Thursday, September 25, 2014

A recipe to share: Carrot cake

As Autumn is officially here, I have a delicious recipe to share: carrot cake. 

I vividly remember my first impression of carrot cake; I thought it was supposed to taste like carrot hence why I opted majority of the time to not try. FYI there is no carrot taste in the cake, rather, it is a wonderful concoction of cinnamon, nutmeg, and spice. It is delicious. Enjoy.




2 cups all-purpose flour
                         2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons cinnamon
                           1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon nutmeg
                                ¾ cup granulated sugar
           
¾ cup brown sugar
                                 3 eggs
                                                           
¾ cup vegetable oil                                  1 teaspoon vanilla
                                   
2 cups grated carrots
                               1 cup drained crushed canned pineapple


ICING
1 pkg cream cheese, softened
                  1/4 cup (50 mL) butter, softened

1/2 tsp (2 mL) vanilla
                                    1 cup (250 mL) icing sugar

Grease and flour a 13x9 inch metal cake pan; set aside.
In large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, and nutmeg. In separate bowl, beat together granulated and brown sugars, eggs, oil and vanilla until smooth; pour over flour mixture and stir just until moistened. Stir in carrots, pineapple and pecans. Spread in prepared pan.
Bake in centre of 350°F (180°C) oven for 40 minutes.
In bowl, beat cream cheese with butter until smooth. Beat in vanilla. Beat in icing sugar, one-third at a time, until smooth. Spread over top of cake. (Make-ahead: Cover loosely and refrigerate for up to I day.)
When cakes emerge from the oven, their structure is set, but the set is still fragile. Let cakes stand in pans on rack for time specified in each recipe, 15 to 20 minutes. Run knife around edge of cake, then place rack over pan and invert cake onto rack to cool completely.

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

The Most Delicious Pumpkin Cookies

Hello! 

In lieu of Autumn, and it's wonderful presence; I thought it be appropriate to share and love my pumpkin cookie recipe, and show you the post-product of deliciousness. 



---
Pumpkin Cookies---

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour                                  1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda                                     2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg                               ½ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon salt                                                      ½ cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups white sugar                                        1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 egg                                                                          1 teaspoon vanilla extract

ICING
2 cups confectioners' sugar                                3 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon melted butter                                 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Combine flour, baking powder baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves, and salt; set aside. In a medium bowl, cream together the ½ cup of butter and white sugar. Add pumpkin, egg, and 1 teaspoon vanilla to butter mixture, and beat until creamy. Mix in dry ingredients. Drop on cookie sheet by tablespoonfuls; flatten slightly. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven. Cool cookies, then drizzle glaze with fork.