How to Increase Productivity

Posted on August 8, 2011 by Patti, Reinvented

There’s only so much Internet surfing I can take in a day. After I’ve spent all morning and most of the afternoon sitting at my computer, researching writing projects and checking job websites, I finally peel my thighs off the black vinyl chair in my home office, make a feeble attempt to stand upright, stretch a bit, and ponder what to do next.

In the several weeks since my four-legged best friend, Shelby, passed on, I find my quasi-empty house rather irritating.  Though Shelby wasn’t much of a conversationalist, the fact that she’s no longer here is screaming at me at the top of its lungs.  Sometimes my home office feels like the loneliest spot on Earth.  Lonely and sometimes unproductive.

Today was one of those unproductive days.  In my master reinvention plan that is still in the development stage, I forgot to account for days when I won’t be very productive, days like this one when I stare at the computer as if I’m waiting for it to perform some fabulous magic act.  Like saving my livelihood.

I tap my fingers on the desktop, then nervously bite at my nails, which is not to be confused with actually biting my nails.  To bite at my nails means I can’t really be classified as a nail biter.  Rather, I’m just tidying up ragged edges and hangnails instead of getting up and going into the bathroom to search for a nail file.  If I give in to that whim, I’m likely to lose myself in the huge vanity drawer in dire need of a clean out.  And before I know it, it will be an hour later and all I’ve got to show for my time is a half-empty drawer and a suddenly crowded bathroom countertop.  Nope, I’m not falling for that again.

Instead, I decide to worry about my low productivity tomorrow.  This moment calls for a little comfort.  Actually, comfort food, to be exact.  So I head to the kitchen, which, interestingly, is usually the most organized and productive room in the house.  Go figure.

I walk into my kitchen with the confident gait of someone who knows who she is and where she is going.  I open the refrigerator door with a specific picture in mind: a creamy, tart and sweet, lemon cheesecake I made two days earlier.

Sun-Sational Cheesecake is a delicious recipe from a very old, very worn paperback pocket cookbook that belonged to my mother.  Published under the name Favorite Brand Name Recipes: Kraft’s Philadelphia Brand Cream Cheese Cheesecakes, the book contains more than 40 cheesecake recipes — some baked, some not — everything from Banana Nut to Carrot ‘n Raisin to Amaretto Peach, or Peanut Butter & Jelly to Cookies & Cream cheesecakes.  A little something for everyone.

Sweetly topped with a lemon curd (lemon pie filling), the Sun-Sational cheesecake deftly combines the best of two dessert worlds: the lemon pie world and the cheesecake world.  Many years ago, when she lent me the book for a particular recipe, my mom told me it was the best book for cheesecakes; that it was one of her favorite cookbooks, and I could keep it if I took care of it and didn’t lose it.  Though it’s falling apart, it’s one of my most treasured possessions.

This time around, I changed the Sun-Sational recipe a bit (thought I wouldn’t?) by adding some crushed ginger cookies to the graham cracker crust mixture.  I thought it might go well with the lemon.  It did.  In addition, I added more lemon zest than was called for to the cheesecake mixture — as well as to the lemon filling on the top to intensify the lemon flavor.  If you feel a slump coming on in your day, make and enjoy this cheesecake — the perfect blend of sweet and tart will send your productivity numbers off the chart!

CREAMY LEMONY CHEESECAKE

(Based on Sun-Sational Cheesecake from the 1991 Favorite Brand Name Recipes booklet: Kraft Philadelphia Cream Cheese Cheesecakes.)

CRUST

  • 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
  • 6 – 8 thin ginger cookies, crushed
  • 3 tablespoons sugar
  • 4 tablespoons butter, melted

FILLING

  • Three 8 oz. packages cream cheese, softened
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 3 tablespoons flour
  • 2 – 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 1 heaping tablespoon grated fresh lemon zest
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 egg, separated

TOPPING

  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 2 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 1/2 cup cold water
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon grated fresh lemon zest

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix graham cracker crumbs, ginger cookies, sugar and butter in a food processor; turn out and press onto the bottom and slightly up sides of 9-inch springform pan.  Bake 10 minutes.

Beat cream cheese, sugar, flour, juice, zest and vanilla at medium speed with electric mixer until well blended.  Add 3 eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each.  Beat in remaining egg white (reserve egg yolk for topping).  Pour over baked crust.

Bake 40 – 45 minutes.  Remove from oven and loosen cheesecake from rim of pan, but cool before removing the rim of the pan.

For the topping: Mix sugar and cornstarch in a saucepan.  Gradually stir in the water and juice.  Stirring constantly, bring to a boil over medium heat.  Boil one minute until mixture is clear and thickened, stirring constantly.  Add a small (and I mean tiny!) bit of hot mixture to the reserved and slightly beaten egg yolk.  Then add another tiny amount and stir.  (This is critical; if you add too much too fast, you will end up with scrambled eggs.)  Return egg yolk mixture to saucepan; cook 3 minutes, stirring constantly.  Turn off heat and add fresh lemon zest.  Cool before spooning and spreading over the prepared cheesecake.  Refrigerate to cool completely.  Makes 10 to 12 servings.  A sweet little tart!

 

 

 

Posted in Comfort Food -- Sweet, Desserts | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

With a Little Help From My Friends

Posted on July 30, 2011 by Patti, Reinvented

As I mentioned in a previous post, to everything there is a season . . . and with each season comes a bounty of blessings for which I am grateful each day.  If nothing else in my life right now, of that one thing I am certain.

For instance . . . the sun’s potent rays of summer’s longer days that have been nourishing my growing lemon, tomato, and herb plants on my deck are doing marvelous things for larger home gardens everywhere.  This is a special season — time for tomatoes, squash, onions, melon and berries — the best time of the year for salads and entrees starring fresh veggies, and cool, fruity desserts.

Who wants to be a lemon bar in a few months?

When I was a kid perfecting my Ew! Yuk! Vegetables! face, my folks didn’t buy many veggies fresh from the farmer’s or any other market.  Other than picking up the occasional iceberg lettuce, carrots, onions, or seasonal corn-on-the-cob, many families were still innocently unaware of the bounty of benefits that hid beneath the abundant wandering, green vines that crept along the top soil.

Growing up, I remember canned and frozen peas, canned corn, steamed carrots, and — get this — canned asparagus tips at our dinner table.  That’s what most families did before the Food Network came to town.  Just as we had no real idea in the 60s of the dangers that lurked inside the innocent little cigarette, we were mostly unaware of the important benefits of consuming fresh fruits and vegetables at the peak of their seasons.  Thanks to an evolving society, in partnership with community gardeners and television chefs, things are different today.

Now that I’ve become a backyard gardener (in the smallest sense of the title), I’ve learned that dishes made with seasonal ingredients from my garden — or the garden of a generous neighbor — are healthier, more economical, and make for the best menu options at any time of year.

A few months ago, when spring warmed into a new summer, I received a huge bag of freshly harvested spring peas from neighbors (and fellow dog park pals) Angela and Andre. Their large backyard garden of carefully tended, raised fruit and vegetable beds is a tantalizing sight to behold.  I envy their collective four green thumbs, and am grateful to be the beneficiary of their sometimes overproductive plants.

The makings of fried rice -- Clockwise from the top: Petite peas, celery, carrots, purple bell pepper, zucchini, red onion, and green cabbage in the middle.

A couple of weeks ago, I was invited to wander through their fresh food mecca, where I helped myself to warm, sweet strawberries, three or four onions pulled right from the hot soil, and mentally put my name on a couple of still-growing butternut squash.  And when my good friends, Suzanne and Bryan, recently dropped off a bowl of fresh yellow squash on my doorstep, I knew I had hit the motherlode.  How lucky can you get?

When generous home gardeners hand me fresh veggies, I’ll thank the powers that be for my good fortune.  And when life hands me fresh lemons (which it will in a few months), I’ll make our family recipe lemon bars — and share the bounty.  Without the support of good friends and generous neighbors, where would any of us be at any given time in our lives?

(AJ’s Favorite) VEGGIE FRIED RICE

I like veggies and I like rice — and this dish brings them together deliciously in one neat package.  An easy creation: just add whatever veggies you prefer and the same goes for the seasonings.  I like a subtle, Asian-themed taste to my veggie fried rice.  Toss your favorite fresh veggies into a hot pan; add cold, cooked rice, maybe some leftover chicken or pork tenderloin, and you’ve got a fast, healthy dinner.  It’s one of my nephew’s favorites.  Here’s what I recently came up with using the veggies I had on hand:

  • About 4 cups of cooked then thoroughly chilled rice
  • 1/2 to 3/4 cup each of the following:
  • Sliced celery
  • Chopped red onion (or green onions, if you prefer)
  • Julienned carrots
  • Chopped purple bell pepper (or yellow, orange or red; green is a bit too strong here)
  • Chopped zucchini (and/or yellow squash)
  • Sliced green cabbage
  • Frozen petite peas, thawed (or edamame beans: delicious and nutritious!)
  • Salt & pepper
  • 2 tablespoons olive or salad oil
  • 1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger (optional)
  • 1/4 to 1/2 cup teriyaki sauce — You can create any number of good Asian-inspired flavors beginning with soy sauce and a sweetener such as honey or pineapple or apricot preserves.  Using a premade sauce is an easy and fast path to dinner.  My current favorite is Yoshida’s — but feel free to create your own if you’d rather.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat; add oil.  Add to the pan: celery, onion and carrots and stir fry for a minute or two; add the bell pepper and zucchini (and ginger, if desired), season all with a little salt and pepper, and stir fry another minute or two.  Add the cold, cooked rice, and help it mingle completely with the veggies and crisp up a bit in the pan (remember, it’s fried rice).  Stir in the teriyaki sauce, making sure to evenly coat all ingredients; add the cabbage and peas, and allow to cook together just until peas are heated through and cabbage is slightly wilted.  This makes more than enough for a family of six.  Serve alongside chicken or beef kabobs, or large grilled shrimp brushed lightly with a mixture of equal parts teriyaki sauce and apricot preserves just before removing from the grill.  No need to worry if you forgot to take your vitamins — this dish has it all!

Posted in Comfort Food -- Savory, Vegetables | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Goodbye, Pirate Shelby

Posted on July 15, 2011 by Patti, Reinvented

The very personal acts of cooking and baking can be healing, entertaining, calming, inspiring, and just plain fun.  My recent adventure into the kitchen and into my recipe file has been everything I could hope for — except lucrative, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

Unfortunately, there are some days when even a well-stocked kitchen can’t entice me.

Last weekend, I took my beloved 15-year-old golden retriever to the vet’s office where I held her little head in my hands as the vet gently put her to sleep.

Fifteen is a very ripe old age for golden retrievers and other large breed dogs, and Shelby was showing the various signs and ailments of a rapidly aging canine.  She lost an eye to cancer a couple of years ago (hence the nickname Pirate Shelby), and the cruel beast had invaded her body once again.  She had reached the end of her lifespan and no amount of tears I shed was going to change that.

Shelby -- the best cure for a bad day any day.

As much as my aching heart now wants the world to simply stop revolving, the nagging reality is that I still have a life to live, a job to find, a blog to write.

When my unemployment crisis hit nearly a year ago, almost immediately my heart and soul gently nudged the rest of me toward the kitchen and my recipe file.  Like a hesitant preteen at a school dance, I timidly began this life reinvention, revisiting old recipes and creating new ones, to help me find my balance, to give me a positive point of focus.

But in the days following Shelby’s passing, the last thing I wanted to do was putter about the kitchen.  I hadn’t even the inclination to make a sandwich — and I love sandwiches.  The kitchen suddenly held no draw for me, as it had before; it held no allure, no hope, no promise.

Because in the last 11 months, Shelby had become my trusty sous chef.

At home all day for these many months, Shelby and I had bonded even tighter than before.  If I was in the kitchen, she was in the kitchen — and usually underfoot.  I have a big kitchen, but a large golden retriever takes a hefty chunk out of available floor space.  With love, and sometimes with pot in hand, I had learned to manuever around and over her outstretched body on a daily basis — from the range, to the sink, to the fridge, and back to the range. And she never batted an eyelash.  Like a well-rehearsed ballot performance, we were in sync.

When the summer heat kicked in, I strategically placed a small fan on the faux-hardwood floor, directly in front of her, as she slumbered through my cooking sessions, perhaps dreaming of a bit of just-grilled flank steak or chicken thigh dropping to the floor.  I’d offer her a nibble from time to time, watching closely for a glimmer of YUM! in the eye of my official taster.

Now, I’m all by myself in the big kitchen, left standing alone in my reinvention.  There is more floor space, but the emptiness is crushing.

Finally, I had to pull myself out of the depths of despair — again — as I had so many months ago.   Helping me out of my funk was the fact that I had taken a 20 ounce package of ground turkey out of the freezer on Friday — an ingredient that was scheduled to become my favorite turkey burgers for me and yummy ground turkey sauteed with fresh zucchini for Shelby.

Yes, I’m one of those people.  Without so much as a second thought, I fed my dogs fresh meat and vegetables, canned tuna, scrambled eggs and cheese — usually alongside a small scoop of dry dog food.  Ground turkey cooked in olive oil with zucchini, topped off with a splash of low sodium chicken broth, was one of Shelby’s favorites.  I like to think my dogs — Dallas, who passed away two months shy of her 16th birthday, and the equally elderly Shelby — lived as long as they did thanks to good meals made with whole food from my kitchen, and seasoned liberally with love.

So, I made my turkey burgers just how I like them — with shredded zucchini, dried cranberries, and summer savory.  With the other half of the ground turkey, I made a simple, quick pasta sauce that I served over farfalle — or butterfly — pasta.  For a little extra zing, I topped the pasta off with a few crumbles of goat cheese, and decorated it with shards of julienned basil fresh from my garden.

From now on, whenever I cook with ground turkey I’ll remember a blond, one-eyed sous chef named Shelby, whose unconditional love and devotion kept me smiling during dark days; a best friend whose companionship and healthy appetite kept me in the kitchen.

SIMPLE PASTA SAUCE

Pasta sauce made with ground turkey; goat cheese gives an extra zing!

This recipe is really just a blank canvas.   When you start with tomatoes, onion, garlic, olive oil and seasonings, the possibilities are endless.  Let your mind wander and create your own dinner party show-stopper or new family favorite.  Use ground beef in place of turkey; change up the seasonings; use white wine in place of red; leave out the meat altogether and add finely diced zucchini and carrots with the onion to introduce more vegetables to a Friday night family staple; or stir in a bit of cream cheese at the end to make a creamier, light pink sauce.  Have fun and make it your own.

  • 10 – 16 ounces ground turkey
  • 1/2 large yellow onion, chopped
  • 1 or 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
  • One 32 oz can diced tomatoes, undrained
  • 1 small can tomato paste
  • Splash of red wine
  • 1/2 teaspoon sugar
  • Olive oil
  • Salt & pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds, crushed a bit in the palm of your hand
  • 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning (I love this all-purpose seasoning — experiment and find your favorite)
  • Crumbled goat cheese (optional)
  • Fresh basil (optional)

In a large saute pan, lightly brown ground turkey in about a tablespoon of olive oil (my pan is nonstick; if yours is not, you might want to add a bit more oil); add onion and a sprinkling of salt and pepper and cook for a minute or two to soften the onion; add garlic and cook for just a minute.

Add the fennel seeds and Italian seasoning and stir; add tomatoes, tomato paste and wine, blending well, and add another little sprinkle of salt.  Stir and mix well all ingredients; add the sugar (to cut the acidity of the tomatoes) and allow to simmer for about 20 minutes.  Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary.

Serve over your favorite cooked hot pasta. Garnish with goat cheese and fresh snipped or julienned basil, if desired.  Makes about 4 to 6 cups of sauce.

BERRY GOOD TURKEY BURGERS

Just-grilled turkey burgers with cranberries and zucchini.

You can make these burgers on an outside grill, but I’ve had trouble keeping them from falling apart.  A slightly-beaten egg added to the mixture may take care of that, but I’ve decided my grill pan on the range top works just fine.  I add the shredded zucchini for two reasons: to get extra veggies into my diet, and to help keep the turkey moist, as it can dry out as it cooks.  I love the combination of sweet and savory — if you don’t, simply omit the cranberries.

  • 10 – 16 ounces of ground turkey
  • 1/2 small yellow onion, grated (the really good oniony flavor is in the juice!)
  • One zucchini, shredded
  • A handful of sweetened dried cranberries (such as Craisins)
  • 1/2 to 1 teaspoon dried summer savory (so good with turkey)
  • 1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds, crush them a bit in the palm of your hand
  • Splash or two of worcestershire sauce
  • Salt and pepper
  • Olive oil

Mix the first eight ingredients together and form patties, being careful not to overwork the mixture.  (This should make about 4 to 6 patties, depending on your size preference.)  Brush pan with olive oil and grill burgers over medium high heat until no longer pink inside — unlike beef burgers, you don’t want anything resembling rare when it comes to poultry.  Before turning, brush the top of the burgers with more olive oil to keep them from sticking.  If the burger is refusing to budge to your nudging, leave it alone and turn the heat down a bit.   It will release its grip when it is ready to turn.

Serve on a ciabatta roll or buttery Brioche bun, with mayonnaise, a spicy mustard, and red leaf lettuce or baby spinach.  Berry delicious — and nutritious!

Posted in Chicken / Poultry, Entrees, Pasta | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Summer in the City

Posted on July 5, 2011 by Patti, Reinvented

I celebrated a birthday this past weekend.  Well, two birthdays, actually: mine and America’s.  Yep, there we were, me and America, blowing out candles, setting off fireworks, having our cake and eating it, too, pretty much relishing the good life with family and friends  — all thanks to the brave men and women who sacrifice their time and sometimes their lives so that I and those I care about can enjoy the freedom to do just what we want to do on this or any other day.  Is this a great country or what?

Frankly, this year America and I are facing some tough hurdles.  What with our nation in a debilitating recession and me without a job or a sense of purpose, our prospects for recovery seem fragmented at best, and very far off in the distance.  I can’t speak for America, but sometimes I wonder if I’ll ever renew my independence, my value.  Will we ever see any likeness of prosperity again?

Thankfully, like America, I have an unrelenting sense of hope.  Hope that things will work out, hope that the strength, prayers, and support of others will see me through the fog.  I have deeply-rooted beliefs in karma, in reason, and in meaning.  My current situation hasn’t lessened that.  As the Biblical scripture (and the 1965 hit by The Byrds) tells us, “To everything there is a season and a time for every purpose under Heaven.”

And on that note, I celebrate.  Like most of the people in America this weekend, I had friends and family over for a barbecue/fireworks soiree.  We grilled chicken and hot dogs, and washed them down with root beer floats; I made cheesy beer bread, corn on the cob, Ina Garten’s luscious lemon cakes, and our old family favorite: Summer Salad.

For me, nothing screams summer like salad fixings fresh from the garden.  As the mercury rises, so, too, does my craving for foods that come with descriptions like refreshing, sparkling, cool and crisp — and I’m not talking about the light beer chillin’ in the fridge.

Hello there, my juicy red culinary beach ball.  Hallelujah — I’ve got tomatoes!

So many recipes, so few tomatoes -- for now.

Fresh tomatoes that I grew myself.  In a big pot.  On my back deck, right where tomatoes like to be, in the bright sunshine and staggering heat of summer afternoons.  Just the perfect springboard for Summer Salad.

Tomatoes combined with fresh cucumber, avocado and red onion, and dressed simply in a red wine vinaigrette with snipped fresh herbs — this was our family go-to salad during the hot summer months when meat sizzled on the grill as bare feet sizzled on the sidewalk.

Summer Salad is a welcome change from just another boring lettuce salad (although the world of salads has developed so much over the last several years, but that’s a blog post for another time).  And the familiar blend of flavor and freshness takes me back to a time of greater prosperity, giving me hope for a season of renewal.

Summer Salad

  • 2 large or 3 small fresh tomatoes

    Summer Salad ready for dressing.

  • One hothouse (“seedless”) cucumber, peeled or unpeeled — it’s up to you, and sliced about 1/4 inch thick
  • 1/2 large red onion, sliced to any size you prefer (for me, it depends on how hot the onion is)
  • 1 large or two small ripe avocados, seed removed, peeled and sliced about 1/4 inch thick
  • 1 tablespoon each chopped fresh basil and Italian parsley
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons sour cream
  • Salt & pepper

Summer Salad ready for serving.

Combine tomato, cucumber, onion and avocado in a large serving bowl; sprinkle with the fresh herbs and red wine vinegar; add salt and pepper to taste, and refrigerate for about one hour.  Just before serving, carefully stir in desired amount of sour cream, making sure to coat all the ingredients.  A refreshingly cool twist to lettuce salad — try it with grilled burgers! 

Posted in Salads | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Where Have You Bean, Lima? (Part II)

Posted on June 17, 2011 by Patti, Reinvented

It’s been a while since my last post — I know, I know.   I could make up wild excuses, beg forgiveness, blame other people for my absence.  Instead, I will simply say that sometimes life just plain gets in the way of all the other stuff I have waiting on my to-do list.  That said, I offer you not one but two — count ’em, two — posts today.  One savory and one sweet.  Just like me.

First up: THE GOOD, THE BAD and THE ZESTY.  Second: I NEED A PERK-ME-UP.   Let me know your thoughts.

I NEED A PERK-ME-UP

Staging an unplanned life reinvention at about the time I should be jotting a retirement date in my day planner is depressing enough.   But doing it during a recession of epidemic proportions just might push me over the edge.

On my desk in my home office, to the left of my computer, is a small tablet of blank note paper with a cartoon drawing of a woman who looks strangely like me – right down to the bags under her eyes.  She isn’t frowning, nor is she smiling; she is just there.  Next to her is the quote, “I am not in my happy place.”

You said it, sister.

I can go from good days to bad days in the blink of an eye.  Yesterday was a good day:  productive, busy, fulfilling.  Today, I feel like a fish in dangerously shallow water.  I flip-flop about my home office in an uphill attempt at survival.  I feel anxious, as if I’m in the last 30 seconds of a timed college exam, only to glance down at my paper and realize I’ve been writing with invisible ink!

On days when my most productive activity is gritting my teeth until my jaw aches, I force myself to stop and do a little soul searching.   If I don’t feel creative or useful at the computer, I take a good look around the house to determine where my attention might be better focused.

And that usually brings me to the kitchen.

Like falling onto a plumped down comforter at the end of a long and exhausting day, my kitchen welcomes me with open arms; it celebrates my creativity and toasts my culinary value with high-end champagne.  Or a sparkling wine from Costco.

The warmest room in my house holds serenity for me, and not just because it happens to be the most organized room in the house.  When I enter my large, galley-style kitchen, I enter a world far more comforting than that which is currently snubbing its nose at me.  When highly discombobulated days stretch my patience to fraying condition, I wave the white flag and admit I need a good perk-me-up.  And that involves not only eating something yummy, it means creating it as well.

Today, every fiber of my being is longing for a moist, mildly spicy carrot cake from my past.  A wonderfully generous indulgence, carrot cake offers the consumer two important rewards.  First, it will satisfy even the most stubborn sweet tooth as well as anything else on the dessert menu, and second, if you think broadly enough, you’ll realize you’re actually eating vegetables for dessert.  How cool is that?

Pretty carrot minicakes, all in a row.

In anticipation of the relaxation that baking promises, and the accompanying feeling of accomplishment, I decide to — no big surprise here — amp up Mom’s regular recipe with a nod to Polynesia.  Introducing my tropical carrot minicakes.  Not to be confused with cupcakes, these little beauties are the perfect indulgence for a day when you really need a perk-me-up, and a darling one at that!  And when arranged on a tiered cake stand in the middle of a dessert buffet, well, it’s as if Marilyn Monroe just walked onto the set of Real Housewives.   Classy, beautiful, and oh, so sweet.

TROPICAL CARROT MINICAKES

Carrots never tasted so good!

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 4 eggs, beaten
  • 1 cup vegetable oil
  • 3 cups shredded carrots
  • 3/4 cup canned crushed pineapple — drained very well
  • 3/4 cup shredded sweetened coconut
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts (plus a little extra for garnishing the tops of the frosted minicakes)
  • CREAM CHEESE FROSTING — Recipe to follow

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a large, oblong baking dish with cooking spray.  (I used a 10 x 13 lasagna baking dish.)  In a large mixing bowl, sift together first 5 ingredients.  Add eggs, oil, carrots, pineapple, coconut, and nuts, mixing thoroughly.  Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 35 – 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a rack.  (May be made a day ahead, covered and refrigerated unfrosted — I find the refrigerated cakes are easier to handle during the frosting process.)

When cake is completely cooled, cut out minicake rounds using a 2.5-inch cookie cutter: carefully but firmly press straight down, twist the cutter slightly, and pull up; the minicake round will slip right out of the cutter when coaxed gently.  (I got 12 minicakes out of the pan size I used.  If you don’t have a cookie cutter, a wine glass or other glass with a thin lip will do just fine in cutting the rounds.)

Using a sharp knife, slice each minicake in half horizontally to make two cake rounds.  Frost the now-exposed top of the bottom half, place the top half on top of that, then frost the top of the minicake.  Garnish with a sprinkling of chopped walnuts or toasted coconut.

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING FOR CARROT MINICAKES

  • One 8 oz. package softened cream cheese
  • 1/2 cup (one stick) softened butter
  • 2 teaspoons good, pure vanilla
  • One 1 lb. box powdered sugar

Using a hand mixer, mix all ingredients together carefully (so as not to coat yourself in white sugar powder), until mixture reaches desired frosting consistency.  (If mixture becomes too thick, add a few drops of milk to thin.)

Posted in Comfort Food -- Sweet, Desserts | Tagged , , , , | 7 Comments