Classic Carrot Cake
I can’t remember the first time I had carrot cake. I do know that I loved it. Carrot cake is a timeless dessert that never goes out of style.
It is a simple cake, but full of flavor from cinnamon, vanilla and three cups of shredded carrots. The carrots add both flavor and moisture to the cake. Plus, with all those carrots, it’s like dessert and a veggie all in one. Practically health food.
It seems like a long time since I baked a carrot cake. Too long. Since a dear friend gave me carrots a few days ago, it seemed like the right time to bake one.
I baked the cakes this morning. I only made one recipe, but instead of baking the cake in one 9×13-inch pan, I used two (8×8 -inch) pans. Baking time was about 5 minutes less. Once the cakes cooled down, I frosted them with cream cheese frosting – recipe follows. Now I have two carrot cakes. One to share with a neighbor and one to freeze for another time.
So here is the recipe. I hope you love it as much as I do.
Classic Carrot Cake
4 eggs
2 c. sugar
1½ c. oil
3 c. shredded carrots
2 t. vanilla
2 c. flour
2 t. each baking soda and cinnamon
1 t. salt
1 c. nuts
1 c. raisins, optional
Preheat oven to 350 and grease a 9×13-inch pan. Beat together eggs sugar and oil until smooth. Stir in carrots. Combine flour with dry ingredients and beat in. Stir in nuts and raisins and pour into prepared pan. Bake 35-40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Dust with powdered sugar or frost with cream cheese frosting.
Frosting recipe:
8 oz. Cream cheese, softened
3/4 c. powdered sugar
1 stick butter, room temperature
Beat all together until fluffy. Frost cake and refrigerate until ready to eat.
Carrot Pasta Sauce
This pasta sauce is one of my favorites. Most people don’t think of carrots, when they think of pasta sauce, but maybe they should. It tastes wonderful and looks pretty, too. It’s a simple sauce that packs a lot of flavor.
We made this sauce in cooking camp this summer. The kids seemed to doubt that they would like it. Turned out, most of them loved it. I made it for a friend the other night. He enjoyed it, too.
The process is easy. Just cook carrots, with sauteed onions and garlic in stock, until the carrots are really tender. Most of the liquid cooks off. Puree, adding cream or half and half, and some dill. Adjust seasonings and you are done!
I used chicken stock, but you could use a vegetable stock for a vegetarian version of this dish. Toss the sauce with pasta, rice, or even with veggies or meats. You can add some fresh grated cheese, too, if you like. For the version we did in camp, I was going to have the kids sprinkle some cheddar cheese over the pasta once it was tossed with the carrot sauce. The cheese got dumped in the carrot sauce instead, so we just mixed it in until it melted. The carrot sauce tasted like mac and cheese.
Here is the recipe. I hope you try it.
Carrot Pasta Sauce
1 T. oil
1 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 lb. carrots, peeled and sliced
2 c. chicken or vegetable stock
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 c. cream, half and half or evaporated milk
1T. fresh dill or 1 t. dried
Hot cooked pasta
Sauté onion in oil until tender. Add garlic, carrots and stock and cook until carrots are very tender. Much of the liquid should have evaporated by then. Place mixture in blender and add cream or milk, mixing until smooth. Add dill and adjust seasonings, tossing over hot pasta to serve. I sometimes top with some shredded Parmesan cheese, too.
Variations: Use sweet potatoes, pumpkin, winter squash or even peas for different tastes.
Carrot Pasta Sauce
This pasta sauce is one of my favorites. Most people don’t think of carrots, when they think of pasta sauce, but maybe they should. It tastes wonderful and looks pretty, too. It’s a simple sauce that packs a lot of flavor.
We made this sauce in cooking camp this summer. The kids seemed to doubt that they would like it. Turned out, most of them loved it. I made it for a friend the other night. He enjoyed it, too.
The process is easy. Just cook carrots, with sauteed onions and garlic in stock, until the carrots are really tender. Most of the liquid cooks off. Puree, adding cream or half and half, and some dill. Adjust seasonings and you are done!
I used chicken stock, but you could use a vegetable stock for a vegetarian version of this dish. Toss the sauce with pasta, rice, or even with veggies or meats. You can add some fresh grated cheese, too, if you like. For the version we did in camp, I was going to have the kids sprinkle some cheddar cheese over the pasta once it was tossed with the carrot sauce. The cheese got dumped in the carrot sauce instead, so we just mixed it in until it melted. The carrot sauce tasted like mac and cheese.
Here is the recipe. I hope you try it.
Carrot Pasta Sauce
1 T. oil
1 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 lb. carrots, peeled and sliced
2 c. chicken or vegetable stock
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 c. cream, half and half or evaporated milk
1T. fresh dill or 1 t. dried
Hot cooked pasta
Sauté onion in oil until tender. Add garlic, carrots and stock and cook until carrots are very tender. Much of the liquid should have evaporated by then. Place mixture in blender and add cream or milk, mixing until smooth. Add dill and adjust seasonings, tossing over hot pasta to serve. I sometimes top with some shredded Parmesan cheese, too.
Variations: Use sweet potatoes, pumpkin, winter squash or even peas for different tastes.
Copper Pennies-Carrot Salad
A very long time ago, I was served a salad called copper pennies. The name came from the rounds of carrots that were the main ingredient. I know the salad had a sweet and sour tomato-based dressing. I liked it a lot.
The original dressing was made from canned tomato soup. I didn’t have tomato soup, but I had tomato sauce. I winged it and came up with a dressing I really like. It reminds me of a sweet French dressing. There is enough dressing that I spooned some out and used it on a lettuce salad.
So here is my version of copper pennies. Fun name, tasty salad.
Marinated Carrot Salad- Copper Pennies
1½- 2 lbs. of carrots, peeled and sliced
1 sweet pepper, seeded and chopped
1 small sweet onion, chopped
1-2 green onions, chopped, optional
Dressing
1 c. tomato sauce
¾ c. apple cider vinegar
¾ c. sugar
½ c. oil
2 T. prepared mustard- I like Dijon
2 t. salt
1 t. hot pepper sauce, or to taste
pepper to taste
Steam or boil carrots until just tender. While carrots are cooking place veggies in a large bowl. In a medium bowl, combine dressing ingredients and whisk until smooth. When carrots are cooked, drain and place them in the bowl with the veggies. While carrots are still hot, pour over the dressing and stir to cover them well. Allow carrots to cool down a little before covering the bowl and placing in the fridge to chill thoroughly. Serves 10-12. Keeps for a couple of weeks.
Pickled Carrot Salad
Pickled Carrot Salad
This was one of those dishes where it came out great, but was not what I had planned in the beginning. Let me explain.
I had picked up some beautiful rainbow carrots at a local market. They come in colors ranging from yellow to purplish red. I wanted to make something special with them, highlighted their vibrant colors. I liked the idea of a kind of pickled carrot. Made up the recipe as I went along. I knew the flavors would go well with the rest of the dinner that was planned.
The carrots worked out so well. Great flavors- but there was a problem. I had used a red vinegar and by the time everything was done cooking, the color of the carrots had changed. They all looked, well, like regular carrots. No one knew the difference, except me. I felt bad that I had cooked all the color out of the rainbow carrots, but the flavor was good. I guess, in the end, that is what really matters.
Pickled Carrot Salad
2 medium onions, peeled and sliced
3-4 cloves garlic, peeled
1 c. vinegar- red wine or cider vinegar preferred
1 c. water
1 ½ lbs. carrots, peeled and sliced
1 sweet pepper, seeded and chopped
2 small tomatoes, seeded and chopped
½ c. sugar
1/4 c. chopped fresh parsley
2 t. salt, or to taste
Fresh ground pepper to taste
1 t. ground ginger
Hot sauce to taste
1 bay leaf
In saucepan, combine onions and garlic with the water and vinegar and bring to a boil. Prepare other veggies while onions simmer for 10 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and simmer, covered about 20 minutes. Adjust seasonings. Let salad cool down, then store in fridge until ready to serve. Best served the next day. Remove bay leaf and garlic cloves before serving.
Rainbow Carrots
Zucchini Carrot Cupcakes
Zucchini Carrot Cupcakes
These are really good cupcakes. They are moist and not too sweet with a slightly dense texture. Sort of a cross between carrot cake and zucchini bread they have more texture than a traditional cupcake and plenty of flavor. I made these for a group of kids yesterday and they loved them. I got 24 cupcakes out of the recipe but they were a little small. Perhaps 18 would be a better way to go. I used a simple vanilla buttercream to finish them off. I whipped the frosting a long time so it was extra fluffy. Here are the recipes for both the cupcakes and the frosting.
Zucchini Carrot Cupcakes
2 eggs
1 c. sugar
2/3 c. oil
1¼ c. flour
1 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
1 t. cinnamon- I think I would use a little more next time
½ t. salt
1 c. grated carrot
1 c. grated zucchini, squeezed dry and packed tightly
½ c. chopped nuts, optional
Beat eggs with sugar until frothy. Beat in oil then add dry ingredients. Beat on high for 4 minutes. Stir in veggies and nuts. Pour batter into 18- 24 paper lined muffin tins, filling them 2/3 full. Bake in a 350-degree oven for about 15 minutes or until top springs back when lightly touched. Cool and frost. Makes 24.
Note: These cupcakes deflate a little while cooling.
Classic Vanilla Frosting
3/4 cup butter
6 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons milk
Beat butter in a large bowl until fluffy. Gradually add 3 cups of the sifted confectioners’ sugar, beating well. Slowly beat in the vanilla, salt, and 1/3 cup of the milk. Gradually beat in the 3 remaining cups of confectioner’s sugar. Beat in additional milk (1 to 2 tablespoons) if needed, to make frosting of spreading consistency. If desired tint the frosting with 6 to 8 drops of food coloring.
Carrot and Cabbage Salad
Carrot and Cabbage Salad
I love a good salad. I also like to make dishes that can travel well when I am visiting with friends. After a conversation with a friend the other day about her having to travel for a family event and bring food along I was inspired to come up with this recipe. Similar to a cole slaw this salad has an equal share of carrots and an herb-infused dressing that gives it a great flavor. It can be made a couple of days ahead, if needed, and is better if you make it the night before.
Carrot and Cabbage Salad
1 lb. carrots, peeled and shredded
1 lb. shredded cabbage- you can use the cole slaw mixes sold in stores
Dressing:
2/3 c. apple cider vinegar or herb flavored vinegar
1/2 c. oil
1/4 c. sugar, or to taste
1 T. salad and vegetable seasoning-recipe follows- or 1 T. dried herbs of your choice
Salt and pepper to taste
Combine veggies in a bowl. Combine dressing ingredients in a jar with a tight-fitting lid and shake well to combine. Adjust seasonings. Pour dressing over the veggies and stir to mix well. Cover and chill for several hours or overnight. Serves 10-12.
Salad and Vegetable Seasoning
½ c. dried parsley
¼ c. dried minced onion
1 T. dried thyme
1-T. celery seeds
2 t. dried oregano
1 t. dried marjoram
1-t. dill seeds
Combine all ingredients and store in a cool, dry, dark place. Makes about a cup. Use in salad dressings or on cooked veggies and in soups and stews.
