Carrotcake Cupcakes with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting

I made these cupcakes a couple of years ago for my birthday and they were SO good. The frosting alone is amazing...I think I could just eat the frosting on its own. It is cream cheesey, orangey, and sweet. So delicious.
I think the Carrotcake Cupcakes with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting came out much better this time. I added more spices, added raisins, and used more butter than oil (I ran out of oil so had to improvise). I also used a larger shredder for the carrots so the pieces were larger and more noticeable in the finished cupcake. I really liked the addition of the raisins, and more butter was nice too. I think using more melted butter versus all oil made the batter thicker, more like a cake batter, instead of thinner like it was last time. The cupcakes lasted almost a week (unfrosted), covered on the kitchen counter. I kept the frosting in the fridge and scooped a bit out as needed, letting it warm to room temperature before using.

The recipe is 24-Karat Cupcakes with Orange Cream Cheese Icing from Flo Braker's Baking for All Occasions (page 239).

mise en place for the cupcakes

the smell of the orange zest (for the frosting) was divine

a food processor made grating the carrots a breeze

the cupcake batter: adding the melted butter

nearly there...you can see all of the spices...yum!

the carrots, raisins, and walnuts get added last

beautiful!

I like to use a scoop so the batter is evenly distributed

ready to bake

done! They smell so delicious.

making the cream cheese frosting

for flavoring the frosting: I used orange zest, freshly squeezed
orange juice, and a few drops of pure orange oil

the softened cream cheese, butter and powdered sugar are beaten

the orange juice and vanilla are added...so smooth and silky!

finally the orange zest is added...so delicious!

cooled and frosted

I'd better just try one before serving them

ready for company...yum!

Bye for now...

Avid Baker's Challenge: Nut-Crusted Chocolate-Banana Swirl Cake

My Avid Baker's Challenge club is beginning a new book for 2012, The Weekend Baker by Abby Dodge. And (exciting!), the author herself is getting us started with our first recipe, Nut-Crusted Chocolate-Banana Swirl Cake on page 288.

The new book is really interesting because it details the recipes in stages so you can get started one day and finish everything a day or two later. I can see this coming in very handy around the holidays! It's not something I've done much of before, but I'm looking forward to experimenting with baking in stages.

The Nut-Crusted Chocolate-Banana Swirl Cake (half of which is sitting patiently on my counter-top, waiting for me to eat it) is delicious! The finished cake has a dense crumb but isn't heavy and the bananas keep the cake really moist. Plus, bananas equals healthy, right? Right! The banana flavor is really only obvious in the vanilla swirls of the cake while the chocolate swirls taste pretty much like pure chocolate so it's a nice combination of the two flavors. And even my husband - who doesn't like banana bread - declared this cake to be fantastic and has already polished of several slices.

The only bundt pan I have is this Nordic Ware Heritage bundt pan and I was a little concerned with trying to press my ground nuts into all the small crevices, so I chose instead to make 2 loaf cakes instead of 1 bundt cake. It was easy peasy to butter and nut the plain pans and I think the loaf shape - wrapped in some clear cellophane and a pretty ribbon - would be great for gifting. With the change in pan shape, I had to bake the cakes for an additional 15 minutes (until an inserted toothpick came out with a few crumbs).

The other change I made was to follow our ABC leader Hanaâ's suggestion of creaming the butter and sugar before adding the banana (I also squished up the banana first). I got a little nervous when adding the banana - as the batter seemed to separate - but all was well in the end. Overall I was very pleased with our first Weekend Baker cake and I can't wait for next month's Glazed Cinnamon Rolls! I'm curious to see how they'll compare to my Overnight Cinnamon Buns (which I loved) from last year's ABC book, Baking for All Occasions by Flo Braker.

mise en place

my two loaf pans, generously buttered and "nutted"

hmmm...getting nervous here as the batter separated
when the bananas were added

half the finished batter is separated and the melted chocolate is mixed in

spoonfuls of the vanilla/banana and chocolate batters are marbled together

the finished loaves...the whole house smelled delightful

I couldn't wait for it to cool...

moist, tender...and delicious!

Bye for now...

Avid Baker's Challenge: Frangipane Ripple Chocolate Pound Cake

Flo Braker's Baking for All Occasions was the 2011 Avid Baker's Challenge book and I wrapped up my participation with the October selection...the delicious Frangipane Ripple Chocolate Pound Cake (page 335).

This cake was a real adventure to make because I also decided to make the almond paste - from scratch - which goes into the frangipane. Now, full disclosure, I have never been a fan of almond flavored baked goods...plain almonds? Great! Chocolate covered almonds? Yum! But marzipan? No thanks! But last year I got my first inkling that maybe, just maybe, it's actually almond extract flavoring that I don't like and/or I had just been served some really bad marzipan as a child. My perhaps-almonds-are-not-so-bad revelation happened in one of my CSCA baking classes last winter when we made a pear-frangipane tart and, while the pear was mushy and flavorless, the frangipane was amazing. Ditto in another class when we made croissants and (to my utter shock and disbelief) the almond croissants were my favorite! I was still not totally convinced though, to the point that when I made a Swedish Pear and Almond Cream Cake for the HCB ring last June, I omitted the almond cream. I know now that was a big mistake.

I decided that for this cake I was going to go all in - including the almond paste - no substitutions allowed. The ABC's fearless leader, Hanaâ, recommended a great almond paste recipe from imafoodblog.com. And not only was the almond paste very easy to make, it was so incredibly yummy that I ate the leftover 2 ounces on its own over the next couple of days! It was so rich and delicious that a small pinch felt like a big treat.

Another great example that only good things can come from being adventurous in the kitchen.

mise en place for the almond paste

and, voila, homemade almond paste...so delicious!

additional ingredients for the frangipane

my frangipane, ready to go

mise en place for the chocolate cake

butter and sugar, creamed for 4-5 minutes

the finished batter

laying down the second layer of the frangipane

and...topped with the rest of the batter

done! It smelled divine.

I love this bundt pan...makes the prettiest crusty-edges

here's my frangipane "ripple"

looks beautiful when sliced

and tastes delicious when eaten!

We're moving on to a new book for the Avid Baker's Challenge 2012 - The Weekend Baker by Abby Dodge - and the first recipe was chosen for us from the author herself! Can't wait to get baking.

Bye for now...

Happy Birthday to me!

It was my birthday earlier this month and I felt like baking for it (what else is new?!) so we had a small family dinner party which turned into a bit of a potluck/takeout party because the heat was just too much to have the oven on all day. I did, however, manage to make a few things and of course a birthday cake (well, cupcakes)...24-Karat Cupcakes with Orange Cream Cheese Icing from Flo Braker's Baking for All Occasions (page 239). These cupcakes were wonderful! They were moist and flavorful and topped with a delicious citrusy cream cheese frosting.

The roasted carrots pictures are actually from a few months ago but I stumbled on them when sorting through some pictures and thought they were so pretty that I wanted to share. I get a vegetable/fruit delivery from Boston Organics every other week but for a while was doing all vegetables on a weekly basis and was getting a TON of carrots, so roasted carrots and onions became my "thing." I love Boston Organics - a shot of the inside of my 2/3 vegetable, 1/3 fruit box is below. They deliver right to my door and I can even add on items like organic strawberries (fav!), other fruit/veg, fresh bread, coffee beans or chocolate bars. Love!

my cats showing their party spirit...I guess it's too hot for them too.

my delivery...oh, yum

carrots and rosemary

chopped and into the pan

salt, pepper, olive oil and a splash of balsamic vinegar go over the top and get stirred in

I roast them at a pretty high temp to get some good caramelizing action going on

yum!

this is my new favorite rice - 6 different grains! I get it from the Japanese grocery store

all the different grains

I usually mix in some white sushi rice (1/4-1/3 of the total amount)

my wonderful rice cooker - perfect rice every time!

rinse, add water to the line corresponding to the number of cups of rice, let soak for several hours...
and then the rice cooker does the rest

now on to my birthday cupcakes!

everything mixed together except the carrots and nuts

fold in the carrots and nuts

into their little paper cups and...

...voila, cute little carrot cupcakes

the cream cheese frosting has both lemon and orange zest...it was amazing!

frosted and ready to enjoy

moist and delicious!

Bye for now...