To make room for this year’s crop of carrots, it is time to clean out the freezer or vegetable root cellar.
Frozen carrots may be steamed until very soft and then mashed and pureed in a blender for use in cakes and cookies. If carrots in the root cellar are still crisp, grate them for salads or use in recipes for cakes and cookies.
This week’s recipes make use of the aged carrots but if they are not available, this year’s carrots may be used.
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Spicy Carrot Bars
1 1/4 cups sifted flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup grated raw carrots
3/4 cup shredded coconut
1/4 cup hot water or orange juice
Sift the flour with the cinnamon and baking powder.
Cream the butter with the sugar, eggs and salt until smooth and light. Stir in carrots and coconut.
Add the flour mixture alternately with the hot water or orange juice. Blend well.
Turn out into a buttered 9x13 inch baking pan. Bake at 375 degrees F for about 25 minutes. Cool on a rack and while still warm, cut into squares or bars. Dust with sifted powdered sugar if desired.
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Carrot Pineapple Cake
3 cups sifted pastry or cake flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups salad oil (not olive oil)
3 large eggs
2 tsps. vanilla extract
1 small can crushed pineapple, not drained
2 cups grated fresh carrots
1 cup chopped nuts, optional
Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon. Sift into a bowl and set aside.
In a large bowl, combine sugar, oil and eggs and beat to blend. Add vanilla and blend in.
Add the dry ingredients and blend in but do not over mix. Fold in the carrots and pineapple, and nuts, if using.
Turn batter into a buttered 10-inch tube or bundt pan.
Bake in a 325 degrees F oven for 1 hour and 20 minutes or until cake tests done. Cool in pan for 10 minutes before turning out onto a rack to cool.
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Carrot Gingerbread
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup sugar, brown or granulated
2 large eggs
3/4 cup buttermilk or sour milk
1/2 cup mashed, cooked carrots
1/2 cup light molasses
2 1/2 cups sifted flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ginger
Cream butter or margarine with sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat in until well blended.
Whirl the mashed carrots in a blender until smooth. Add the buttermilk or sour milk and molasses and stir to blend.
Sift the flour with the soda, salt and spices.
Add the liquid mixture and flour mixture to the creamed butter mixture, alternately. Begin and end with the dry ingredients. Stir to make sure everything is well-blended.
Turn into a buttered and floured 9-inch pan and bake at 325 degrees F for 45-50 minutes or until cake shrinks away from the sides of the pan. Serve warm with ice cream.
Joyce Walter can be reached at [email protected]
Joyce Walter can be reached at [email protected]
