Carrot Cake Recipe

16 October 20193 December 2019 ~ The Author

Many many years ago, when I was a child, I learned to bake cakes while helping my aunt. We made chiffon cakes, chocolate cakes, fruit cakes, and many other baked goodies. But when my aunt decided to retire her side business of making cakes, I stopped baking as well.

It was only a few years ago that I decided to bake cakes again. After nearly two decades of not baking cakes, I was a bit lost, without a single trusted cake recipe, neither a single baking tin, nor a single decorating tip.

The funny thing is, I cannot remember how I met this carrot cake recipe. But this is the cake recipe that got me baking again, and I have made this carrot cake so many times. We love how it’s moist and not too sweet (in contrast to a bakeshop-bought one we’ve tasted once, which was the complete opposite – too sweet and dry!). But then, the best way of creating a moist cake is not over-baking it – when it’s done, take it out of the oven right away!

So anyway, here’s the delicious carrot cake recipe, tweaked to suit the taste of me and the crowd I feed. Enjoy!

Ingredients:                                       Icing:
Olive oil (for greasing)                        250 g    spreadable cream cheese
2 (300g) carrots, finely grated           1/3 c   icing sugar
1   c   self raising flour                          1/2 t      vanilla essence
1/2 c plain flour
1   t    bicarbonate soda
1/2 t   ground cinnamon
2/3 c   brown sugar
3/4 c   organic olive oil
1/2 c   maple syrup
3        eggs
1   t    vanilla essence

Procedure:

Preheat oven to 170 degrees Celsius, or 150C if using a fan-force oven. Lightly grease a cake pan with oil and line with baking paper.

Sift flours, bicarb soda and cinnamon in a bowl.

In another bowl, whisk brown sugar, oil, maple syrup, eggs and vanilla. Pour this mixture into the bowl with the dry ingredients. Mix well with a wooden spoon. Stir in the grated carrots.

Place the mixture into the pan and bake for approximately 55 minutes. Then, let cool in the pan for a few minutes, before turning it out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

For the icing, combine the cream cheese, icing sugar and vanilla essence in a bowl, using a wooden spoon, until well mixed. Spread the icing over the cake.

Topped with fruits for the ward conference luncheon.

Lemon Slice Recipe

18 September 201915 February 2020 ~ The Author

Someone once said “When life gives you lemons, make a lemonade.”

LEMON SLICE

Ingredients:
(For the bottom layer)
150 g salt-reduced butter
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
1/4 cup caster sugar
1 Tbsp cornflour
1 1/3 cup plain flour
Icing sugar

(For the top layer)
4 eggs
1/3 cup plain flour
3/4 cup caster sugar
2/3 cup lemon juice

Procedure:

Preheat oven to 160 deg C.

Prepare the bottom layer by melting butter in a bowl. Add sugar and vanilla and mix well. Sift the flours on the mixture, then stir thoroughly with a wooden spoon. Set aside.

Line pan with baking paper. Transfer the bottom layer mixture to the pan. Spread it evenly and press to compact. Bake for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the top layer by whisking eggs, flour and sugar until smooth. Add lemon juice and continue whisking.

Pour the top layer mixture over the cooked bottom layer. Bake for 20 more minutes and let it cool in the pan. Dust with icing sugar, slice and serve.

Leche Flan Recipe

11 September 201915 February 2020 ~ The Author

Spring has come to Australia, and the chooks have felt it. To celebrate the warmer-than-winter season, they decided to lay lots of eggs!

Well, in fact, a bit too much so I decided it was high time to make this:

Whoops! Nope, not just that.

What I really meant was this…

One of the Philippines’ most favorite desserts, this baby is a good way of disposing those chooks’ eggs properly. Since it was the last Sunday was the last of the month, we had the traditional ward luncheon at church after the services and for that, I decided to make Leche Flan to share with the folks.

It’s really not that hard to do. The last time I made this dessert was way back in 2009 or 2010, yet when I made one last weekend, it was still as easy as ABC.

INGREDIENTS

5 whole eggs
1 can condensed milk
water
3 Tbsp powdered milk
pinch of salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
2-3 Tbsp raw sugar

PROCEDURE:

Preheat the oven to 180 degree Celsius. Fill half of a larger tray/pan with water and put that inside the oven for the water bath.

Beat eggs in a bowl. Add condensed milk, water and powdered milk. In other recipes, they use a can of evaporated milk. But because when I made this last Saturday evening, there was no evaporated milk at home, so I dissolved powdered milk in a can full of water (I used the emptied can of the condensed milk to measure) and used that as substitute. Add a teeny-weeny pinch of salt and a few drops of vanilla. Mix well by gently stirring, to avoid forming bubbles…although I think no matter how well I tried to mix it manually, you’d still come up with something like this:

Use a clean cheese cloth to strain the mixture. You can also use a fine wire strainer, like I did.

Straining will make your mixture, and thus, the flan, smoother.

Place sugar in a pan. You may add a bit of water to dissolve the sugar. Place the plan over low heat to caramelize the sugar, until it’s golden brown but not burnt.

Let the caramelized sugar rest for a while. Then pour into the pan the egg-milk mixture. Cover the pan with foil.

Now, use your oven mittens and very carefully place the pan of egg-milk mixture on the water bath inside the oven. Watch out that you don’t spill the water or the mixture or wet your mittens with the boiling water. Cook for 50 to 55 minutes, keeping the oven temperature at 180 degree Celsius.

Let the flan cool before turning it upside down on a plate to serve.