The Baking Duchess

Single Girl's Pasta Bolognaise

2008-09-20T04:27:00.000-07:00

It's been some time since my last recipe post. Been too busy to bake or cook. Am ashamed to admit that it's been many takeouts...Anyway, I suddenly had the urge to make spaghetti bolognaise-but not with spaghetti-I don't particularly like the shape of spaghetti and find it hard to eat without splattering. And I always seem to be wearing a white shirt when I want to eat something that is bound splatter. Anybody got any explanation for that? The shape of the day is spiral pasta, which holds the tomato sauce nicely and is easy to eat.

My pasta recipe's a normally complicated. But today, it's single girl's Pasta-so it's simple. I'm only cooking for one. And there's nobody to impress.

Ingredients:

A cup of tomato puree.
A cup of spiral pasta
A large onion
A spoonful of chicken meat-minced
One chicken franfurter sausage
3 large button mushrooms
2 Spoonfuls of sugar
A pinch of salt
Dash of pepper
A spoonful of water
Vegetable cooking oil

First, boil the rinsed pasta. When it's al dente, drain into a bowl and set aside. While that is happening, slice the onions and the sausage and the mushrooms thinly. Heat some oil in the wok and stirfry the onions with some sugar till its soft and caramelised. Add the mince meat and the sausage. When the mince meat has changed colour, add in the tomato puree, with a bit of water. Stir and add salt and pepper to taste. Leave it to simmer a bit. When it's done, put a large dollop on your pasta in a nice plate and enjoy your culinary effort.

Can you say MMMMMM........?

Lemon Raisin Cake

2008-07-27T22:31:00.000-07:00

I made this cake twice in two weeks. Everyone fell in love with it. It is not the usual pound cake, being light but not spongelike, sweet but not cloying, tart-ish without being sour. The secret is in the lemon juice, the zest and the yoghurt. I've found that yoghurt is indispensable in butter and pound cakes. It gives the cake a little extra something that you don't usually find in the store bought variety.

Ingedients

2/3 cup (80 ml) lemon juice (about 2-3 large lemons)
1/2 cup raisins
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
3 1/2 cups granulated white sugar
6 large eggs
2 tablespoons lemon zest
2 tablespoons (6 grams) pure vanilla extract
1 plain yogurt (or mango flavour)

Preheat your oven and line the bottom of 2 baking tins about 8x8x3 with silicone paper. Leave the sides clean and ungreased-this is to help the cake adhere to the sides as it rises. Cream the butter and suger with a mixer on low. In another bowl, sift the flour, baking powder and baking soda. Add this and the rest of the ingredients except the raisins into the mixer gradually. When the batter is smooth, mix in the raisins by hand. Pour into the baking tins, bake at 150 Celsius for 45 to 55 minutes. Check with a toothpick-if it comes out clean when inserted in the middle, it is done. Cool on a wire rack.

Bread Pudding

2008-07-03T18:55:00.001-07:00

Ingredients

3 cups of whole milk
1/2 block of butter
1 1/2 cup white sugar
3 eggs
3 tbsp cinnamon
2 tsp vanilla extract
4 cups cubed French loaf
2/3 cup of brown sugar
1/3 block of softened butter
2 heaping tbsp flour

Preheat your oven. Get a medium sized casserole dish and filled it with the cubed French bread. There is no need to grease the dish. The bread cubes should fill the casserole dish tightly, not loosely. Mix the milk, 1/2 block of butter, white sugar, vanilla and cinnamon in a jug or a bowl. To make the butter melt faster, I used powdered whole milk and mixed with hot water. I put the butter into the hot milk and it melted beautifully. Wait for this mixture to cool before beating in the eggs-you dont want the eggs to cook and congeal in the hot milk. Taste it. You can add more sugar or vanilla to give it more kick. Pour over the bread cubes. The mixture should come up to at least half the height of the casserole dish. Make sure that all the bread cubes on top gets a soak in the custard mixture.

Now, in a separate bowl, mix the last three ingredients. Use your fingers and knead till you get little fat crumbs of butter/flour/brown sugar. Top the bread cubes with these crumbs evenly. They will form a wonderfully sweet and crispy topping on the bread pudding when done.

Bake for an hour in a 120-130C oven.

Serve with vanilla ice cream.

Easy Beer Bread

2008-06-29T01:57:00.000-07:00

Beer bread was something totally foreign to me. You don't normally associate beer with bread. But this totally works! Breads and beers have one ingredient in common- yeast. You can taste their common denominator in this quick bread. I stumbled across the recipe while searching for a bread that I didn't need to knead or wait to rise. This bread is so simple you can eat it within an hour of making it. And it is absolutely delicious slathered with butter.

Ingredients

3 cups all purpose flour
3 tsp bakings powder
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
A dash of dried sage, thyme and rosemary
1 can of beer
1/4 cup melted butter

Preheat your oven. Line a 9x5 bloaf tin with silicone paper. Combine all dry ingredients. Pour beer over and just barely stir it in. You don't want to overstir. Pour into the loaf tin. Pour the melted butter over it. Bake for 44-55 mins in 190 degrees celsius oven.

Butter Cake

2008-06-29T01:53:00.000-07:00

Zucchini Bread

2008-06-16T21:05:00.000-07:00

The Zucchini Bread is modeled along the lines of the Carrot Cake. They're like siblings. If you like Carrot Cake, you're sure to like the Zucchini Bread. They have largely the same ingredients, except that Carrot Cake is a CAKE with the option of cream cheese frosting, and Zucchini Bread is not traditionally frosted. But hey, there's no baking police to catch you if you do.

This recipe yields 2 8x4 inch loaves.

Ingredients

3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 cups grated zucchini (3-4 medium sized Zucchinis)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Warm up the oven, line the baking tins with silicone paper. To make the paper stick to the tin, grease the tin first with butter, then cut the silicone paper to fit and just press on. If you want a bread look, use two 8x4 inch loaf pans. But if you're winging it, just use any shape baking tin-not too large. Just make sure that after pouring it, there's at least a 2-inch clearance to rise. I've used everything before, and it tasted the same and everybody loved it anyway. So.

In a large bowl, beat eggs until light and frothy. Mix in oil and sugar. Stir in zucchini and vanilla. Combine flour, cinnamon, soda, baking powder, salt and nuts; stir into the egg mixture. Divide batter into prepared pans.

Stick into the oven for 35 minutes. To test if done, poke a toothpick in. If it comes out clean, its done.

Recipe adapted from Allrecipes. com.

The Easy Peasy Chicken Sandwich

2008-06-11T22:19:00.001-07:00

I made this sandwich on the fly with whatever ingredients I found in the fridge. This was what I came up with.

White bread, mayonnaise, salad cream, fresh lettuce, shredded chicken and julienned carrots(not shown.)

The photos are pretty self-explanatory. Make and enjoy!

Ginger Bread Cake

2008-04-13T10:03:00.000-07:00

I did this cake on Sunday morning. After I finished making the Lemon Meringue Pie. The gingerbread cake was my safety net, in case either one of my culinary attempts failed. The style is similar to the Carrot Cake, and is really easy and tasty. One of the popular favourites of the 3 cakes of this weekend.

Gingerbread Cake:
2 cups (280 grams) all purpose flour
1 teaspoon (5 grams) baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
3 cubes of chopped crystallized ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup (105 grams) light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup chopped Walnuts
Zest of 3 lemons
1/2 cup (120 ml) unsulphured molasses
1 cup (240 ml) milk

Lemon Icing:
1 2/3 cups (150 grams) sifted confectioners' (powdered or icing) sugar
2 - 2 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3 tbsp of full cream milk

Instructions
Preheat your oven to medium high. Line a shallow baking sheet with greased paper.

Mix the gingerbread cake ingredients in a mixing bowl till smooth. Pour unto the lined baking sheet and bake. It is done when a toothpick comes out clean. Rotate at least twice for even distribution of heat.

Make the icing by whisking the ingredients together. Pour over the cake. Serve warm or cold.

Lemon Meringue Pie

2008-04-13T09:30:00.000-07:00

This was not a bad first attempt. I really liked how it turned out looking. If you ever want to bake to impress, this is the one of the best things to do. It really looks professional, even if you don't quite know what you're doing!

Pastry
1+ 2/3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
2/3 cups castor sugar
1/3 block of butter
1 egg

Lemon Filling
4 tbsp + 3 tsp cornstarch
1 1/3 cups icing sugar
2/3 lemon juice
1 cup water
3 egg yolks
1/4 block of butter

Meringue
3 egg whites at room temperature
1 cup castor sugar

An Overview of Things.
You'll need to make the crust first and bake it. While that's happening, you'll do the lemon filling, and let it chill. You then make the meringue. You'll pour the filling unto the baked crust, and then the meringue on top of that. You'll be baking that till the meringue is just lightly browned. Easy-peasy.

Instructions
Preheat the oven to high. Mix the pastry ingredients together. You can use the cake mixer with the dough hook-or not. I used my hands. Mix till everything is dough-eey. I didn't like the consistency of my pastry when I followed the original recipe-it was too creamy. It should be firm. If it is too creamy, add half cup of flour and sugar each, and mix. Wrap in clingfilm and chill in the freezer for 10-15 minutes. Take out, and roll between 2 sheets of grease paper till the pastry is big enough to cover your pie tin. At this point, line the bottom of the pie tin (I used a shallow 1 inch high one with a scallop edge) with greased paper. To make it stick to the tin, pour a little oil in the bottom. Turn the pie tin upside down on the rolled dough (which should still be on the greased paper), and flip the whole thing over, till the pie tin is right side up. Make sure the dough is covering everything evenly, and poke holes in the the dough to let the air escape. I neglected to do this, and my pie crust started to 'billow' with air pockets. I had to poke it while it was baking-but one side got cracked. So don't forget to poke. Anyway, the lemon filling and the meringue top hid whatever imperfections were my crust. Put into the preheated oven. Bake till light brown and take it out.

In a metal pot, mix the lemon juice, the castor sugar, the cornflour and water till smooth. Put over medium heat till the mixture boils and turns very thick. You gota really watch the heat and keep stirring to prevent the mixture from burning. When it's thickened, turn off the heat, and whisk in the egg yolks and butter. It should turn a beautiful gold colour. Taste it. If it's too sour, add more icing sugar till you get a balance of sweet and sour you can live with. Or brings you to gastronomical heaven. Either way, you HAVE to taste it at this stage. Chill in the freezer till almost set.

To make the meringue, you have to use a cake mixer. I don't use it unless it's absolutely necessary, remember? And now I'm telling you it's necessary. Make sure the egg whites are at room temperature. Beat it on low, and add the castor sugar gradually, one spoon at the time at high speed. Keep on high speed till the mixture becomes snow white and very thick and firm. It is ready when you don't feel any grainy texture when you rub it between your fingers, and it is whiter than white.

Assembly
You need to make the oven really hot. Pour the chilled lemon filling unto your crust, and pour the meringue over that. Make some artistic swirls in the meringue. You'll see the pretty effect later when you bake it. Set in the hot oven, and keep watch. You take it out when the meringue is slightly browned, and all your swirly designs on top is defined, and the meringue is slightly hardened. Refrigerate till really cold.

Chilled Mango Cheesecake

2008-04-13T09:06:00.000-07:00

I made 3 cakes over the weekend. It sounded a little ambitious to everyone who heard my plan, me being a novice baker and all. But hey, it's all about ORGANIZATION. And having the recipe plan all in your head. You gotta know your recipe steps inside out, and PLAN. Though I'm sure that anyone walking in on me baking wouldn't have thought it-my table being REALLY disorganized and messy and all. But hey, there's a method to my madness. And it all came out all right in the end.

My plan to make mango cheesecake has been haunting me all week. I knew that I had to make it this weekend, or else. I love mangoes, especially the Black Gold variety, which you can't get in the usual supermarkets-your gotta scout for it. It is usually available a few months a year in the Section16 and 6 of Shah Alam fresh markets. Mangoes being my favourite fruit and all, aside from maybe durian, I figured that mango and cheese should be a winning combination. It was a hit with a few people, though not all. I did think that using Black Gold mangoes, with its intense flavour, was maybe a little too heavy for cheesecake, and that maybe next time I'll use a variety with a milder flavour.

The thing with this cheesecake is that its of the no-baked, chilled-only variety. So it's really easy to put together.

Mango Cheese Cake
2 cups of pureed mangoes
1 pkt Cream Cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup Heavy Cream
1 cup Milk
2 1/2 tbsp Honey
1 sachet unflavored Gelatin
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup icing sugar

Crust
8 digestive McVities biscuits, crushed (or 1 1/2 cups)
7 tbps melted butter
1/4 cup icing sugar

Make the crust first. You'll need a springform cake tin, with a removable bottom. Use the smaller one, which is about 6' in diameter. Line it with baking paper. Take your digestive biscuits, and crush them in a plastic bag with anything heavy. I didn't use a food processor because...I hate cleaning up and using extra utensils if it ain't absolutely necessary. Also, using a food processor would grind it to a powder-which you don't want. Pour the crumbs into a mixing bowl.

Cut a little less than a quarter of a block of butter, set in a bowl, and set that within a pot of water about one inch in depth. Boil. The butter will melt nicely. Pour the butter on top of the crushed biscuits, and add the icing sugar. Pressed it into the lined springform cake tin firmly and evenly. Chill for an hour, or do what I did-cheat by putting into the freezer for about 20 minutes.
Now you can make the mango cheesecake. No fuss here. Just easy peasy-mix everything together in a mixing bowl except the milk and gelatin. You'll need to boil the gelatin in the milk till it is all dissolved. This is important. I missed this step, and only added boiling water to the gelatin. Turns out, the gelatin didn't dissolve properly, so it didn't set as it was supposed to. However, I salvaged the situation by freezing the cake, and then thawing it gently just before serving. But you don't want to go through what I did.

Anyway, add the dissolved gelatin and milk to your cheese mixture. Incorporate everything thoroughly till smooth. Taste. If you are not satisfied with the sweetness, just add icing sugar to taste.

Now pour it unto your crust in the springform cake tin. Chill for 6 hours till completely cold.

Pictures to come later, hopefully.

Pork and Mushroom-Filled Buns

2008-04-10T06:39:00.000-07:00

These buns were quite easy to make. Just the thing for tea. A little time consuming, but worth it. Great for giving away too. The buns were adapted from a no-knead bread recipe from PioneerWomanCooks, and I filled it with stir-fried sweet and salty minced pork. Makes at least 20-25 buns.

Buns
Flour 8 cups
Sugar 1 cup
Milk 4 cups (Dutch Lady Full Cream)
Vegetable Oil 1 cup
Salt 2 tablespoons
Active Dry Yeast 2 pkts (make sure it isn't expired!)
Baking Powder 1 heaping tsp
Baking soda 1 scant tsp

Scald(barely boil) the milk, sugar and oil in a large pot over the stove till dissolved. Turn off the heat, and let cool for an hour till almost room temperature. This is important so that you don't kill the little yeast guys you're gonna add in later. While this is happening, you can do the pork filling.

Pork Filling
4 cups of minced pork
2 large onions, diced
1 cup of garlic
1 cup of mushrooms, soaked and diced
1 tsp of cinnamon
1 tablespoon of salt
1 tablespoon of sugar
1 tablespoon of sesame oil
2 tablespoons of oyster sauce
2 tablespoons of dark soy sauce
Pepper to taste
1 capful of Hsao Shing Chinese Cooking Wine
1 heaping tablespoon of cornflour
3 tablespoons of oil

Heat the wok, and add the oil. Saute the garlic and onions till fragrant, and add the pork. Stir fry till almost cooked, and add the mushrooms. Add all the condiments one by one except the cornflour. Stir, and then sprinkle the cornflour. Stir till the gravy is thick and glistening. Set aside.

Return to your pot of rising bread. Add 4 cups of flour together with the 2 packets of yeast and incorporate. Add the remaining 4 cups of flour. Stir, cover and let it sit for an hour. You want the little yeast guys to work their magic and release their little gases to make little air pockets in the bread. This will give the bread the special flavour. Less work for you too, since you won't have to knead the bread. After an hour, it'll be all puffy and blown up. This is what you want. If the dough doesn't rise, maybe your yeast is dead or expired.

Add another cup of flour and stir till incorporated. Add the baking powder, baking soda, salt and stir. Let it continue to rise for another 15 minutes. At this point, the dough can be put it in the fridge, covered, for up to two days before using the dough (which means you can go make the dough NOW if you’re using it tomorrow.) Or, if you make it the day of, you can just leave it on the counter until you need it. Keep in mind, though, that the dough will continue to rise (though more slowly in the fridge) so you’ll have to occasionally punch it down if it overflows. NOTE: If you do refrigerate the dough, be sure to remove it from the fridge an hour or two before you need it.

Preheat the oven and line a baking sheet with greased or silicone paper.

Dump the dough out onto a floured surface. Flour your hands and roll the dough flat till about a little under an inch thick. Use a large cookie cutter, or, if you don't have one, you can do what I did-use the rim of a large mug, press it down, and tear the sides of the dough away, and you have a beautiful sized circle of dough. Roll it a little flatter, spoon a heaping spoonful of the pork filling onto the dough. Press and pinch the dough together to seal it, and set it the baking sheet. Repeat till you use up all the pork filling. If there is any dough left over, just roll it into a ball and bake with the rest. It's delicious on its own. Bake in a hot oven till lightly browned. Take out for a minute and brush butter over the top. This will give it a little sheen and moisture. Return to oven for another 5 minutes. Baking time should not take more than 20 minutes. Make sure you rotate the baking tray to ensure even distribution of heat.

Lemon Bars

2008-04-10T01:04:00.000-07:00

Honestly, I've never heard of Lemon Bars till I saw that Nancy Drew movie starring Emma Roberts. Her aunt's lemon bars made an uptight officer spill government secrets. Now THAT is a weapon I can live with! Anyway, my first attempt at Lemon Bars was a success and I've been looking for an opportunity to make them again. Here's the recipe.

Crust

1/2 pound unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 cups flour
1/8 teaspoon salt

Lemon Layer
6 extra-large eggs at room temperature
2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 tablespoons grated lemon zest (4 to 6 lemons)
1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 cup flour

Icing sugar for dusting

Instructions

Preheat the oven and line a large 2-inch baking sheet with greased paper.

For the crust, cream the butter and sugar until light with a cake mixer. Combine the flour and salt and, with the mixer on low, add to the butter until just mixed. Dump the dough onto a well-floured board and gather into a ball. Flatten the dough with floured hands and press it into the grease paper-lined baking sheet, building up a 1/2-inch edge on all sides. Chill.

Cover and bake the crust with aluminium foil for 10 minutes. Uncover for the next 10 minutes and bake until very lightly browned. Let cool on a wire rack. Leave the oven on.

For the lemon layer, whisk together the eggs, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and flour. Pour over the crust and bake under aluminium foil for 20 minutes , and then uncover for a further 10 minutes or about five minutes beyond the point where the filling is set. Let cool to room temperature.

Cut into squares and dust with icing sugar.

My Special Mushroom Rice

2008-04-10T00:25:00.001-07:00

This is an old standby for crowds. It's filling, fragrant, and just plain delish. People tell me that it reminds them of Lotus Leaf Glutinous Rice, but it really isn't. I created it after I found out that Indians fry their Briyani rice first. I did the same thing, except with Chinese ingredients. The secret is frying the rice in butter, ginger, garlic and rice wine. The recipe here serves 12. To scale down, just cut everything in half.

Ingredients
6 cups of washed rice (NOT glutinous)
1 block of salted butter
3 tablespoons of vegetable oil

Aromatics
2 cups of grated ginger
1 cup of chopped garlic

Meats
2 Chinese sausages, sliced and diced
1 cup of chopped chicken breast
1 cup minced pork
2 cups of soaked and diced dried mushrooms (keep the soaking water for later)

Condiments
1/2 - 1 cup of rice wine/lihing
3 capfuls of Hsao Shin Chinese Cooking wine
3 tablespoons of dark sweet soy sauce
3 tablespoons of light soy sauce
3 tablespoons of Lee Kum Kee oyster sauce
1 1/2 -2 heaping tablespoons of salt
1 level tablespoon of MSG
1 tablespoon of Maggi chicken granules

Instructions
Heat the wok. Make sure the wok is completely dry. Add in the vegetable oil, and then the block of butter. (The vegetable oil keeps the butter from burning). When it is melted, add in the garlic and saute till fragrant. Add in the ginger. Do not be afraid of the aromatics-it is what makes the whole dish special. When the aromatics are soft, add in the meats and the mushrooms gradually. Here, you can add about half of the condiments to flavour the meats. Add the rice and continue stirring. Add the rest of the condiments. If it gets too dry, add in the mushroom soaking water. At this point, taste the rice to see if it is tasty enough. Keep in mind that you should not be afraid of over seasoning it because the water will dilute the taste. Continue stir frying for 5 minutes, and transfer to a rice cooker. Add in just under enough water to cover the rice. There should not be water on top of the rice-this will make it too mushy. Set the rice cooker to cook as usual. If at the end of cooking, the rice still appears mushy, open the lid, and let the water evaporate.

The Baked Alaska

2008-04-09T23:40:00.000-07:00

I've always been fascinated with Baked Alaskas. I saw a picture of it when I was young and it stayed with me-a beautiful snowball with golden peaks, set alight in a blue flame. I always wondered how it would taste like. Well, last week, I made it, and put my wondering tastebuds to rest.

A baked alaska consists of a layer of sponge cake(any flavour), a layer of ice cream(pistachio ice cream is traditional, but any flavour will do) and a layer of meringue all over it. It is made separately, then assembled together before putting into a very hot oven for about 2 minutes. The fascination of baked alaskas is the combination of hot meringue and cold ice cream within. The secret to it is to cover the ice cream very thickly with meringue, which insulates the ice cream from the oven's heat.

Vanilla Sponge Cake
Vanilla sponge cake pre mix 250 grams
3 eggs
Vegetable Oil 1 1/3 cup
Full cream milk 1/4 cup
Sugar 1/2 cup

Add in all the ingredients except the oil and eggs in the cake mixer and beat on low speed. Work on to high speed till fluffy, and add in the oil and eggs gradually. Beat on high speed for 5 minutes. Pour on baking sheet lined with greased paper. Bake in a preheated oven at 150c for 20 minutes. To check to see if it is done, poke with a toothpick. If it comes out clean, it is done.

Turn over the cake and remove the greased paper. Leave it to cool on a wire rack. Use a large round cookie cutter to cut out a circle of sponge cake. This will be the bottom layer of the baked alaska. There will be more sponge cake than you need for the baked alaska, so you can either double the meringue recipe to finish up your sponge cake, or just eat your sponge cake as it is. I did both. :)

Meringue
Castor Sugar 2/3 cups
5 egg whites
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
Vanilla extract 1/2 tsp

To make the meringue, make sure your cake mixer and spatula are free from grease. The egg whites must be completely separated from the yolks, and it should be left to warm to room temperature, to get the maximum incorporation of air.

Add in the egg whites and start beating on low speed, slowly working it up to high. Add the sugar a spoonful at a time on high speed. You will see the mixture build up to a beautiful foam. Add in all the sugar and mix on high speed till it the mixture is firm and foamily thick. To test, turn the bowl upside down-it is done if the mixture stays in and does not drip. Set aside.

Ice Cream
Any flavour. But it should be a different color than the sponge, since you want the layers to show. I made a mistake buying Wall's ice cream-it was too soft. You will need a hard ice cream which will melt slower. I'll try Neopolitan next time.

Assembly
Scoop out 3 scoops of ice cream and set in the freezer to harden. Turn up the heat in the oven to almost max. Make sure that the little circle of sponge cake is completely cool, set it on a baking sheet lined with greased paper and put the ice cream on it. Slather on your meringue all over the ice cream and the sponge, and make sure EVERYTHING is covered with at least an inch thick with meringue. This will prevent the heat from entering and melting your ice cream. Work fast, and put in the whole thing into the hot oven. Once it is slightly browned, take it out. This should not take more than 90 to 120 seconds. Serve immediately.

To get a special effect, you can flambe it. It is actually very easy and not intimidating at all. Pour a little whiskey into a ladle, have a flame ready nearby, pour the whiskey onto the meringue top, and set a alight. This should be done in a unlit room so that you don't miss the flames.

I'll be making this again sometime soon.

The Best Carrot Cake

2008-04-09T22:32:00.000-07:00

Everybody has a favourite carrot cake recipe. I've only ever made this one, and it's quite good, although I've tasted other carrot cakes which are excellent as well. Mine's of the sweet variety, and people who like their carrot cake less diabetic can scale down the sugar, and add more carrots and flour. I don't use a mixer for this recipe, but if you do, more power to ya!

Carrot Cake Mix
Sugar 1 1/2 cup
Vegetable Oil 1 cup
4 Eggs
Flour 2 1/2 cups
Salt 1/2 tsp
Baking Soda 1/2 tsp
Baking Powder 1/2 tsp
Cinnamon 1 heaping tablespoon
Walnuts 1 cup
Grated Carrots 2 1/2 cups to 3 cups

Cream Cheese Frosting
Cream Cheese 1 packet
Icing sugar 450gms
Pecan nuts 1 cup
Butter 1/2 block
Vanilla extract 2 tsp

Instructions

Warm up the oven and line your cake tin with greased paper. You can use a round cake tin which is about 2.5 inches deep, or a large square baking sheet, which is shallower. I like using the shallow baking sheet because it bakes faster and more evenly than if I use a deep cake tin.

Chop the walnuts and grate the carrots. Whether or not you chop and grate finely depends on how textured you like your cakes! It really doesn't matter.

Mix all the dry ingredients of the cake mix together. Make sure there aren't any lumps of baking soda or baking powder floating in the cake mix, otherwise you'll end up with an uneven cake.

Mix the wet ingredients in a separate bowl.

Whisk both the wet and dry ingredients together-no need for a mixer, you can do this by hand. Pour into a sheet cake tin lined with grease paper and bake for 40 minutes in a 150C oven. Check after 25 minutes with a toothpick. When it comes out clean, it is ready.

While the cake is baking, chop the pecan nuts, and mix all the frosting ingredients together. You can either use a cake mixer or mix it over a water bath. A water bath consists of a pot of water which is gently simmering underneath, over which you melt whatever ingredients in a separate bowl. Make sure that the bowl of ingredients is touching the simmering water underneath. This avoids the ingredients from being cooked or burned. Using a water bath will melt all the ingredients for easier mixing. However, it is advisable to refrigerate for a bit before pouring onto the cake.

* Note: The original recipe called for 2 cups of sugar, but I found that a tad too sweet. I reduced it to 1 1/2 and it was perfect. I also amped up the cinnamon, and added the walnuts because carrot cake without walnuts is just...sad. I also plan to add more grated carrots the next time I bake this. For a healthier cake, omit the cream cheese frosting. If you do, then add 2 teaspoons of vanilla to the cake mix.

I baked this cake twice in the same week! Carrot cake is the best comfort food ever!

**Update 17 June 2008: To date, I've made this cake at least 5 times. A few minor adjustments that brings it up to another level.

Instead of 1 1/2 cups of sugar, I used 1 cup of white granulated sugar, and 1/2 cup of brown sugar. You can really taste the difference.

Also, instead of cream cheese frosting with pecan nuts, I omitted them for a silky smooth finish. Can you say yummy-yum-yum?

Also, I found that using the original proportion of 1 pack of cream cheese too much. For the economically-minded, you have halve and even quarter the frosting recipe and still have enough.