carrot Archives ⋆ Our Growing Paynes

The amount of chocolate our kids still have from Christmas is going to keep them going for quite awhile. They would disagree completely with me, of course. As scrooge like as I was being in the chocolate department I didn’t want to forego any treats. I’m not that mean!

So what do bunnies really like? Carrots!

I did a search on Pinterest for fun easter desserts. The plethora of Peeps desserts was a bit scary. Aside from the fact none of us like Peeps, my kids aren’t little so something less sugar high inducing would do the trick. I found this Mini Carrot Cake Whoopie Pies recipe and I thought it would be fun to make. Not to mention easy! And as we’re still plugging away at our renovation of the bathroom project, well, easy is key.

I will say the overall time to make this of 18 minutes is seriously over optimistic. Give yourself an hour. There is only so fast I can go!

Preheat the oven to 350F/175C

Begin with finely grating 180g of carrot. This will give you 1 1/2 to 2 cups of shredded carrot.

In a mixer add 113g/1 stick of butter (room temperature) along with 100g/1/2 cup of packed light brown sugar and 100g/1/2 cup of white sugar.

Cream all this together for several minutes until creamy and blended well. While this is mixing mix the dry ingredients together in a medium sized bowl. Add 250g/2 cups all purpose flour, 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking soda, 1 teaspoon of baking powder, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, 1 teaspoon of ground ginger, 1/2 teaspoon of ground nutmeg and 1/2 teaspoon of salt.

Gradually add the dry ingredients to the mixer. Once all the ingredients are mixed well add the grated carrot.

Using a piping bag and a large nozzle pipe out the batter into circles about an inch/2.5cm onto parchment paper. This is very sticky and they come out like wizard hats. Don’t worry about that, it will smooth out in the oven. Just tap down the real pointy peaks.

Bake 6-8 minutes until set and golden. Allow to cool for a few minutes.

While these are baking prepare the cream cheese frosting. I chose to use neufchatel cheese which has a 1/3 less fat. I know, a funny time to start worrying about calories but what can you do?

In a large bowl add 8oz/226g of the cheese and 56g/1/2 stick of butter (both at room temperature).

Using a hand mixer cream the two ingredients together for a few minutes.

Add 187g/1 1/2 cups of confectioner’s (powdered) sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Mix well until the frosting is smooth and light.

Pair up the mini cakes so both sides are relatively equal in size. Spread the frosting on one side and add the other to make a sandwich.

Keep the ones you don’t eat right away in the fridge. Not going to lie, these were really good. With the carrot how unhealthy can these be? Ahem. 😉

Oooh, it was very scary in town last night. Lots of ghouls and monsters wandering about asking for candy. And I bet most of them slept well after their quest for the sweet stuff. It was a little bittersweet last night as our kids were off doing their own thing this year. It’s tradition for us to gather at a friend’s house as their neighbourhood is a fabulous place to trick o treat. We went without them to see all the kids having fun. The best costume was a young girl who took a parasol and stringed it with lights to be a jelly fish. You could see her journey through the neighbourhood. A fantastic job.

The husband of the duo where we go likes to dress up as death. He has an old sickle that was the wife’s great grandmother’s. Once there are enough of us to hand out candy he starts slowly walking the driveway dragging the sickle. A bit scary. So it’s fascinating to watch the kids. A good number, even the tiny ones, will loudly declare “You don’t scare me!” Some keep an eye on him as they make their way to the candy. A couple get scared but with the rest of us yelling it’s ok, there’s candy at the end, they make it as well. I don’t think there was one child that gave up candy out of fear. 🙂

Now I’m not one, when this time rolls by, to go pumpkin crazy. Occasionally I make a pumpkin pie but that’s it. Crikey, they put it in everything! People go mad over it. But I do enjoy good harvest soups. The comfort rustic ones that take the chill off the bones. And if they are quick even better!

A couple of weeks ago I made a curried carrot soup for the family as I had to teach class that night. Nothing is easier to make ahead of time and just reheat.

Peel and slice 3-4 carrots depending on their size and thinly slice them. Chop up half a large red onion and coarsely chop 4-5 cloves of garlic. Add about 4 cups of chicken stock.

Bring to a boil and cook until the carrots are tender. Use a blender or an immersion blender to blend all soup.

Don’t worry about getting it perfectly smooth, this is a rustic soup. Put it back on the heat and bring it to a low simmer. Now the seasoning bit is a guideline. I used hot curry powder, curry paste, cumin, sea salt, pepper, and a bit of garam masala. The last bit you don’t want to use a ton. A little goes along way. We really like the curry flavour and the heat so I add a good amount. I also add a spoonful of the mango habanero sauce I made recently. This is seriously hot so don’t go overboard with that bit! Simmer to allow all the flavours to develop together.

Top with a dollop of sour cream or creme fraise. Garnish with fresh chive. This is a very warming soup. Wonderful on a cold day or if you have a cold!

Our Growing Paynes

A journey about cooking, traveling, gardening, and crafting.

Tag Archives: carrot

Making Whoopie…Carrot Cake Pies That Is

Curried Carrot Soup