Carrot Cake With Cream Cheese Frosting

One of the things that makes carrot cake so great is its flexibility. It can be served as a dessert or as a sweet breakfast treat. Either way it has always been something popular with friends and family making it a great homemade gifts for birthdays or holidays. I will usually run out of this cake the same day it gets made so I have to hide some for myself in the back of the refrigerator.



Carrot Cake Ingredients:
1-Cup Pecans or Walnuts
2 ½ Cups Finely Grated Raw Carrots
2 Cups All Purpose Flour
1-Teaspoon Baking Soda
1 ½ Teaspoon Baking Powder
½ Teaspoon Salt
1 ½ Teaspoons Ground Cinnamon
4 Large Eggs
1 ½ Cups Granulated Sugar
1-Cup Vegetable Oil
2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract

Cream Cheese Frosting Ingredients:
¼ Cup Unsalted Butter
8 Ounces Cream Cheese
2 Cups Confectioners/Powdered Sugar
1-Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Firstly, preheat your oven to 350 degrees and prepare your pan(s) by greasing the edges or use paper muffin cups instead. Toast the pecans or walnuts in the oven for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown and fragrant. After letting them cool chop the nuts coarsely and set aside.

Next, grate the carrots and set aside. In a separate bowl mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon then set aside. In another separate bowl beat the eggs until foamy/frothy then gradually add the sugar and beat the batter until it is thick. Then add the oil and vanilla extract gradually while still beating.

Then add the flour mixture into the bowl with the eggs and beat until mixed evenly. Fold in grated carrots and roasted nuts and mix gently. Fill pans and bake. Time depends on how you bake the cake; 9 x 9 round pans take about 25-30 minutes, 13 x 9 pans take about 35-45 minutes and muffin pans take 15-20.

While the cake is in the oven, use an electric mixer to blend the cream cheese and butter until even than gradually add sifted powdered sugar and finally the vanilla extract be careful to avoid lumps.

After the cake is cooked, let cool completely before frosting and than serve. Keep refrigerated.

Recipe makes a dozen cup cakes, one 13x9 pan or a two layer 9x9.



*This week I am trying out a new format for my recipe posts, feedback would be greatly appreciated and as always if you end up making anything in these posts, send me a picture and let me know how it comes out!

Drop Sugar Cookies

I am a strong believer in making sugar cookies year round rather than exclusively around the winter holiday season. During my regular cookie-baking season (November to December) I usually take the extra time to make the traditional rolled out type of sugar cookie but in summer I want to spend as little time as possible in the hot kitchen and that is why I tend to use a drop sugar cookie recipe. It has a level of ease in its scoop method while still having competitive taste with no rolling necessary!



Ingredients:
1 ¼ Cup Granulated Sugar
1 Cup Margarine or Salted Butter
3 Large Egg Yolks
2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract
2 ½ Cups All Purpose Flour
1-Teaspoon Baking Soda
Pinch of Salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and then mix the sugar and butter in a bowl until it is creamy and even. Gradually mix one egg yolk at a time into the bowl and then add the vanilla extract. Next, add the flour, baking soda and salt and mix evenly. I recommend using a rubber spatula to make sure nothing sticks to the sides of the bowl.

Using a scoop or deep spoon, form round spoonfuls. Then place them on the pan with two inches apart from the next so they don't stick together when baking. Bake cookies for about twelve minutes being careful not to overcook and then let them cool on the pan for at least five minutes.

*This week I am trying out a new format for my recipe posts, feedback would be greatly appreciated and as always if you end up making anything in these posts, send me a picture and let me know how it comes out!

Oven Baked Macaroni and Cheese

This homemade baked macaroni and cheese recipe is one that I have incorporated into ever holiday meal especially during winter. I love to cook rich home-style meals with a lot of butter and other unhealthy but delicious ingredients. When it comes to food, I want to make something memorable, something that the people who try it request by name another day. I have been making this baked macaroni and cheese for a couple years now and there has rarely been leftovers each time. When I serve this during the rest of the year, not during a holiday it just reminds me of family and brings backs happy memories of shared meals and new traditions. This recipe is for a full pan of macaroni and cheese and serves 6-8, making it the perfect size for a family dinner, although I've learned to make a second pan so there is no fighting over the last scoop. If you try this or any other of my recipes, send me a picture and I'll post it!


Ingredients:
1-Pound Dry Pasta
½ Cup Milk
3 Cups Shredded Cheddar Cheese
1 Cup Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
3 Tablespoons Butter/Margarine
1/3-Cup Plain Breadcrumbs



Step One:
Boil pasta in salted water.








Step Two:
Drain cooked pasta and while it is still hot add cheese, butter and milk.







Step Three:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix the pasta and cheese mix evenly.






Step Four:
Then spread the pasta into a 13 x 9 pan. Spread bread crumbs evenly over the top of the macaroni and cheese.






Step Five:
Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Let it cool for ten minutes and serve. Enjoy!

Cherry Tomato Marinara

As some of you may already know, I moved to Chicago from my family's home in Upstate New York. Moving to Chicago was full of small struggles and lots of frustration but it was worth it to be able to begin to create my own special memories in a new place. Being that food is so important to me I found myself experimenting with recipes. This sauce is a quick but equally delicious alternative to a slow cooked rich tomato sauce. Cherry tomatoes, although slightly more expensive than a larger counter part such as the roma, have a rich, strong flavor even when uncooked. This recipe serves 2-4 people.
Try this light tasting and rich flavored sauce is perfect to share with friends because of its ease to make in little to no time.

Ingredients:
3 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil
1 Pint of Cherry Tomatoes (put a small handful of tomatoes aside)
4 Cloves of Garlic
1 Small Onion
3 Teaspoons of Oregano
1 Red Bell Pepper
¼ Cup of Grated Parmesan Cheese
Salt to taste


Step One:
Boil pasta in lightly salted water.









Step Two:
In a separate pan, heat vegetable oil and add diced garlic and onion on medium heat until lightly browned.











Step Three:
Add hand torn cherry tomatoes, salt, and oregano to the mix.












Step Four:
Heat sauce on low to medium heat for fifteen minutes making sure not to let the sauce overcook.











Step Five:
Drain pasta, and then toss with the tomato sauce, remaining chopped cherry tomatoes and grated Parmesan cheese.

Fresh Blueberry Muffins

For most of my life I haven't really been the kind of person who ate breakfast in the mornings. Don't get me wrong, pancakes, bagels and muffins are some of my favorite foods but I don't have much of an appetite in the mornings. The few occasions when I do eat breakfast in the mornings it is usually some kind of bread. This recipe was an experiment that came out great. They are light and fresh tasting and a favorite among friends. This recipe is simple to make and the streusel topping takes it one step further on the delicious scale. Thanks to these muffins I may only want to eat things with streusel on them now. This recipe makes twelve muffins, more than enough to share with friends.



Ingredients: Muffins
1-Cup Blueberries
1 1/2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
3/4 Cup Granulated Sugar
1/2-Teaspoon Salt
2 Teaspoons Baking Soda
1/3-Cup Vegetable Oil
1 Large Egg
1/3-Cup Whole Milk

Ingredients: Streusel Topping
½-Cup Granulated Sugar
1/3-Cup All-Purpose Flour
1/4-Cup Butter
1 1/2 Teaspoons Cinnamon



Step One:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Next, grease muffin pan or use liners.














Step Two:
Prepare the streusel topping by mixing the sugar, flour, butter and cinnamon in a bowl using a fork. The ideal texture is an evenly mixed crumble type mix.












Step Three:
In a separate bowl add flour, sugar, salt and baking soda. Then add vegetable oil, milk, the egg, and the blueberries.















Step Four:
Mix evenly then add the muffin mixture to the cups, the recipe should make about twelve muffins. Add the streusel topping to the top of the uncooked muffins.














Step Five:
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the center is firm. Let cool for 5 to 10 minutes and enjoy!

Delicious Fried Doughnuts

I first learned how to make these fried doughnuts in a "home ec" type class in high school. They were sold as a scholarship fundraiser once a week on what would be referred to as "doughnut day" a.k.a Thursday. The smell of these things alone brings back a whole bunch of nostalgia. This "recipe" is more of a set of directions than anything because of the simple nature of these fried doughnuts. These doughnuts are so quick, cheap and easy to make that you'll want to make them every time you have company. Just be careful not to turn your back to them too long because they might be gone.


Ingredients:

One Can of Pre-made Biscuit Dough
½ a Cup of Granulated White Sugar
3 Tsp of Cinnamon
Vegetable Oil for frying



Step One:
Fill a small pot/sauce pan halfway with vegetable oil. Then preheat the vegetable oil on medium to high on the stovetop. Meanwhile mix the sugar and cinnamon together in a dish.












Step Two:
When the oil has heated (about five minutes later) push a hole in the center of a biscuit to make it resemble a traditional doughnut. Then, carefully place it into the oil. When the bottom cooks and becomes golden brown flip the doughnut and fry the other side.











Step Three:
Once the doughnut is brown, remove it from the oil placing it on a dish covered with paper towel to absorb excess oil.









Step Four:
Next, place the doughnut into the sugar and cinnamon mixture, flipping it from side to side to cover the doughnut in the mixture. Then serve and enjoy!

Golden Brown Zucchini Cakes

This upcoming fall is wedding season for me. My fairly small family rarely has a wedding to attend, but throughout my three and a half year relationship with my boyfriend and his large Italian family has led me to attend more weddings than I had ever attended in my life thus far. A common appetizer at weddings is crab cakes and since I began a vegetarian diet over five years ago I have been tempted with them, always reexamining my morals and second guessing myself. I have found an equally delicious substitute, zucchini cakes!

Ingredients:

1 Large Zucchini
3 Cloves of Garlic
¾ Cup of Breadcrumbs
½ Cup of Grated Parmesan Cheese
2 Eggs
1 Teaspoon Oregano
½ Teaspoon Thyme
½ Teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes
Pinch of Salt and Pinch of Pepper
Olive Oil, enough to cover the bottom of pan




Step One:
Wash the zucchini, and then grate with the large-holed side of the grater.








Step Two:
Squeeze out most of the liquid from the grated zucchini by ringing out in a clean kitchen towel. As you will learn after completing this step, this is very important.










Step Three:
Preheat the oil in a frying pan. Then mix zucchini, garlic, breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese, eggs, and herbs in a bowl.










Step Four:
Form mixture into small patties and lightly place them in the pan (Tip:make sure the pan is hot before you put in the cakes to assure that the oil isn't absorbed into the food giving it a greasy taste)










Step Five:
Cook until golden brown on both sides and serve. I ate mine with brown mustard and it was surprisingly good. Enjoy!