Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Truly, I had no idea how much I liked carrot cake until I rediscovered it when my dear friend Ashley brought some over as a pre-birthday cake last month. What a moist delight of goodness, and it is even better in small slivers frozen. I have fond memories of my mothers carrot cake she always made from scratch and finely shredded the carrots. This is the key to a fine cake in my opinion, finely shredded carrots, it takes more time but then they don't all sink to the bottom. I like to spice mine up a bit with cinnamon and ginger, because I love it! The best part of carrot cake has never been the nuts or raisins so I left them out of this version. I simply kept with the simplicity of the carrots to moisten the cake, no pineapples, sorry. And we all know what puts this cake over the top is homemade cream cheese frosting! My recipe is half size of what you would typically find because I chose to make a single layer in a 9x9 pan, a better size for us, and no need to frost sides and middles.

So in honor of carrots as more than just a side dish or on a salad, here goes!

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

1 cup flour

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar (you can use all white if you are out of brown)

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger

Mix above ingredients together in a bowl and set aside.

2 eggs

1/2 cup canola or vegetable oil

2 cups finely shredded carrots

1 tsp vanilla extract

Beat eggs, then add in oil, carrots, and vanilla extract. Once well blended add in dry ingredients in the bowl.

Pour into a 9X9 glass pan and bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. Check for doneness with a toothpick coming out of center clean. Let cool completely.

Frosting:

1/4 cup butter

4 oz. cream cheese

1 tsp vanilla

2-3 cups of confectionary sugar

Mix above until smooth. Frost the cake when cooled!

Buen Provecho!

Peanut Butter and Fudge Cake

So if you haven't already been able to tell, Peanut Butter is one of my favorite ingredients, especially in baking. I find challenge in pairing with just about anything that seems fit. From the largest homemade Nutter Butter cookie from Bouchon Bakery in NYC, I haven't given up on replicating my own PB delights. A cake seemed less done in the PB world, and a bit of a challenge given the texture and moisture expected in a cake. I researched recipes and created my own that works for higher altitude (I am about 4500 ft). I have several friends that tell me they don't need to change recipes for the higher altitude here, but I swear after living in NYC at sea level it is an absolute must for success! Typically I increase the flour slightly, or decrease the sugar, but then add an extra egg for moisture. Another trick is to bake at 20 degrees lower and add a few minutes if you do not alter the recipe.

Well on to PB Cake heaven, I cheated and used Fudge frosting, from Pillsbury, I suppose I could have made it on my own, but after running a marathon on Saturday it just didn't seem necessary to go the extra mile, hehe!

1 1/4 cup flour (use AP, or Pastry Flour if you have it)

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

Mix together and set aside.

Combine wet ingredients in a mixer, adding the egg last.

3/4 cup sugar

2 tbsp molasses

1/3 cup butter

1/2 cup Peanut Butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/3 cup buttermilk (you can use milk and 1 tsp lemon)

1/3 cup hot water

1 egg

After mixed evenly, add in dry ingredients until combined. Optional is to add a 1/4 cup PB Chips and Semi Sweet Chips, but I found this make a sweet cake too sweet for my taste buds.

This was a sweet post marathon smashing success!

Enjoy!

Spicy Enchilada Casserole

No picture, I know, I wonder if you will still read me without gratifying you visually. The truth is I have made this casserole TWICE since starting this post, and both times I was so excited to eat it, i simply didn't think about pulling out the camera prior to gobbling it down. The benefit of not including a picture is that you have no expectation to live up, your own unique casserole can live up to its own creators desires, without the concern of how mine or your neighbors turned out. Isn't it great?

Inherently I recognize that the words Enchilada and Casserole do not go together, like mixing oil and vinegar. Enchilada's, well they simply aren't American. But casseroles, a uniquely american term brings a combination of food to our terms in one convenient dish, and usually nothing more to make. If we succeed in the making of out casseroles we stand to get our protein, starch, vegetable, and dairy all in one. And isn't convenience the American way. As much as I often have disdain for a seemingly smorgasbord of food, this combo works because it is essentially the same ingredients in enchiladas. The only ingredient I snuck in was some cubed red potatoes, and with the extra heat, they did nicely. I suppose you could keep the enchiladas wrapped individually in their own tortillas if you wanted to remove the word casserole, its your choice.

These things just make me happy, and check out some unusual ingredients that work so well for enchilada sauce. Please note that because this is a casserole many of the ingredients are optional, making it suit your tastes, be creative and enjoy!

Spicy Enchilada Casserole

3-4 large flour tortilla's

I 15 oz. can red enchilada sauce (or make your own, I like to make mine from 1 12 oz can V8 juice, and 4 oz. hot wing sauce, and add a little cumin and taco seasoning, it rocks!)

3/4 lb ground beef, cooked and drained of fat

1/2 lb red potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch cubes and cooked

1 can of corn (optional, I did mine without)

1 can small sliced olives (optional)

rice and beans (optional, mine husband doesn't like these)

6-8 oz, of shredded mexican blend cheese

1. Cook and drain beef in a skillet. Add the enchilada sauce, canned or homemade to beef, add cooked potato cubes, corn and olives if using, and let heat until warm on low. Test it, if it isn't hot enough for you add some more hot sauce or wing sauce, the wing sauce adds a bit of bbq flavor which is sort of awesome.

2. Spray a 9X9 inch glass pan, layer tortilla, beef mixture, cheese, repeat another layer in same order, ending with cheese on top.

3. Bake at 350-375 covered for 20 minutes, remove the foil for an additional 5 minutes and add a bit of extra cheese if desired.

Enjoy!