
½ tsp vanila
1 ½ cups sifted icing sugar

Combine the first 3 ingredients in a medium to large bowl. Microwave on high (100%) power for 20 seconds or until the butter is soft enough to cream. Add icing sugar.

Mix until smooth and creamy. Add a little milk or icing sugar if icing is too thick or thin. Spread on cake.

101 ways to use up unwanted Easter eggs....

Ok, so I don't really have 101 ways to use up unwanted Easter eggs. Probably because the notion of chocolate being 'unwanted' is a strange concept if ever there was one. But I'll start the list here with no 1. No 2 and beyond will have to wait until next year, as rather worryingly The Family appear to have inherited the passion for chocolate, and the Easter eggs are now very nearly gone.

Three over-ripe bananas in the fruit bowl were crying out to be turned into a banana cake. What better way to use up some of that unwanted Easter confectionary, than to make a chocolate banana cake?!

Soon after arriving in New Zealand I was introduced to the wonder of the Edmonds Cookery Book. The Edmonds recipe for banana cake is one of the best I've tried. My chocolate version was a big hit. Slightly squidgy, but not soggy, and very yummy.

Chocolate Banana Cake

125 g butter/margarine
¾ cup sugar
2 eggs
2 cups mashed ripe banana
1 tsp baking soda
2 tbsp hot milk
1 ½ cups plain flour
½ cup cocoa
1 tsp baking powder
1 Easter egg, broken into small pieces

Preheat oven to 180 C.
Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each one.
Add mashed banana, mix well. Add the baking soda to the hot milk, and add soda mixture to cake batter. Sift flour, cocoa and baking powder. Fold into cake batter. Finally add the broken chocolate pieces.
Turn into greased 20cm tin, and bake for 50 mins or until skewer comes out clean.

Fairy tale birthday

What started as a wee bit of fun about 5 years ago when I attempted to make a birthday cake for my sister has now turned into a tradition, or more of an expectation, that Mum (a.k.a. Me) will make a cake. I'm not complaining mind you. I love both the baking and (dare I be so bold) the artistic side of decorating a birthday cake. It's a really lovely feeling when the cakes are admired, but most of all it's wonderful when my kids are chuffed to bits with the cake that has been made to their own (very specific) requests.

My daughter (a.k.a. The Princess of Power) turned 5 recently. For such a petite wee thing, she knows what she wants.

So, exactly as directed, here we have a Fairy Toadstool House.



The cake was madeira cake, filled with lemon butter icing and blackcurrant jam.

Madeira Cake

(quantities for 7"/18cm round tin)

230g SR flour
170g sugar
170g margarine
3 eggs
30 ml milk

Method

All in one method, beat for one minute in mixer. Bake in greased tin for 1¼-1½ hours at 150 C.

Madeira cake is perfect for birthday cakes. It's a denser cake and more moist than classic Victoria sponge, and so keeps a bit longer. The slow baking also means that it doesn't rise as much as Victoria sponge, which is ideal for decorating.

The base of the cake was a 7 in round cake. The toadstool 'roof'' was a large Pyrex bowl, which I lined with baking paper before baking.

The cake was iced with ready to roll fondant icing. The coloured icings were made simply by needing paste colours into white fondant - the pre-coloured icings are hard to come by in NZ and so are very expensive. DIY colouring at least allows some control of the end result - especially given such fussy 'clients'!


I have to say I was pleased with the result, and the Princess of Power was very chuffed. Oh, although she did express disappointment that the door didn't open to reveal a table and chairs for the Fairies to sit and eat their tea. That's ok though. Smug Mummy is never a good look!