Carrot Cake with Cinammon Mascarpone Icing

I know I have not been very active on my blog for a very long time. My college course was coming to an end and we had a lot of assigments and projects to focus on. School is finally over for the summer and I will be back to usually uploads. Over the easter break we had a bbq with the family and I made this carrot cake as the dessert. Those who know me, know that I love carrot cake, I am more of savoury person and not eat much sweets despite my postings on the blog. For me carrot cake is a perfect balance of all the flavours that I love.

The original recipe is from Avoca's Cook book. I have made the recipe many times but for some reason my cake was very "fluffy" and too soft to even cut or remove from the pan. Depending on the type of carrots you use there could be more liquid coming out of it when you grate it. I always grate the carrots last just before I put it in the mixture. I also added more flour to give the cake abit structure. I know traditionally it is iced with cream cheese frosting that has butter, but I just used mascarpone with cinammon and icing sugar for flavour. I found it more light and complimentary to the cake. The recipe was halfed as I used a bundt mould and I had left over mixture for 6 muffins.

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Makes 1 small bundt and 6 individual muffins

Ingredients

200g caster sugar

2 eggs

200g oil

220 self raising flour

200g grated carrots

1 tsp of mixed spice

1 tsp of cinammon

1 tsp of vanilla essence

*for Icing

1/2 tub mascarpone

Few frops of milk

roughy 50g icing sugar

1 tsp cinammon powder

Method:

If using a bread tin line and grease with oil, I only greased my bundt tin but the original recipe lines it with baking paper too.

1. Place the sugar eggs and oil in a bowl and whisk with electric mixer until light and thick

2. Add the flour, the spices and mix again

3. Grate the carrots and add to the mixture, mix gently together with a spatula

4. Pour the mixture in the tins (make sure they are not filled all the way as the mixture will over flow during baking)

5. Bake for 35/40 min at 170 degrees (for muffins around 15 min) check with a toothpick ensuring it comes out clean

6. Allow to cool down in the tin before removing

For the icing

1. Whisk the mascarpone, sugar and cinammon together (the sweetness can be adjused according to taste)

1. Add the milk to the desired consistancy, I like mine to easily spread but not too runny

I hope you enjoyed this recipe and comment below if you try it

Asparagus with Poached Egg and Parmesan

Brunch series #3

This post is inspired by the movie Eat, Pray, Love. There is a scene where the main character is in Italy and she is trying to live by the phrase "dolce far niente" which translates to sweetness of doing nothing. Well, I think every Sunday should be celebrated like that. The tasks of everyday life can consume us sometimes and its important to be able to switch off and spend time with ourselves or people we care about. So put on your favourite music, brew some coffee and enjoy this simple yet delicious breakfast.

This is a very quick recipe and I did not think it needed measurements as it depends on your preference. I did not include bread in the recipe as I find sometimes it can be heavy. We are going for a much lighter and sophisticated breakfast. However, if you are a bread lover like myself you can definitely add it in. For the poached egg I go in more detail in my previous post for all the tips with the preparation.

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Ingredients:

Asparagus

Eggs

Chilli flakes

Parmesan Shavings

Knob of butter

White wine vinegar (for poached eggs)

Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

1. Pour water and white wine vinegar in a small pot

2. Bring to boil and add salt

3. Reduce heat and add the eggs in one by one

4. While the egg is cooking, prepare the asparagus

5. Cut off the end of the stems and peel lightly

6. Gently pan fry in butter for 2-3 minutes (you still want it to be crunchy)

7. Take out the egg and drain the excess water on a cloth

8. Place your asparagus on a plate, add the poached egg, top with chilli flakes, parmesan shaving and a drizzle of olive oil.

Enjoy

S!

Dark Chocolate & Orange Brownie

Valentines series #4

This brownie recipe is loved by many and over the years I have made small adjustments to it to make it even better. It's no secret that orange and dark chocolate are a perfect combination and what a better occasion than to make this for Valentines day. The recipe below give you a tray of brownie which I make regularly. For the heart shapes I halved the recipe and got 3 heart shape tins out of it. It depends also on the size of the moulds you are using and don't forget to keep an eye out for the oven temperature and time.

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Ingredients:

250g unsalted butter

200g dark chocolate (70%)

150g chopped nuts (pecans, almonds

80g coco powder

65g plane flour

1tsp baking powder

350g caster sugar

4 eggs

zest of 2 oranges

1.Line a deep baking tray the parchment paper

2.Melt the chocolate and butter over a water bath 

3.Add the chopped nuts and zest of oranges In a separate bowl sieve the flour, cocoa powder, baking flour, add in the sugar

4.Add the chocolate mixture and mix in gently

5.Whisk in the eggs and mix until the mixture is smooth and shiny

6.Pour the mixture in the pan and bake for 20-25 minutes (depending on the oven)

7.The outside should be firm and inside still soft. (the skewer should not come out late)

8.Once baked allow to cool for at least 3 hours or over night