Laurie's Amazing Carrot Cake

Are you wondering what to do with all of those carrots you are harvesting? Me neither. But it sounded like a good lead line for this recipe. Remember "Laurie and Amy's Amazing Chocolate Cake" ? Truly, the best dense chocolate cake in the world. According to me. Well, Laurie also makes this off-the-chart delicious carrot cake. It is hands down the best carrot cake. In the world. Trust me. I know carrot cake. Have I ever told you how much I love cake. Well yes, I think I have, back in that 200 line rambling post about Laurie's Amazing Chocolate Cake. I'm not sure if this is another cake recipe Laurie originally gleaned off of her friend Amy, who is a talented cook, seamstress, decorator, baker etc. (these of course are only all of her worldly qualities). Laurie has made this about a hundred times and perfected the recipe. The only wedding reception in the history of mankind where all of the cake was eaten, was a wedding I catered, and Laurie made this famous cake. True story. We ran out of cake. No leftovers for the bride's family to try to pawn off on every person who comes over for a visit in the week following the wedding. Nothing. All gone. Every last crumb. So here it is. Her secret to a moist, but not too greasy carrot cake is buttermilk and lots of...CARROTS. Brilliant. Look at most carrot cake recipes and you'll find a huge amount of oil, and not so much carrot. The other thing that makes this recipe stand out is the grinding of the nuts and raisins together. This makes a HUGE cake, so unless you want one really large cake, split the batter into two 9 inch pans and two 8 inch pans. Freeze the smaller layers for a rainy day. Start grating.

Laurie's Amazing Carrot Cake

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3 1/2 cups sugar

1 cup oil

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

8 eggs

1 Tablespoons salt

4 teaspoons soda

4 teaspoons cinnamon

1 1/2 teaspoons cloves, ground

6 cups grated carrots

2 cups chopped pecans

4 1/2 cups flour

2 cups raisins and / or 2 cups chopped fresh cranberries

Prepare pans:

2- 10 inch Spring form pans,

or

two- 9 inch round cake pans and two- 8 inch round cake pans.

Beat the eggs, oil and buttermilk together in a large bowl. Grind the pecans and raisins in a food processor with a metal blade. Pulse until chopped into very small pieces. Add all of the dry ingredients, including the nuts and raisins to the wet ingredients. Mix until all ingredients are incorporated. Pour into greased and floured pans, lined with parchment or wax paper. Only fill pans 3/4 full. Bake at 325 degrees for about 1 hour if using 10 inch Spring form pans, about 45 minutes for round pans. Test with toothpick to see if done before removing from oven. After removing from oven, wrap each layer individually with saran wrap and place in freezer while still warm. Remove after cake is cooled and frozen, and apply one layer of frosting. Layer the cake on a platter. Return to freezer. Let cake refreeze until frosting is firm. Remove and frost outer sides and top of cake again. At this point you can either place back in freezer until ready to use, or let sit out to thaw. If making the cake in advance, cover when frosting is hardened and store in freezer. On day of serving, remove cake from freezer at least three hours before serving. You may decorate with lemon leaves around base of cake.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

1 cube butter, not margarine

8 oz. cream cheese

1 teaspoon vanilla (I used 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice instead)

pinch salt

about 6 cups powdered sugar

cream or milk to thin, about 3 tablespoons

Cream the butter and cream cheese. Add flavoring, salt and about 3 cups of powdered sugar. Mix well. Add rest of powdered sugar and milk or cream to desired consistency. Frost as directed. If you are making 4 layers, I 1/2 this recipe again so you will have enough to frost all four cakes. If making either 2 -10 inch spring form cakes, or just frosting 2- 9 inch cakes, and keeping the smaller 8 inch cakes in the freezer for later use, one batch of frosting is enough.

Tips:

-Freezing the cakes while still warm helps lock in the moisture and keeps the crumbs from getting in the frosting.

-Turn the cake so the flattest side is up when frosting and putting cakes together.

-This cake stays moist and fresh for at least a week in the refrigerator.

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Fresh Lemon Cake with Lemon Sour Cream Icing

Before

After

Doesn't lemon just scream SPRING? Uhhhh, still waiting for that in our neighborhood. In the past week, I think we have accumulated about a foot of new snow. Most of it has melted, again. I just keep reminding myself, it's spring in Utah, and we have (about) 6 more weeks of snow, off and on. If I tell myself we have snow till MAY, I won't be frustrated when we are sitting at baseball games in our ski jackets, 6 layers of clothing underneath (that's what I counted yesterday after the game) UGGS, 4 blankets and gloves. And yes, we won, 9-1. So it wasn't all bad.

I tried out this lemon cake a couple of nights ago, and loved it. The original recipe includes just the cake and the lemon syrup. It tasted good, but not very pleasing to the eye. So I added a sour cream lemon icing. This cake is really moist and has a delish tang. It would make a great addition to your Easter brunch buffet. You're having one, right?

Fresh Lemon Cake with Lemon Sour Cream Icing

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Cake:

3 cups sifted flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

4 egg whites

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 cup butter, softened

1 1/4 cups sugar

4 egg yolks

(2 lemons total for cake, syrup and icing)

finely grated zest of one lemon

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1 cup milk

Lemon Syrup:

1/3 cup sugar

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons hot water

Lemon Frosting:

2-3 Cups powdered sugar

2 tablespoons sour cream

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons lemon juice

milk

For the cake:

Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and 3/4 teaspoons salt in bowl and set aside. Beat the egg whites with 1/8 teaspoon salt in a bowl or mixer until soft peaks form. Set aside. Cream the butter and sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Add the egg yolks to the butter mixture one at a time, beating well. Add the lemon zest. Combine the lemon juice and milk in a small bowl. Add the flour mixture to the creamed butter, alternating with the lemon juice mixture. Fold in the egg whites. Spread the batter evenly in a greased 9 inch springform pan. Bake at 350 degrees for about 50 minutes or until top is golden and cake springs back when touched in center. Remove from oven and run a knife around the edges of the springform pan if cake is sticking to pan.

For Syrup:

Combine all syrup ingredients until sugar dissolves, spoon over cake while still warm. Let cool and remove from pan. The syrup will crystallize as the cake cools.

For icing:

Place the sour cream in a mixing bowl with 2 cups of the powdered sugar. Mix and add salt and lemon juice. Add more powdered sugar until icing is desired consistency. Frost cake when completely cooled.

Tips:

-This recipe would work in 2 large loaf pans, or one 9x 13 pan.

-I made a few modifications, because I really like a strong lemon flavor. The original recipe only calls for 1 tablespoon of zest, and no lemon icing. I think I may cut about 1/4 cup of the sugar in the cake next time as well.

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Laurie and Amy's Amazing Chocolate Cake

Last year, I was on a quest. A quest to find the best chocolate cake recipe. I tried cake after cake. My family thought it was funny, and enjoyed being official taste testers.

My dear friend (and personal therapist while walking) Peggy makes the most delicious chocolate cake. She brings it to Pie Night almost every year. Because she doesn't (gasp!) like pie. Weird, I know. It is a wonderful chocolate cake. We love it so much that Corrine asked if Peggy would bring it again last year. She did. We ate it up. Why didn't I just get the recipe from Peggy for her cake, and call it good? Well, that sounds like an easy solution. Problem was, every time I tried to make her cake, it flopped. One time, it flowed all over my oven and I almost had to call 911. Another time, it sank in the middle, and cooked too much around the edges. Maybe I didn't copy the recipe correctly?? No, a call confirmed I wrote it exactly as Peggy dictated, just a problem with the baker- me.

So, back to the quest. I needed a chocolate cake I could make and use as a tried and true, never fail, have to have it , chocolate-fix cake. You know I LOVE cake, right?? I love pie, but cake, yes, I'm a cake woman. The truth is I love almost ALL baked goods. Cake I love: - boxed, bakery, home made. My fav bakery cakes are Granite Bakery and Mrs. Backers on South Temple. Warning- crazy rambling: Every year, I want - no, I NEED a chocolate cake with pineapple filling and chocolate frosting from Backers. White with pineapple filling is my second choice. Every year, I start reminding my kids in October, order the cake early, because they don't make the choc/pineapple combo unless you special order it, and they close on Wed night before Thanksgiving, and don't re-open until the Monday AFTER Thanksgiving. By then, my birthday is OVER, and I really need this cake.

OK, so where were we?? The quest. You know when you eat something at a social event, and want to be polite and not lick your plate, or ask for some to take home, then you lay, or is it lie? in bed all night thinking- If I could only have one more small bite of that ____ (cookie, pie, chocolate cake). Enter my talented and lovely practically perfect friend Laurie. She made the aforementioned (like my lawyer talk) chocolate cake. She can make ANYTHING. Yes, anything. She cooks like Julia Child, has penmanship like font on a computer, has polished, classic style in decorating, clothing, sews like ...um, who sews? Betsy Ross, only more talented than Betsy. Seriously, this woman has "it". AND she is seriously plagued with perfecting recipes. She makes something and then makes revision after revision until it is perfect. Lucky me. She learned how to make cakes, really great cakes from her friend Amy, who is also close to perfection, herself, I mean she actually is probably perfect too, I just don't know her well enough to bear testimony of it, her, whatever. I do know, that this cake is wonderful, the quest is now over.
Done.

Laurie and Amy's Amazing Chocolate Cake

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1 3/4 cups boiling water
6 oz. semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped, OR chocolate chips (for a double recipe, use 15 oz. chocolate chips, which equals 2 1/2 cups.)
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder*
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
10 oz (2 1/2 sticks) butter, softened
1 3/4 cups packed dark brown sugar
4 large eggs
2 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two 9-inch round cake pans with circles of wax paper or baking parchment.
Pour the boiling water over the chocolate chips. Add cocoa and stir until mixture is smooth. Set aside to cool. Cream the butter and brown sugar. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each. Beat in vanilla. Add the dry ingredients and half of the chocolate mixture. Beat on low to combine, then on high for 1 1/2 minutes. Add the remaining chocolate mixture and beat on low until mixed.
Pour batter into pans and bake 30-40 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the middle comes out completely clean. Cool for 10-15 minutes; remove from pans. Wrap in double layers of plastic wrap while still warm and freeze. Double recipe makes two 10" layers plus two 8" layers or four 9" layers. Never fill pans more than 2/3 full.

Frosting:
1 1/4 cups plus 2 T. butter, softened
4 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (For really dark frosting, use part Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa, about 4 T.)
2 tsp. vanilla
1/4 cup plus 2 T. Milk

Cream butter with electric mixer. Whisk together sugar and cocoa. Beat one-third of the sugar/cocoa mixture into the butter. Mix in vanilla. Add the rest of the sugar/cocoa mixture alternately with milk and beat until frosting is smooth.
When cake is frozen solid, frost between the two layers and spread a thin layer over the whole cake. Freeze again for about 20 minutes. Frost again. Repeat if desired. (Frost the last time on the day you plan to serve the cake and let it stand at room temperature to thaw.)

Tips:
-*The best kind is Saco Premium Cocoa, which comes in a round container with a picture of a baker on the front.
-I doubled this and it made 4 perfect 9" layers.
-I liked the frosting best with about 1/2 cup Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa and 1/2 cup regular unsweetened cocoa.
-If you don't have time to frost and freeze the cake, freeze the layers, and frost the cake while still frozen. Use about 1/4 of frosting between layers, 1/2 on sides of cake and remaining 1/4 of frosting on top of cake.

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Ginger Cake with Lemon Butter Sauce

A few years ago, I found a recipe for ginger cake with butter sauce. It was a little dry, so I added a bit of sour cream, tweaked the seasonings and came up with this recipe. It's the perfect fall dessert. It is best when served with ice cream, and sauteed apples. Can you say "num"?

Ginger Cake with Lemon Butter Sauce and Sauteed Apples

Cake:
2 ¼ cups flour
¾ cup sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup sour cream
1 cup butter
¾ cup dark molasses
2 eggs

Sauce:
1 cup sugar
½ cup butter
¼ cup lemon juice
Powdered sugar

Sauteed Apples:
2 apples, peeled and sliced thin
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons butter
dash salt

Cake:
Combine flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, ginger, baking soda, salt, nutmeg and cloves in a large mixing bowl. Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time. Add molasses and sour cream. Mix well. Spoon batter into a greased 9”x13” baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until wooden pick inserted near center comes out clean.

Sauce:
Mix sugar, butter and lemon juice in a small saucepan. Cook and stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Pour boiling sauce over hot cake, immediately after removing from oven. Reserve a little sauce for serving.

Apples:
Melt butter in saucepan. Add sliced apples, sugar and salt. Saute apples just until they begin to soften. Cut in squares or wedges and serve while still warm. Add whipped cream or vanilla ice cream for topping.

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Utah-TCU Blackout Cake

If you live in the state of Utah, you know that last week the Utah -TCU game was huge. Life changing. Ha. No, really it was. We needed that win. Some hotshot in the marketing department at the bookstore decided to come up with the idea to have a "blackout" game. Hype the fans up to wear all black to the game...For a school whose primary color is RED, that meant everyone heading to the bookstore and buying new black sweatshirts, hats, coats, etc. We bit... along with everyone else in the valley. By Thursday, it was rumored that there was not a speck of black left in the bookstore. I must say, it was an awesome sight, to see almost the whole stadium in black. We (along with our eternally optimistic friend Bob Lake) were hoping it wouldn't end up being appropriate dress for our own Ute funeral. In the end, the Utes came through AGAIN, with a touchdown in the last couple minutes of the game to win 13-10.
Last spring, Corrine made this yummy Blackout cake for a luncheon at work. I watched her make the pudding (which I think is the best part) and the cake, but wasn't able to see (or sample) the finish product.I thought this would be an appropriate celebration dessert for the most recent win! Blackout cake is printed in many different versions. I think there was a bakery -Ebingers? that was famous for a similar version of this cake. If you love dark, rich, chocolate desserts, get out your apron.

Utah-TCU Blackout Cake

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Pudding:
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups half-and-half
1 cup whole milk
6 ounces unsweetened chocolate , chopped
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Cake
8 tablespoons butter 1 stick
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour , plus extra for dusting pans
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1 cup strong black coffee ( I used de -caf)
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. For the pudding: Whisk sugar, cornstarch, salt, half-and-half, and milk in large saucepan. Set pan over medium heat. Add chocolate and whisk constantly until chocolate melts and mixture begins to bubble, 2 to 4 minutes. Stir in vanilla and transfer pudding to large bowl. Place plastic wrap directly on surface of pudding and refrigerate until cold, at least 4 hours or up to 1 day.

2. For the cake layers: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Butter and flour three 8-inch cake pans. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in bowl.

3. Melt butter in large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in cocoa and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Off heat, whisk in coffee, buttermilk, and sugars until dissolved. Whisk in eggs and vanilla, then slowly whisk in flour mixture.

4. Divide batter evenly between prepared pans and bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Cool layers in pans 15 minutes, then invert onto wire rack. Cool to room temperature, at least 1 hour.

5. To assemble the cake: Crumble one cake layer into medium crumbs and set aside. Place one cake layer on serving platter or cardboard round. Spread 1 cup pudding over cake layer and top with another layer. Repeat with 1 cup pudding . Spread remaining pudding evenly over sides of cake. Sprinkle cake crumbs evenly over top and sides of cake, pressing lightly to adhere crumbs. Serve. (Cake can be refrigerated for up to 2 days)

STEP BY STEP: Assemble Blackout Cake
1. Using your hands, crumble one cake layer into medium-sized crumbs.
2. Spread the pudding all over the top and sides of the cake.
3. Sprinkle the reserved cake crumbs all over the top and sides of the cake, then use your hands to gently press the crumbs into the pudding.

** I lined the cake pans before baking with parchment paper.
** Make sure to leave plenty of time to prepare the pudding and let it cool, completely. Also let the cake cool completely.
** This cake is best when left to sit in the refrigerator for at least 2-3 hours before slicing/serving.

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