Baking 101: Carrot Cake / Cupcake

According to Wikipedia, carrot cake was first concocted during the medieval period, the time when the sweeteners were said to be insufficient and expensive. Since carrots have high sugar content, and were abundant that time, the early people made used of these to create this wonderful dessert. If not to their ingenuity, we would never have a taste of the carrot cake.

I cannot specifically remember when I first tasted this dessert, but I just had the courage to bake it last year and I was happy with the result. Here's the link for the picture. Last year, I used buttercream for frosting. This time, I shelled out a little more moolah for the frosting, I used cream cheese (cream cheese here are expensive!). And it made a HUGE difference in taste...the cream cheese and the carrot cake are definitely a match made in heaven.

Enough with my blah blahs hehehe! Here's the recipe for the carrot cake.

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Oops, by the way I got this recipe from Joy of Baking.

Ingredients

For the Cake
2 cups all purpose flour
2 1/2 cups grated carrots
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsps baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsps ground cinnamon
1 cup walnuts
4 large eggs
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 cup canola oil
2 tsps vanilla extract

For the Frosting
1/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
2 cups sifted confectioners sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Garnish: Toasted and choped walnuts

Procedure
For the cake
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking pans with parchment papers.
2. Toast the walnuts until lightly brown. Cool and coursely chop.
3. In a bowl, whisk together the dry flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.
4. In another bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the eggs for a minute. Gradually add the sugar and beat until thick.  Add the oil and then the vanilla extract. Beat until well incorporated.
5. Fold the grated carrots and nuts in the batter.
6. Pour the mixture in the prepared pans. 
7. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. 
8. Remove from oven and cool completely. 
9. Prepare the frosting.

Frosting:
1. Using an electric mixer set on a low speed, beat the cream cheese and butter until you see no lumps. 
2. Gradually add the sifted powdered sugar and beat again until smooth. Beat in the vanilla extract. 

To assemble:
1. Place one cake layer on a serving plate. The bumpy top must be faced down. Spread frosting on top.
2. Place the second cake on top, top side down again (so you'll have a flat topped cake). Cover the entire cake with cream cheese frosting.
3. Garnish the cake with toasted walnuts.
4. Chill before serving.

UPDATE: AUGUST 26, 2011

Here's the cupcake version of the cake! Equally yummy!

Mango Royale

If I can remember it right, I was grade 5 or 6 when I first tasted this dessert. My sister made this after she tasted it from a birthday party she attended. Made from layers of crushed crackers, sweetened cream, and slices of mangoes, this dessert is definitely divine. 

Due to the TV ad of a popular all purpose cream brand here in the Philippines, this dessert is now called Mango Float. 

My version doesn't use Graham crackers, what I'm using is the good old Sunflower crackers. Slightly salted crackers balance the sweetness of the sweetened cream. I don't know but I like the taste of the Sunflower cracker than the graham crackers. 

Sunflower Crackers

Here's my version of the Mango Float...my Mango Royale!

Ingredients


3 boxes of 250ml all purpose cream, chilled
1 can of sweetened condensed milk
slices of mangoes (from 3 mangoes)
1 160g pack of sunflower crackers, crushed. (you can use graham crackers if your not a fan of my preferred crackers)


Procedure


1. Put the crackers in the blender and grind until they turn into fine crumbs. Press half of the crushed crackers into a 9x9 inches baking pan. Set aside. 


2. Mix the cream and all purpose cream until well blended. Pour half of the mixture in the baking pan, on top of the crushed crackers.


3. Arrange the slices of mangoes on top of the cream mixture. 


4. Pour the other half of the cream mixture on top of the mangoes. 


5. Sprinkle the remaining crushed crackers. This will be the final layer. 


6. Chill, if you want the softer version. For those who like frozen delights, freeze them for 6 hours or until set.


Enjoy!

Pork Binagoongan (Pork in Shrimp Paste)

Hello!!! I'm back...! I am sorry for being absent for more than a month. As much as I wanted to post, I didn't have extra time to do it. Christmas planning at work, deadlines, etc...haaay! 


But anyway, I want to share to you one of my favorite dish. The pork binagoongan (pork in shrimp paste). Well, there's nothing so hard in cooking this dish but what I like the most is how well it goes with rice. The saltiness and sweetness of the shrimp paste is so good, that every time I eat this, the 1 cup of rice promise is being broken. I consider this as one of my comfort food.


Shrimp paste or bagoong alamang is a type of condiment. It is a common ingredient used in Southeast Asian countries. Made from minute shrimp, we love this as a dipping partner for green mangoes, condiment for kare-kare, salting agent for pinakbet and the key ingredient for binagoongan. 


Here's the recipe for Pork Binagoongan. You will only need few ingredients for this dish.

Ingredients


3/4 of a 250g bottle of shrimp paste. (I used the barrio fiesta brand)
250g pork belly, sliced into bite size pieces
1 small onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tomato, diced. 


Procedure


1. Fry the pork belly until golden brown. Set aside.
2. Saute onion and garlic. Add the tomato. 
3. Put back the pork in the pan, and stir in the shrimp paste until all pork has been covered. Cook for 5 minutes.


Served with hot, steaming rice...