Carrot cake is for lovers

I've discovered a new love: carrot cake! It wasn't a love at first, let me tell you. . .

I made this cake for my friend's husband's birthday. She gave me their "family" recipe that he loves because it's plain and simple. It was very easy to make, however getting it out of the pans was quite the task! So note to self: use parchment paper. I think carrot cake is usually sticky by nature, so Baker's Joy cannot be used by itself. The combination of Baker's Joy and parchment paper is key. I will remember this for next time.

The decoration was a combined idea (Jenni and myself) and I'm proud to say that I discovered that I'm not an idiot and can in fact created a simple shell border (see, on the bottom?) I was using the wrong tip in the past. . . haha. Good job. I'm excited to make another carrot cake so I can separate those carrots on top a little more. I got that idea from some web site. . . not sure where it was now that I think about it. But I just used a medium round tip for the carrot and the leaf tip for the tops. It was really easy! I like easy designs that look hard, don't you? So there you go.

I got to taste some of the cake (that stuck to the pan) and it was good, but I made another carrot cake with a different recipe a few days later that had ALL of the fixings. I put it in the freezer and will frost and decorate it later this week for Michelle. Perhaps I'll post a picture of that one too. But this recipe is DELICIOUS! I didn't use the buttermilk glaze, but I imagine it's fantastic. I also used a different recipe for cream cheese frosting (left over from the cake above). So for this new recipe, I just added raisins to it, a little less than a cup, but I would probably add a whole cup next time. And believe me, there will be a next time, and a time after that, and a time after that, and oh my gosh I love it so much.

Cupcake Fever

It was a friend's quarter-century birthday last week, and she's been begging for carrot cake since I last tried to make it for Easter.  You'll recall that at Easter I wanted to make cupcakes, but I had no cupcake pans (HOW?!) and so I made a bundt cake. After that tragedy I quickly bought some cupcake pans, and this time around I made the cupcakes I wanted.  Thanks to the best birthday present ever, Williams-Sonoma mechanical pastry bag, I used the super-large open star tip and swirled the cream cheese frosting on top for a fancy finish!

There is a story in here, although it's not about the baking.  It's about the cupcake pans.  In March when I discovered I had none I was amazed.  I couldn't believe I didn't have cupcake pans - but I decided maybe they had been my old roommates and were left with her in Boston.  On Monday when I went to bake these cupcakes I opened the under-stove drawer where my pans are, and there were no cupcake pans.  I've been doing some major house reorganization lately, so I checked in the cabinet with other pots and pans and baking sheets.  Not there.  Now, I was sure I had two cupcake pans, but I couldn't find them.  I opened the under-stove drawer one more time, and as I did this I accidentally pushed one cake pan over the back edge and into the scary dark abyss.  As I reached my hand back to get the lost cake pan, I heard it clink against something.  So I did some more digging.  And what did I find there??  FOUR cupcake pans.  The two I bought in March nestled snuggly on top of the two I couldn't find in March.  Apparently, the under-stove drawer is constantly stealing my cupcake pans.  But the good news is, now I can make FORTY-EIGHT cupcakes at once!!

Where did all the spinach go?

A few weeks ago, I signed up for Boston Organics, and it's the best thing ever. I'm not going to get into the details right now, but you can read all about it on their web site. The part I like the most is the whole surprise factor -- you get whatever is in season and available, including produce that you wouldn't normally pick out yourself in a store. Last week, among many beautiful other fruits and vegetables, I got a whole bunch of gorgeous spinach. That's right, GORGEOUS SPINACH. Now you may be saying to yourself, But Melanie, spinach isn't all that unusual, so what's the big deal? The big deal is that the only spinach I buy is baby spinach (for salads or this) or frozen chopped spinach (for lasagna, this, or just to cook up because it's cheap). Since my box came on Thursday, I have all of this food and decided that I should prioritize. I figured the spinach might not last as long as the cauliflower, carrots, and other items, so I used that first. I sauteed lots of garlic in olive oil first, then less than a minute later, started rough chopping the spinach and adding it to the pan, along with salt and pepper. While it was cooking, I drained and rinsed a can of chickpeas, and added it to the pan as well. I reheated some pilaf I had made a couple of days ago, and there you have it. . . a delicious lunch. I just wish there were more of it. There was SO MUCH spinach (before I cooked it. . . ) that it barely fit in my saute pan! So after I cooked it, it was a little disappointing (yet expected, but still. . . quite sad). But let me tell you, the little spinach that was there was SO tender and wonderful. Mmmmmmm!

Happy 50th Birthday!

Here's a 50th birthday cake I made for one of the directors at work. The cake, filling, and frosting were the same that I used for Rachel's graduation cake. It luckily all came together in time for the party, but of course there had to be a little drama -- nothing too bad, just a little typical madness on my part.

I first had four flowers on the top of the cake. There were the three red ones you see, but they were separated more and I put them in the cake at a bit of an angle. In the middle, I had a white flower of the same variety. Well it was really obvious to me that the flower display wasn't all centered. . . BIG problem, right? It was also just awkward and empty-looking. I had time to fix it, so I thought about my options. Option 1: going to get more (smaller) flowers to fill in the gaps. Option 2: not using flowers at all. Option 3: taking the flowers out and putting them back in. While it was risky, I chose option three. I had more frosting in the fridge so I could fix the top, and I had time, so I figured I'd give it a shot.

I had the flowers in these little white cones inside the cake (so the flowers go into the cake more easily and can sit in a little water). They were a pain in the BUTT to take out. They were in there really good (nice, Mel) and were now slippery from the frosting (the cones AND my fingers that is). I somehow managed to do it, but certainly not neatly. The whole top of the cake cracked all the way across, cake itself came out through the holes the flowers were in, and it was just a big old mess. This made me a little nervous. . . I was able to fix all of it with more frosting, but that's not to say I didn't have a minor heart attack. I decided this time instead of putting the flowers in the cake at an angle that they would look better if the stem went straight down into the cake and the flowers sat more flat-ish on top. I thought that just three flowers would work and fit better than the four, so that's what I did. And then it was done. And it tasted yummy. And that was all. Happy Birthday.

incredible, edible

On New Years' Day I made a wonderful brunch with my friend AY, who taught me how to crack an egg with one hand.  Today, while watching Ace of Cakes, I learned some more interesting tidbits about eggs from Chef Duff.  Apparently, salmonella lives on the outside of the eggs, so shells are especially bad - for more than just the unneeded crunch factor.  Also, though, if you crack your eggs into a bowl (he used a metal one, this might be important) and let them sit for a bit, the shells will sink to the bottom and stick to the bowl.  He's so cool!

More orzo, please!

So speaking of orzo, I have to share a deliciously easy meal with you. It's my version of "risotto."

I cook up some orzo in vegetable broth. When it's almost done, I run some frozen peas (because you know I have lots of those hanging around!) under hot water to just thaw them a bit. Back to the orzo, I reserve about a ladle of the broth, and strain the rest. I put the orzo back in the pot I cooked it in, with the reserved broth, peas, and a little butter, and heat it up a bit. I then add salt, pepper, parmesan cheese, and a little milk. Sometimes I'll even add some freshly grated nutmeg. I keep it on medium-low heat while stirring to see if I need more milk. And that's it! I know it's more of a side dish than a "meal," but sometimes that's just what you need.

Chicken-Orzo Salad with Goat Cheese

A schoolfriend of mine has recently gotten a subscription to Cooking Light, so on Thursday before our kickball game she invited me over for dinner.  She made this great tasting salad with tomatoes, arugula, peppers, red onion, basil, oregano, grilled chicken and orzo.  She did a great job, although it was both of our first time with Orzo, so we made it up a little.  It was a delicious dinner, and definitely something I can't wait to make again.

Unfortunately, we lost miserably.  Although I don't think it can be blamed on the salad.