Today we went with Randi and Corky to see Lorelei's lake house. Two houses actually. A divine log home and a perfectly enchanting cracker home - both of which made me instantly long for a lake house of my own. Just one. It was a beautiful afternoon - we walked in the woods around the lake and then ate Kathy's yummy soup and Lorelei's divine, bejewelled salad at Kathy & Julie's house. And cake. We were so hungry we started with cake while we waited for the soup to heat up. We felt like intruders because neither Kathy nor Julie were there. Happy, hungry intruders. We sat on their dock watching the sun set as flocks of cranes flew off for the night. Altogether it was a perfectly perfect afternoon.
It couldn't have been easier to throw this cake together but it was so incredibly heavy in the tin that I could not imagine it being edible. I couldn't have been wronger. Astonishingly it wasn't just edible. The whole idea of eating something so luscious made from carrots, pumpkins, pecans and brown rice was pretty funny.
I started by looking up carrot and pumpkin cake on the internet to see if it had been done and it had. Great. I couldn't believe the recipes though - canned pumpkin. Forget it. Also canned pineapple and coconut. That did not sound delicious to me, not alongside pumpkin and carrot. Not at all. Also - in the spirit of wanting to make something that sounded like dinner but presented like a cake I decided to make it with brown rice flour and less sugar. In fact, I abandoned the recipes altogether and made it up as I went along, flinging in more of this and less of that (by accident) and hoping for the best as I heaved it into the oven!
It's a wheat free cake and if you make the drizzle from sugar and citrus juice it is dairy free as well.
It might be an interesting cake to give to recalcitrant children who are intractably picky eaters. All the important food groups are present and correct, and if they eat muffins I am pretty sure they'll eat this cake. You could always switch out half of the brown rice flour with white rice flour and half the brown sugar with white. That'll make it a lighter, less 'wholefoody' cake.
Veggies
- 8 oz carrots, grated
- 8 oz pumpkin grated
Wet Things
- 3/4 cup milk
- 2 tablespoons sour orange (or Meyer’s lemon) juice
- 4 large eggs
- 1/2 cup grape seed oil (any other light oil like sunflower or safflower)
Dry Things
- 3 cups brown rice flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda (not baking powder)
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups soft brown sugar
- 6 oz pecan nuts (or 2 cups)
Preheat oven to 375° F.
Grease and flour one biggish (10 inch) pan or 2 smaller ones.
Grate the veggies (food processor works great) and throw them into a big bowl.
Add all the wet things and give it a good stir.
Throw in the dry things and stir well..
Bake in the middle of the oven for 1 hour 15 mins – 1 hour 30 mins or until a bamboo skewer or wooden tooth pick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and let it cool completely.
Citrus Drizzle
Mix together softened cream cheese and butter.
Add loads of confectioner’s sugar and mix like crazy.
Add sour orange juice and/or Meyer’s lemon juice to taste.
Add more sugar if it’s too thin.
I'm bad at making these frostings or whatever they are supposed to be.
We ended up spooning it over slices of cake in our hands. There was nothing bad doing so.
Additional Notes
This recipe makes one large cake - the quantities are easily halved for a small (or bread tin size) cake tin.
I bet it can be cooked in muffin or cupcake tins as well. Of course it'll cook quicker in a smaller tin and quicker still in muffin or cupcake tins.
So what is the difference between baking soda and baking powder and does it matter.
Apparently it does but I read this page twice and still don't completely get it.
http://chemistry.about.com/cs/foodchemistry/f/blbaking.htm
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Roasted Roots with White Bean Puree√
Carmen and Joa came to dinner and they brought their puppies. The humans played with cards afterwards while the puppies played with bones. Everyone was happy, especially Carmen who won nearly every game!
I cooked one of my favorite winter vegetable dishes for dinner. I'd gone crazy buying root veggies at the farmer's market and then found organic parsnips and white sweet potatoes at Ward's (the best supermarket in town) so I had to make this yummy dish.
Prep a bunch of root veggies. The trick is to cut everything roughly the same kind of size - not too small, not too big. If they are too small they'll cook to a mush - if they are too big they won't brown. Last night I prepped the following:
White sweet potatoes (scrubbed and cubed)
Carrots (peeled and cut into fairly equal size chunks)
Parsnips (quartered lengthwise)
Butternut squash (cubed)
Beetroots (they were little guys so I just quartered them)
Throw the prepped veggies into a big bowl and drizzle over with olive oil.
Toss until all the veggies are nicely coated with oil.
Sprinkle on some salt and a bunch of your favorite chopped herbs (fresh or dried rosemary, thyme and sage are all good)
Tip into a baking pan, pyrex or ceramic baking dish - big enough that the veggies aren't too deep.
Lightly cover the dish with foil and bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.
Throw in lots of peeled garlic cloves (I use 15-20 or more) and toss lightly - don't schmoosh the veggies.
Bake uncovered at 400 degrees for a further 15-30 minutes or until some of the veggies on top are browning nicely.
I served this with a White Bean Puree
Soak some fava beans (AKA lima or broad beans) in water overnight.
Strain, rinse and boil vigorously for 3-5 minutes (skimming the scum).
Strain, rinse and add enough cold water to cover and then some.
Simmer for 30 minutes or until soft then blend till smooth.
Add salt to taste plus more olive oil than seems reasonable and serve warm.
This was unexpectedly divine - especially with the roasted roots.
Variations:
Other roots that could be added are celeriac, rutabaga (swede), turnips and/or onions.
You can add cherry tomatoes along with the garlic cloves and drizzle a little balsamic vinegar over it before tossing it.
November 13th, 2009
Last night we rooted around for some friends to share our dinner because I made such a humongous pan of roasted roots ... this was my best yet and including the following raw veg:
The cranberries gave the dish a surprise zing and the chestnuts a deliciously earthy and festive flavor. Yum!!!!
I cooked one of my favorite winter vegetable dishes for dinner. I'd gone crazy buying root veggies at the farmer's market and then found organic parsnips and white sweet potatoes at Ward's (the best supermarket in town) so I had to make this yummy dish.
Prep a bunch of root veggies. The trick is to cut everything roughly the same kind of size - not too small, not too big. If they are too small they'll cook to a mush - if they are too big they won't brown. Last night I prepped the following:
White sweet potatoes (scrubbed and cubed)
Carrots (peeled and cut into fairly equal size chunks)
Parsnips (quartered lengthwise)
Butternut squash (cubed)
Beetroots (they were little guys so I just quartered them)
Throw the prepped veggies into a big bowl and drizzle over with olive oil.
Toss until all the veggies are nicely coated with oil.
Sprinkle on some salt and a bunch of your favorite chopped herbs (fresh or dried rosemary, thyme and sage are all good)
Tip into a baking pan, pyrex or ceramic baking dish - big enough that the veggies aren't too deep.
Lightly cover the dish with foil and bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.
Throw in lots of peeled garlic cloves (I use 15-20 or more) and toss lightly - don't schmoosh the veggies.
Bake uncovered at 400 degrees for a further 15-30 minutes or until some of the veggies on top are browning nicely.
I served this with a White Bean Puree
Soak some fava beans (AKA lima or broad beans) in water overnight.
Strain, rinse and boil vigorously for 3-5 minutes (skimming the scum).
Strain, rinse and add enough cold water to cover and then some.
Simmer for 30 minutes or until soft then blend till smooth.
Add salt to taste plus more olive oil than seems reasonable and serve warm.
This was unexpectedly divine - especially with the roasted roots.
Variations:
Other roots that could be added are celeriac, rutabaga (swede), turnips and/or onions.
You can add cherry tomatoes along with the garlic cloves and drizzle a little balsamic vinegar over it before tossing it.
November 13th, 2009
Last night we rooted around for some friends to share our dinner because I made such a humongous pan of roasted roots ... this was my best yet and including the following raw veg:
- White sweet potatoes - cubed
- Purple sweet potatoes (okinawa) - cubed
- Small onions - quartered
- Garlic - whole cloves
- Carrots - thick rounds
- Beets - eighths
- Brussel sprouts - whole
- Seminole pumpkin - cubed
- Artichoke heart - quartered
- Cranberries - as is
- Chestnuts - roasted and peeled
The cranberries gave the dish a surprise zing and the chestnuts a deliciously earthy and festive flavor. Yum!!!!
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