Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

A carrot cake is one of my all-time favorite desserts.  It's sweet, crunchy, warm topped with a creamy cream cheese frosting - what's not to love?

Every year for the last 5 years or so, a family friend has brought us a carrot cake for Christmas.  I look forward to it every year, as she makes the best one I've ever had.  This year, husband's mom asked if there was anything I wanted them to bring from home when they came for Christmas (assuming I'd request BBQ...again).  I (half-jokingly) said "Please tell Debbie to make me a carrot cake!  The clan decided to not disappoint the brand new mamma, so Debbie baked a cake and the Alfords drove it to Boston!  What love.

This Easter, I was asked to bring a carrot cake to dinner.  I knew just who to call for a recipe.  Debbie was kind enough to share her recipe with me - and agreed to let me share it with all of you!



Ingredients

Cake
2 cups sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 cups self-rising flour
2 tsp cinnamon
1 Tbsp vanilla
1.5 cups vegetable oil
3 eggs
3 cups grated carrots
1 cup roughly chopped pecans (toasted optional)

Icing
1 stick butter, softened to room temperature
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 box (1 lb) powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
2-3 Tbsp milk (add a little at a time to get the right consistency)
Optional: 1/4 cup roughly chopped pecans (or more if desired)

Directions

Cake
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cut wax paper to fit bottom of 2 round cake pans.  Grease pan & place wax paper in bottom.
Mix sugar, baking soda, flour & cinnamon in large bowl or mixer.
Make a well in the dry ingredients.  Add oil.  Add eggs 1 at a time.
Add vanilla, nuts and carrots and mix well.
Pour batter evenly into pans.
Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, testing for doneness with toothpick.
Cool in pan on rack for 10 minutes.  Flip layers onto cooling rack.

Cream Cheese Icing
Mix wet ingredients (except milk) together until smooth.
Add powdered sugar.
Add milk a little at a time until you reach desired consistency.
Optional: Stir in pecans, or sprinkle on top

Once cake has cooled, ice between the layers, top and sides of cake.

Optional: sprinkle top or around the rim with chopped pecans or grated carrots.

Enjoy!

Cinnamon Sugar Almond Butter

A few weeks ago, when we went to Saratoga Springs, we bought some locally-made Cinnamon Sugar Peanut Butter.  Obviously it was amazing.  So good.  The downside of this yummy treat was its $12 price tag, so this afternoon, while at Costco, I picked up some almonds so we could make our own at home.  $12 almond butter is not a habit one can carry on for long!

It's smooth, sweet, and a really fun way to switch up your snacks!  Almonds have vitamin E, potassium, magnesium, iron, and calcium.  They're a good source of protein and fiber and have a high monounsaturated fat content (the healthy kind of fat!), so they're a great thing to add to your diet.  Adding cinnamon to foods can help regulate blood sugar, reduce LDL cholesterol levels, and can even reduce pain linked to arthritis. It's good for you...and it's delicious!

Ingredients 

2 cups roasted, salted (or unsalted) almonds
1 Tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Makes about 1 cup of almond butter
1 Tablespoon = 75 calories

Directions

Place almonds in a food processor.  (I used a small food processor, so you could double this in a large one easily.)  Start processing.  At first, almonds will crumble.  Then they'll start to stick together, so you'll need to pause and scrape down the sides as needed.  The almonds will become thicker and thicker (continue scraping as needed) until all of a sudden they'll turn a corner and start to look more like butter!

Once it's well on its way to "peanut butter" texture, it'll be time to add your flavors.  Add sugar and cinnamon, then process to combine.  Scrape down the sides and around the blade to make sure there aren't any pockets of flavor hiding and continue processing until you reach your desired consistency.

Transfer to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator.

Just be careful - even though there are lots of health benefits to the foods used to make this treat, it's also high in calories.  Use a tablespoon to measure!

Enjoy with some apple slices, on a banana, or a bagel thin!

Baked Apples

One of my favorite things to see cooking when I was growing up were baked apples.  Contrary to their name, they're not actually baked - they're cooked in a frying pan!  When I was little I would sneak into the kitchen while these were cooking and steal the apples with the most brown sugar on them.  In all honestly, that's half the fun of making these - the snacking.

Ingredients
5 large apples (I used gala)
3 Tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions
Peel, core, and slice apples.  Add apples, brown sugar, and cinnamon to a large pan and stir until apples are coated.

Cook on medium for 15 or so minutes, stirring every few minutes, until apples are cooked through.

They're seriously good.  I especially like them served with pork.  Mmmmm...

Bananas Foster Ice Cream

This weekend I realized I have an entire bunch of bananas that was so ripe it wasn't going to make it another day.  With Nemo, the blizzard that hit Boston this weekend, bearing down on us, I knew I wouldn't be able to go buy the necessary ingredients to make banana bread, so I put my thinking cap on.  As I looked around the kitchen, I remembered I'd bought some caramel to top the snow cream I was going to make, and knew exactly what to do.  Bananas Foster Ice Cream.

My little experiment was a smashing success...and now you've got another use for your "on the way out" bananas!

Ingredients

3 ripe bananas, mashed
1 1/4 cup heavy cream
1 cup skim milk
1/2 cup caramel
4 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

Directions

Peel and smash bananas - the more "smushed" they are, the better!

In a medium bowl, combine heavy cream, skim milk, caramel, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  Stir until smooth, then add smashed bananas.

Cover and refrigerate for 1-2 hours.  The cold mixture will freeze better in your ice cream maker.

Once the mixture has chilled, pour into your ice cream maker and let it spin for 45 minutes to 1 hour according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Doesn't that look amazing?  If you can keep yourself from eating it all immediately, transfer into a Tupperware container and freeze until you're ready to enjoy!

Enjoy!