The other day I was just talking about neighbours and the importance of getting to know them and establishing that community feel. Yesterday, our real estate agent called to inform us that the owner is now intending to sell the property. This is one of the downside of renting. While repairs and maintenance is burdened by the owner, when they decide to sell, you are at their mercy. The good thing is, we have a fixed contract. It is also a fantastic bonus that the property owner is the brother of our neighbour – yes, from the previous post who gave us those lovely stuffed zucchinis and tomatoes. The dreadful thing is we have to move! Now I don’t want to think of this as losing a friend, but extending our network beyond the 5km radius. Will definitely miss this house we called home for past 3.5 years.
Despite the pluses of the situation I still felt like it was the worst of Mondays (and it wasn’t even a Monday! It was a Tuesday) and a big block of brick was thrown at me from who knows where. I felt I was in limbo. Something just rocked my boat. From the moment of the phone call, all that was running through my head was the chaos of moving. Its draining just to think about it. And after picking you up from school, the moment I opened the front door and it was as if our piano was yelling at me. Hey you! I’m going to be part of that move! My head just throbbed with my heart. I have been feeling off track since. And as I wanted to change my mood and release the stress and tension from my shoulders, I decided to bake. Something I haven’t tried before that will be good to eat and serve. And this carrot cake was just in the way.
I photo copied this from a book (did I do something illegal? I mean, photo copying is just like copying it in writing, except that you don’t get the pictures and the page numbers and all that blurb that goes with the recipe?!) Alright. Let’s just say I copied it from a book, of which I borrowed from the library and at this point, not sure of the title and the author, so apologies for not acknowledging you – whoever you are who wrote and tested this recipe. When I come across it again, I’m sure to acknowledge you right back. And as tribute to the owner of this recipe, I’d like to say that this is best carrot cake I have ever tasted. And as accurately copied, this is called “Carol’s Very Moist Carrot Cake”
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 175 degrees C. Line a 23-cm square cake tin with non stick baking paper.
2. Sift the flour into a large mixing bowl with the bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Stir in the sugar and chopped walnuts.
3. In another bowl, mix the oil and eggs until well combined. Stir in the grated carrots. (I used a whisk to mix the oil and eggs together. At first, it will look like its not going to go together as the oil and eggs separate, but continue whisking and it will mix. Then add the carrots and mix).
4. Pour the wet mixture into the dry ingredients and mix to form a smooth batter. (To mix the dry and wet mixture together, I simply used a wooden spoon to slowly incorporate together). Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 60-80 minutes or until cooked through. Cool for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack.
5. When completely cold, use a spatula to cover the top and sides of the cake with Cream Cheese Frosting and decorate with chopped walnuts.
For the cream cheese frosting, I borrowed the recipe from the Harvest Cinnamon Rolls which we have baked previously here, but changed the quantities a bit.
Despite the pluses of the situation I still felt like it was the worst of Mondays (and it wasn’t even a Monday! It was a Tuesday) and a big block of brick was thrown at me from who knows where. I felt I was in limbo. Something just rocked my boat. From the moment of the phone call, all that was running through my head was the chaos of moving. Its draining just to think about it. And after picking you up from school, the moment I opened the front door and it was as if our piano was yelling at me. Hey you! I’m going to be part of that move! My head just throbbed with my heart. I have been feeling off track since. And as I wanted to change my mood and release the stress and tension from my shoulders, I decided to bake. Something I haven’t tried before that will be good to eat and serve. And this carrot cake was just in the way.
I photo copied this from a book (did I do something illegal? I mean, photo copying is just like copying it in writing, except that you don’t get the pictures and the page numbers and all that blurb that goes with the recipe?!) Alright. Let’s just say I copied it from a book, of which I borrowed from the library and at this point, not sure of the title and the author, so apologies for not acknowledging you – whoever you are who wrote and tested this recipe. When I come across it again, I’m sure to acknowledge you right back. And as tribute to the owner of this recipe, I’d like to say that this is best carrot cake I have ever tasted. And as accurately copied, this is called “Carol’s Very Moist Carrot Cake”
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Ingredients
2 cups plain flour
2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp salt
2 cups caster sugar
1 cup chopped walnut (I used a 150g pack of chopped walnuts, including the extra for decorating/topping)
1 1/2 vegetable oil
4 eggs
3 cups grated peeled carrots
chopped walnuts for decorating
Ingredients
2 cups plain flour
2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp salt
2 cups caster sugar
1 cup chopped walnut (I used a 150g pack of chopped walnuts, including the extra for decorating/topping)
1 1/2 vegetable oil
4 eggs
3 cups grated peeled carrots
chopped walnuts for decorating
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 175 degrees C. Line a 23-cm square cake tin with non stick baking paper.
2. Sift the flour into a large mixing bowl with the bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Stir in the sugar and chopped walnuts.
3. In another bowl, mix the oil and eggs until well combined. Stir in the grated carrots. (I used a whisk to mix the oil and eggs together. At first, it will look like its not going to go together as the oil and eggs separate, but continue whisking and it will mix. Then add the carrots and mix).
4. Pour the wet mixture into the dry ingredients and mix to form a smooth batter. (To mix the dry and wet mixture together, I simply used a wooden spoon to slowly incorporate together). Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 60-80 minutes or until cooked through. Cool for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack.
5. When completely cold, use a spatula to cover the top and sides of the cake with Cream Cheese Frosting and decorate with chopped walnuts.
For the cream cheese frosting, I borrowed the recipe from the Harvest Cinnamon Rolls which we have baked previously here, but changed the quantities a bit.
125g cream cheese, softened
75g unsalted butter, softened
1 cup icing sugar
1/8 tsp vanilla extract
Using an electric mixer, mix together cream cheese and butter until light and creamy.
Add the icing sugar and vanilla extract and continue mixing until well mixed and creamy. The frosting should be a little bit thick and creamy in consistency.
Using an electric mixer, mix together cream cheese and butter until light and creamy.
Add the icing sugar and vanilla extract and continue mixing until well mixed and creamy. The frosting should be a little bit thick and creamy in consistency.
Making this did not make the situation better - there is that moment when we will still have to move, and do the chaotic things associate with moving. But this very moist carrot cake did make my day sweeter and brought my stress levels down. As I look onto the coming weeks, I know its going to be really busy. In the meantime, there's going to be a lot of thought going into cleaning up the "junk" we've somewhat accumulated over the years and looking for a new place. I wish and pray that we'll find the right one.
Thanks! This is from the Cake Bible
ReplyDeleteThis is from the Cake Bible. Best recipe thanks for sharing (I lost my book!)
ReplyDelete