« Snow, part III | Main | Princess »
December 21, 2004
Carrot cake
On this, the darkest day of the northern hemisphere year, I've come to work bearing carrot cake. It's atonement for sharing the box of German Christmas goodies Frank sent from Hamburg immediately after its arrival last Friday afternoon. I didn't realize so many writers were out of the office.
Adapted Evelyn's traditional recipe for local ingredients. Here's the source:
2 cups sugar 1/2 tsp. salt
3 cups flour 1 1/2 cup veg. oil
2 tsp. soda 4 eggs
2 tsp. baking powder 1 cup nut pieces
2 tsp. cinnamon 4 cups (1 lb.) carrots
Peel and grate carrots. Mix dry ingredients. Add
oil, eggs, nuts, and carrots. Batter will be heavy
and hard to mix. Bake in 9 x 13 greased pan at
350 degrees for 50-55 minutes or until done.
I buy cream cheese icing.
My prime substitution was levure chimique for the baking powder and soda. Cream cheese icing is probably illegal outside the US, since laboratory tests have shown it transubstantiates directly to unsightly bodyfat in anyone less fit than Lance Armstrong. I made some myself by mixing an obscene amount of confectioner's sugar with cream cheese (65% de matière grasse). After melting the mixture atop the warm cake, I sprinkled extra ground walnuts over the top.
Who knows if my European colleagues will be physiologically able to eat this without scraping off the icing.
Posted by Mark at December 21, 2004 08:13 AM