sam's notebook

rosetta's carrot cake

This recipe comes from the lovely Rosetta. Rosetta has the baking mojo - buckets and buckets of it - and this is one of our favourite cakes. In fact, we think it's the best carrot cake ever.

2 eggs
1 cup castor sugar
3/4 cup light oil
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp mixed spice
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups grated carrot
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Frosting:
30g butter
60g cream cheese
1 1/2 cups icing sugar
1 tsp lemon rind

Preheat oven to 175 Celsius and line cake tin with baking paper.

Combine eggs, sugar, oil and vanilla essence. Stir in sifted four, baking soda, mixed spice and salt. Then mix in carrot and walnuts until just combined. Pour mixture in to lined cake tin.

Cook for 45-50 mins.

Let cake cool completely before adding the frosting.

This recipe is also great made a day ahead, just make sure you store it (without frosting) in an airtight container. I leave it out of the fridge because that tends to dry it out a bit.

Yesterday's afternoon tea - cinnamon pecan scrolls, Rosetta's carrot
cake,  apple crumble muffins and blueberry cheesecake (not shown).

 

saturday lunch

The lovely Rosetta and Mike are coming for lunch tomorrow! We haven't seen Rosetta for ages (or for hours, as C would say). Lasagne and baked blueberry cheesecake are on the menu. Lasagne recipe below (cobbled together from quite a few different recipes to get a final version that we love), and blueberry cheesecake from this book.

 
Rosetta and C, August 2007

Vegetarian Lasagne

Serves 4 - 6

200g fresh lasagne sheets
150g fresh mozzarella, sliced thinly
1 large handful of basil leaves
4 tbsp of basil pesto
¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
¼ cup grated mozzarella

Tomato sauce:

2 tbsp oil
2 medium onions, finely chopped
4 gloves garlic, finely chopped
1 medium green pepper
1 tsp basil
½ tsp thyme
½ tsp sugar
690 ml tomato purée
¼ cup red lentils, cooked
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
¼ cup water

Bechamel Sauce:

450ml milk
50g butter
2 ½ tbsp plain flour, sifted
¼ cup mozzarella, grated
Pinch ground nutmeg
Salt and pepper, to taste

Tomato sauce

Sauté the onion and the garlic in the oil, stirring occasionally. Stir in the finely chopped green pepper and continue to cook until everything has softened and the onion turns clear.

Add the seasonings, tomato purée, fresh tomatoes, cooked red lentils, spinach (if using frozen spinach, does not need to be thawed first), vinegar and water. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and leave to simmer while you prepare the rest.

Bechamel Sauce:

Melt the butter in a saucepan (low heat). Add the sifted flour, stirring all the time. Slowly add the milk, stirring with a whisk to keep the sauce nice and smooth. Once all of the milk has been added and the sauce has reached the desired consistency, remove from heat and stir in the grated mozzarella. Season with salt, pepper and a little nutmeg.

Preparing the lasagne:

Preheat the oven to 180C.

Lightly oil a 6cm deep rectangular ovenproof dish.

Spread one third of the tomato sauce in the bottom of the prepared dish. Top with half of the lasagne, another third of the sauce, the fresh basil, then all of the bechamel sauce. Carefully mix the pesto into the layer of bechamel sauce, top with sliced mozzarella, the grated parmesan and half of the lasagne. Spread the remaining one third of pasta sauce over the lasagne and top with grated mozzarella.

If using a fan-forced oven cover with foil. Bake at 180C for approximatley 35 minutes.

 

french toast

1/2 cup butter
1 cup lightly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup pouring cream
1 loaf brioche bread or vanilla brioche bread (500g - 600g loaf)
5 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
1/4 tsp salt
Cinnamon to taste
Icing sugar and fresh blueberries to serve

Lightly grease a 20 cm by 30 cm baking dish. 

Over medium heat in a small saucepan, melt the butter then stir in the brown sugar and cream. Stir until mixture is smooth, a couple of minutes. Pour into the baking dish.

Slice the brioche bread and pack the slices into the baking dish as tightly as possible.

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, vanilla, salt and cinnamon. Pour this mixture evenly over the bread slices in the baking dish. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

In the morning, preheat oven to 180C. Bake the french toast for 35 minutes, until golden brown and firm.

Serve with a sprinkling of icing sugar and fresh blueberries.

leek, ricotta and mushroom frittata

50g butter
2 leeks, washed, trimmed and sliced
300g mushrooms
200 - 250g fresh ricotta
salt and pepper
6 eggs
1/2 cup pouring cream
Rocket (arugula) to serve

Preheat oven to 180C. Heat the butter in a large, deep frying pan over high heat. Add the leeks and mushrooms and cook for 3-5 minutes or until brown. Spoon into a lightly greased 20cm x 30cm baking dish and top with ricotta, salt and pepper.

Whisk eggs and cream in a bowl, pour over leek mixture and bake for 15-20 minutes or until puffed and golden.

Top with rocket to serve. Serves 2.

Recipe and image from donna hay magazine.

blueberry and banana pancakes

1 1/3 cups milk
1 cup rolled old fashioned oats
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2/3 cup flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 ripe mashed bananas
Fresh or frozen blueberries

Combine milk and oats and let stand five minutes. Beat the eggs lightly in a separate bowl then add along with the oil. Combine flour, powder, sugar and salt and stir into oat mixture. Let sit for about five more minutes or until slightly bubbly.

Pour onto a hot griddle, or nonstick pan; flip when bubbles form and the edges are beginning to look dry.

Note: if using frozen blueberries, defrost berries and drain juice before adding to pancake mixture.

veggie soup with curry and coconut

Great for when the veggies pile up!

Ingredients

500g finely chopped vegetables, eg. carrots, capsicum, celery, broccoli,
cauliflower, kohlrabi, red or green kale, cabbage, leek, zucchini, onion,
parnsip, potato
2 tbsp curry paste (eg. Sharwoods mild curry paste)
2 tbsp oil
1 can coconut milk
200 ml water
Juice from 1 lemon or lime

Method

In a large saucepan, heat oil and add vegetables such as onion, carrot, capsicum, onion, leek. Cook for a few minutes then add remaining vegetables. Cook for 5 - 10 mins, stirring often. Add curry paste, cocunut milk water and lemon/lime juice. Adjust curry paste, coconut milk, water and lemon juice quantities to suit.

When vegetables are cooked, puree the soup (a very important step!). Serve with bread.

Photo copyright mav | port2port, recipe from Årstiderna.

apple crumble

Ingredients

Crumble:
100g plain flour, sieved pinch of salt
60g unrefined brown sugar
65g unsalted butter, cubed at room temp
butter for greasing

Filling:
4 - 5 medium apples, peeled, cored, cut into 1cm pieces
50g unrefined brown sugar
1 tbsp plain flour
1 pinch of ground cinnamon

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C.
2. Place the flour and sugar in a large bowl and mix well. Taking a few cubes of butter at a time rub into the flour mixture. Keep rubbing until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
2. Place the fruit in a large bowl and sprinkle over the sugar, flour and cinnamon. Stir well being careful not to break up the fruit.
3. Butter a 24cm/9in ovenproof dish. Spoon the fruit mixture into the bottom, then sprinkle the crumble mixture on top.
4. Bake in the oven for 40-45 minutes until the crumble is browned and the fruit mixture bubbling.
5. Serve with thick cream or custard.

Photo copyright la pomme on etsy, recipe adapted from a BBC recipe.