:: Carrot Cake Recipe ::

I have 2 carrot cake recipes at home.. They sit in one Word document.. Each time I want to bake a carrot cake, I would go all confused as to which recipe is a good recipe.. They say never tweak a baking recipe.. But I always do.. Due to the above-mentioned confusion, I’d always mix the two recipes together, cutting down and adding up ingredients according to my heart’s desire.. So, I’d end up getting different result of carrot cake each time.. Oh, don’t worry, the cakes were edible every-time though.. :P

I figure, it’s time to look for the ONE carrot cake recipe that I should always stick to.. This particular carrot cake from allrecipe got great reviews.. I can’t wait to try em out..

Ingredients

• 4 eggs

• 1 1/4 cups vegetable oil

• 2 cups white sugar

• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 2 teaspoons baking soda

• 2 teaspoons baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

• 3 cups grated carrots

• 1 cup chopped pecans

• 1/2 cup butter, softened

• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened

• 4 cups confectioners' sugar

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1 cup chopped pecans

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan.

2. In a large bowl, beat together eggs, oil, white sugar and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Mix in flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Stir in carrots. Fold in pecans. Pour into prepared pan.

3. Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.

4. To Make Frosting: In a medium bowl, combine butter, cream cheese, confectioners' sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Stir in chopped pecans. Frost the cooled cake.

Here are some reviews:

CYNJAMS:

This is a great recipe. Some other reviewers had problems with the center falling-these tips may help. Cakes will sink or fall because of the following 1.Overbeating-too much air is incorporated 2.Underbaking- oven temp is too low or too short a baking time 3.Over or under measurement of ingredients 4.Using too small/large of baking pan 5. Make sure your oven temp is correct-preheat for at least 30 min. and check to make sure your oven is heating properly by using an oven thermometer for accuracy and finally, only open your oven door if you have to and then make sure 3/4 of the cooking time is up. Happy baking everyone!

Gneebeanie:

After reading through 4-5 pages of the reviews, I consolidated the most referred alterations to this recipe to: 1) using 1 cup brown sugar and 1 cup white sugar 2) adding an extra teaspoon of vanilla extract 3) adding 1 8oz. can of crushed pineapple (I squeezed out most of the juice before adding it, I didn't want any extra fluids in the cake) 4) Added 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg 5) added 1 extra teaspoon of cinnamon 6) used 3/4 cup canola oil and 1/2 cup applesauce. The result came out incredibly delicious - the cake was very flavorful and moist. For the frosting, I only used 3.5 cups of powdered sugar, and it was more than sweet enough, with a nicely balanced cream cheese vs. sweet flavor. If I would change anything again, I would use less pecans - it's a bit too nutty for my personal tastes. Also, I followed another reviewer's suggestion of grating the carrots with the large grater side (the one you use for cheese) so that you don't end up with a bunch of carrot mush and juice that can't be used. Will definitely make again! This is probably the best carrot cake I've ever had.

Emily Trak:

I made some subs: 1.5 cups brown sugar (no white), half cup oil and 1 cup crushed pineapple (drained) instead of 1 1/4 cup oil, 2.5 tsp cinnamon and 1/4 tsp nutmeg, 3 tsp vanilla, omitted nuts and frosting. I baked in two 9 inch round cakepans for 40 minutes instead of a 9x13 pan. The result was perfectly moist cake with terrific flavor, and less guilt! Next time, I'll double the recipe so my cakes can be a bit taller, and I'll add crushed walnuts...but I can't imagine it being much better than this. Suggestion: if you're using a box grater, grate the carrots on the 2nd largest holes (same ones you use to grate cheese). I made the mistake of grating on the next smaller size holes last time, and used 5 cups of carrots (and 1/2 cup oil - no applesauce). The carrot shreds were too small and too many, and a lot of carrot juice was produced. All that extra liquid caused my "cake" to be more like a thin layer of rubbery pumpkin pie filling, even after cooking for over an hour. So make sure your carrot shreds are quite large, so you don't end up with all that unwanted carrot juice.

AZ_Melanie:

I made this cake for my son's first birthday party a few days ago and it was a hit!!! I too, made a few changes that really made this cake great. I used 3/4 cup oil plus 1/2 cup applesauce instead of the full amount of oil, I used 1 cup each white and brown sugar and also added 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg. As for the frosting, I reduced the powdered sugar to 2 1/4 cups. This recipe was delicious and I am sure would be with or without any of the changes mentioned above. In fact, I think I am going to go eat another leftover piece right now :)!! Thanks Tammy!

I'll make my own personal review once I've tried the recipe.. :)

Till next we meet.. Toodles! :)

:: California Mixed Salad ::

I am not really a big fan of salads.. Except for fruit salad.. Macam yang kat bawah tuu.. Hehe.. But on a trip to Singapore last year, I had the pleasure of eating a delicious salad at the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf.. Upon returning to Malaysia however, I could not seem to find that particular salad in any of the CBTL outlets here.. Apparently, they don't serve the same salad.. :(

I could not even remember the name of the salad, so I tried to google the recipe by recalling some of the ingredients inside.. Googling blindly proved to be, err.. difficult.. Found a few that I thought was almost close, tapi malas la pulakk nak buat.. takut tak jadi, so nanti kecewa.. Bila kecewa, nanti putus harapan.. Bila putus harapan, nanti akan say no to salad forever and ever.. lepas tuh nanti badan tak cukup vitamin sebab tak makan sayur-saturan.. see, it has ripple effect.. so baik jangan buat.. haha.. alasan!

Anyway, just recently, I went to Singapore again for another trip.. Haruslah singgah CBTL kan.. The name of the salad: California Mixed Salad.. So, tulis entry cepat2 supaya tak lupa lagi.. These were the ingredients I saw inside:

Salad Leaves

Cherry Tomatoes
Cranberry @ Craisin
Sliced Almonds
Vinaigrette

I vaguely remembered that the one I had on the first trip had more variety of leafy leaves, some sprinkles of mild tasting cheese and two sticks of bread.. The one I had at the CBTL Changi airport kali nih takde pon.. Tak baik kan tipu orang? Tsk Tsk.. So how does this salad that wowed me and had me googling the net like most girls would do to look for what fashion is IN this season? See below..

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tah hape2 nak tunjuk gambar salad pun nak buat saspen.. heh, fine, tengok je laa..

taraaa!!

CBTL California Mixed Salad @ Changi Airport.. Ingredients kurang, tapi sedap jugak..

Hahaha.. takdelah semenggah mana, kan? Tapi serius sedap o0oo.. Mum loved it too..

So, I googled the recipe (again), hunting for the vinaigrette recipe to be exact.. Some has avocado inside the salad, and some has their dressing with mayonnaise.. walhal the one I had macam tak creamy pun? Sort of like a clear, fruity vinaigrette.. I found two recipes (1 tastebook  , 2 foodnetwork) that seem almost close (according to my not so logic mind).. This recipe seems yummy too.. Will give #1 a try, kalau tiba2 datang mood rajin laa.. hehe.. (kenapa bila dah jumpa resepi tuh terus jadik pemalas?)

Toodles everyone.. Happy munching!

:: Lolly's Fruit Salad ::

Bongkar khazanah lama, jumpa gambar nih.. gigih edit pakai photoscape... walhal tak cantik pun editnya! haha

Would like to share my favourite fruit salad recipe.. A great hit during family gatherings..

Ingredients:

Fruits: You have the option to use some or all of these fruits:

Apples (Green, Red), Strawberries (or any berries you like), Mangoes, Oranges, Seedless Grapes (Green, Red), Plums, Pears, Watermelon, Dates

Dressing:

Mayonnaise, Fresh Cracked Black pepper, Honey, Lemon juice, Lemon zest, Salt

Method:

1. Cut the fruits into bite-sized cubes. Squeeze in some lemon juice to keep them from discoloring and toss them about in a bowl.
2. Using that same bowl, stir in mayonnaise, fresh cracked black pepper, honey, lemon juice, lemon zest and a pinch of salt. Taste to adjust to your liking.. 
3. This salad is best served cold, so you might want to keep them in the fridge before serving.

Footnote:

1. I sometimes have my fruit salad sprinkled with some crushed pralines or walnuts or almonds.

2. A friend suggests adding in cinnamon powder for smell. Hmm, I guess you could also add nutmegs which would serve as the same function. Never tried it tho.. 

Happy munching! Toodles!

Note:
1. Click here for Fruits Hints and Tips..

Indulgence

Toodles!

:: Cold Chicken Sandwich ::

Recipe:
Cold Roasted Chicken - diced, or shredded
Salt n Pepper
Mayonnaise
Tomatoes - Diced or sliced
Iceberg Lettuce or Salad
Cheddar Cheese
Bread

1. Dice chicken, prepare vegetables.
2. Mix the diced / shredded cold roasted chicken with mayonnaise, salt and pepper.
3. Spread bread with mayo.
4. Arrange veges, chicken and cheese on your bread.
5. Enjoy!

Quick, easy and yummy..

I love!

Toodles!