Drunken Carrot Cake

Drunken Carrot Cake

For the cake

• 250g plain flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 150g light brown sugar
• 50g pecans, chopped
• 3 eggs
• 150g sultanas, soaked overnight in 100ml dark rum
• 225g carrots, grated
• 170ml vegetable oil

For the icing

• 100g soft butter
• 225g icing sugar
• 100g dulche de leche
• 1 vanilla pod, seeds scraped out

Preheat oven to 160C. Mix together the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda, then stir in all the rest of the ingredients. Mix everything until it forms a batter.

Pour the batter into 2 x 20cm greased and lined cake tins, then bake for 35-40 minutes.

Turn the cakes out and let them cool completely before icing.

For the icing: simply mix all the ingredients together.

Spread half of the icing on one cooled cake, top with the other cake and then spread the rest of the icing on top.

 

Good Housekeeping’s Low-Fat Brownies

I am trying out a new healthy eating diet before I go on holiday to America for three months where I will definitely eat my weight in hamburgers. However, I do have a love for unhealthy food so I decided to try out some low-fat brownies as a healthier alternative. This recipe was in Good Housekeeping magazine a couple of months ago. They worked out so well and were really tasty. The raspberry added a hint of bitterness.

Low-Fat Brownies

• 50ml sunflower oil
• 250g dark chocolate, chopped
• 4 medium eggs
• 150 g light muscavado sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 75g plain flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tbsp cocoa powder
• handful fresh raspberries

Preheat oven to 180C. Lightly grease and line a square tin with baking parchment.

Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water. When melted and smooth, lift bowl off pan and set aside to cool slightly.

Beat eggs, sugar, vanilla, oil and a pinch of salt in a large bowl with a hand held electric whisk until pale and thick (about 5 minutes). Sift over flour, baking and cocoa powders and cooled chocolate, then fold together with a large metal spoon.

Scrape mixture into the prepared tin, level and scatter over raspberries. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until set (took about 15 minutes in fan oven at 160C). Cool completely before cutting into squares.

 

 

Cross Stitch by Dorothy Wood

This is on the most comprehensive and detailed cross stitch guides I have come across. It gives the reader all the skills and techniques to complete 150 practical projects; “practical” because the majority are made into something that can be used. This book even charts the history of cross stitch and the book is split up into four chapters each focussing on a different time period; Antique and Medieval, Traditional, Folk Art and Contemporary. Here is my pick of a fantastic selection of designs.

Lady in the Tower; this simplistic design was inspired by rich colours of a medieval illuminated manuscript.

Fantasy Waistcoat; I’m not sure I would actually sew this design onto a waistcoat but the design is lovely.

Medieval Clock; this design was inspired by colourful stained glass windows found in medieval churches. I am such a fan of sewing on black material.

Jewellery box; a Charles Rennie Mackintosh design. I think this would look great simply framed.

Embroidered slippers; a pretty rose motif is used to jazz up a plain pair of slippers. I would never hve thought to do this but it is something I definitely considering.

 

Cottage garden tea cosy; I like this Southern-belle inspired design.

Christmas decorations; I think have found the Christmas decorations to make this year! The Victorian-style designs are beautiful.

Heart vine wreath; these Scandinavian-inspired hearts would look great as a garland too.

Mexican toy bag; I think this design has to be my favourite out of them all. I was drawn to it instantly because of the simple colours and designs.

 

 

 

 

 

Birthday Gifts

Yet again my friends and family proved how much they know me by giving me some brilliant craft-related gifts. From my aunt and uncle I recieved a fantastic cross stitch kit by Jane Greenoff. The kit is for an antique-style map of the world. I have been obsessed with this kit since I saw it at the 2012 Knitting and Stitching Fair. I have promised my mum that I will finish her welcome banner before embarking on this project but I am itching to begin!

My next craft-related gift is Beatrix Potter counted cross stitch of Benjamin Bunny. It is part of the same range as my Peter Rabbit so they will look lovely hanging together as a pair.

Lastly were two books. The first is by Dorothy Wood and is a comprehensive guide to all things cross stitch. There are in Cross Stitch several designs which have already caught my eye but I will do a seperate post on this book soon.

The second book and final present is a book called Lost Crafts by Una McGovern. It is a book which explores and rediscovers traditional skills such as making cider, making chairs and carving Welsh love spoons. This is a truly fascinating book and I will doing a seperate post on this one too.

Thank you to all my friends and family who bought me such amazing gifts!

On-Going Project: Welcome Banner

Another update on the welcome banner I am working on. I am now on the final section; lots of block colouring to do which can be tedious!

Silver Dollar Pancakes

My boyfriend’s parents bought me an amazing recipe book called New York Cult Recipes so on pancake day I thought I’d whip up a batch of the Silver Dollar Pancakes. They were so good! We had them with strawberries and syrup.

Silver Dollar Pancakes

Dry Ingredients

• 150g plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• 1 pinch salt

Wet Ingredients

• 250ml milk
• 2 eggs
• 25g unsalted butter
• 2 drops natural vanilla extract

Combine the dry ingredients, beat together the wet ingredients and whisk them into the dry mixture without overworking the batter. The batter should remain lumpy to prevent tough pancakes.

Heat a frying pan over medium heat with a little oil. Test the frying pan with a small spoonful of batter; if it doesn’t sizzle, the pan’s not hot enough, if the bottom is too brown before bubbles appear on top, it’s too hot. Adjust the heat so that the underside is golden when the top bubbles but isn’t dry yet. Pour in 1 tbsp for each mini pancake. When the underside is golden brown, flip the pancake using a spatula and cook the other side for about 30 seconds. Serve hot.

Honey Madeleines

March’s recipe from the Great British Bake Off calendar is for honey madeleines. This is a recipe I have never tried before and for the most part it worked out well. The only thing that failed to happen was that I could not get the consistency of the egg mixture correct but I suspect this had something to do with the temperature of the eggs; they were not room temperature. Nevertheless they still got a good rise!

Honey Madeleines

• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 65g caster sugar
• 25g well-flavoured honey
• 100g plain flour
• good pinch salt
• 50g ground almonds
• 100g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 2 tbsp flaked almonds
• icing sugar, for dusting

Madeleine tray, well-buttered

Preheat the oven to 190C. If not using a silicone Madeleine tray, lightly and evenly brush your tray with a coating of very soft butter. Pop the tray into the freezer and leave for a couple of minutes to harden the butter, then brush once more with butter. Keep in the fridge or freezer until ready to use.

Whisk the eggs with the vanilla, sugar and honey using an electric mixer until the mixture has massively increased in volume and is very light in colour and mousse-like in texture – the whisk should leave a distinct ribbon-like trail when lifted out of the bowl.

Sift the salt, flour and ground almonds into the bowl (tip in any remaining bits of almond). Gently fold in using a large metal spoon. Slowly drizzle the melted butter over the mixture and fold in until you can no longer see any buttery streaks.

Spoon the mixture into the Madeleine moulds, filling them just under 3/4 full to allow space for rising. Scatter over the flaked almonds. Bake for 10-12 minutes until lightly golden and firm to the touch.

Tip the Madeleines out of the tray onto a wire rack and leave to cool. Store in an airtight container and eat within 5 days – the flavour will develop the longer they are kept. Serve dusted with sifted icing sugar.

Finished Project: Owl Cushion

As soon as I saw this pattern in Storyland Cross Stitch I knew I had to stitch it up. I bought the materials whilst at the Knitting and Stitching Fair but have only just got round to stitching it up.

Cookies and Cream Cookies

I saw Essie-Button’s post on Erica’s recipe for Cookies and Cream Cookies and knew I had to try it out as they looked so good! I baked a batch to take to my friend’s house and they were absolutely delicious; proper American cookies. Also the smell they produced whilst cooking was gorgeous!

You can find the recipe here.

Finished Project: Peter Rabbit Decoration

My boyfriend gave me this sweet cross stitch kit for Christmas. I finished it over the weekend and decided against framing it. Instead, I made it into a stuffed hanging decoration using some polka dot blue material for the backing. I followed this guide on makezine.com on using the ladder stitch as I had never used it before and wanted a neat finish for this project.