Carrot Cake

Hey everyone!

Tonight I bring a simple and delicious recipe.

This is a Brazilian recipe of Carrot Cake. It's a great choice when preparing your morning/afternoon tea.

Let's face it, everything is better with cake. ;)

So, let's get to it.

Ingredients:

- 3 eggs
- 3 medium size carrots
- 2 cups of plain flour
- 2 cups of white or caster sugar
- 3/4 cup of canola oil
- 1 tbsp of baking powder
- 1 pinch of salt

Like I said, this is very simple. All you have to do is pre-heat the oven at 180ºc; peal and chop the carrots and blend it with all the ingredients together.

Place the mix in a greased and floured tin.

Take it to the oven for about 30 min or until a skewer when inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean.

For the frosting, another easy recipe.

In a sauce pan add 1/2 tbsp of butter, 3 tbsp of sugar and 2 of chocolate powder.

Take it to medium heat until melted.

Add 2 tbsp of thickened cream and that's it!

Just cover the cake while still hot and wait for it to cool down before serving it - although some people prefer eating while it's still hot. ;)

I hope you like it.

See you next time.

Cheers,
Dee.

Banana Cake - Recipe

Hey everyone!

It's been while, ayeh?

However, I come bearing recipes. :D

A couple of weeks ago I started a temp job in a Childcare Centre where I get to prepare meals from scratch for the children.

It's a good challenge, I have to be aware of intolerances and allergies, prepare things in large quantities and on a timely manner - but other than that I get to have fun with the recipes.

My first experience baking for them was a wholemeal banana cake.

I started my prep as always, getting all the ingredients sorted before starting, and as I was doing that, I realised that we didn't have some of the ingredients of the recipe. Time for some improv.

I gathered the stuff we had and I had some fun with it. It worked out great, everyone loved it!

For me, this is what it's all about! :D

Now I want to share it with all of you.
Enjoy. ;)

Ingredients:

4 eggs
1 1/2 cup of brown sugar
3/4 cup of rice bran oil
1 cup of wholemeal flour
2 cups of plain flour
3 tsp of cream of tartar
1 1/2 tsp of baking soda
1/2 cup of milk
2 tsp of honey
4 riped bananas - mashed

Prep:

Pre-heat oven to 180°c.
In a bowl, mix the plain and wholemeal flour, baking soda and cream of tartar.
In a cup mix the milk and honey.
Mash the bananas on a plate and reserve.

(These are my standard steps for all the recipes I make. It makes the cake fluffy).

Using a mixer, beat the eggs for about 2 minutes.
Add the oil and mix it for another minute. Add the sugar and leave it beating for one more minute.

Add to the egg/oil/sugar mixture half of the bananas, beat for 30 seconds and add the rest for another 30 seconds.
Add half of the flour mix to the mixer and beat until well combined, add the milk-honey and finally the rest of the flour.
Grease and flour one large or two small tins and spread the mix evenly.
Take it to the oven for about 40 min or until an inserted skewer comes out clean.

Frosting:

1 lemon
3 tbsp of butter or Nutelex
1 3/4 cups of icing sugar.

Beat butter until soft and add the rest of the ingredients.

And that's it! Wait until it's cold, place the frosting and be happy. :D

Hope you've all enjoyed it.

Cheers,
Dee.

Chocolate Trifle

On the previous post I talked about favourite desserts and since we are on Holiday Season, I’ll continue posting some of my favourite dishes for this time of the year.

As I’ve mentioned before, the Pavê or Chocolate Trifle is a must have in my family’s Christmas and New Year’s dinners. Since I’ve being making this for a long time now, I think I’ve managed to put together a pretty good recipe that I’d like to share with you!

This is a recipe that allows you to get creative! You can substitute the chocolate layer with anything you want; I have seen from the most traditional versions, with peaches or pineapples, to peanuts and coffee flavours.

I hope you’ll enjoy it.

Chocolate Trifle – Pavê de Chocolate

Ingredients

- 1 package of sponge fingers (about 300g - 400g)
- 395g of condensed milk
- Milk (Use the condensed tin or box to measure one amount in milk)
- 3 yolks
- 2 tsp of vanilla extract
- 300g of dark chocolate
- 300 ml of thickened cream
- Brandy

Whipped cream

- 300 ml of thickened cream (make sure it is very cold)
- 2 full tbsp of caster sugar

Preparation

1 – Combine the condensed milk, vanilla extract, milk and yolk, and take it to medium heat stirring well until it is a creamy homogeneous mixture, reserve.
2 – Melt chocolate in Bain Marie and add the thickened cream and brandy. Whisk until smooth, reserve.
3 – In a separate bowl, add some milk and brandy to dip the sponge fingers before assembling the Trifle.
4 – Start layering the Trifle starting with the sponge fingers, then custard and lastly the ganache.
5 – Finish with a layer of sponge fingers and take it to the fridge while preparing the whipped cream.
6 – Beat cream with the sugar until peaks are formed.
7 – Decorate the Trifle with whipped cream and chocolate, as you please.

Have you ever tried this recipe before? I would love to know what you think.

I wish you all a Merry Christmas!

Dee ;)