Spiced Carrot Cake for celebrating Autumn

Here I am... In Italy, having foodgasms every day. No, I kid you not! The sensory overload has just been resoundingly stimulating!! Even though my current tryst with this beautiful country is still in full swing, I have already been colluding with Juls to plot my return sojourns for at least the next three years!!!

So, while I am in the middle of all this awe striking beauty, I wanted to do a quick stop and continue on the Autumn theme that was so dominant in the last post. The vibrance of Fall colors can bring a smile in the dourest of periods. I speak from experience :)



And, as a foodie what better way to celebrate the season than to make something that envelops the spirit of the season. For additional motivation, Simone, whom I am so thrilled to meet finally this weekend, is hosting a wonderful Autumn themed food photography event.

The magic words were spoken :) and out of the oven came a warming Spiced Carrot Cake with a simple Vanilla Cream Cheese frosting that lets the cake be the star.. And, this I share with you as I look on to the gorgeous Umbrian countryside.


When I was in London, I was awestruck at the fat content of some yogurt there being as high as 20%!! That subscribes to the idea of replacing butter or oil in a recipe with yogurt. In US, the highest I can find is 8% Greek yogurt and that is what I used for this recipe and the cake comes out nicely moist. I also substituted regular flour with whole wheat flour, which, lends it a nuttier flavor apart from being a tad more healthy.

For another version of carrot cake made with puréed carrots, check out this recipe for my cupcakes.



Spiced Yogurt Carrot Cake
(based on the recipe from Smitten Kitchen)



1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp fresh ground cardamom
1 tsp fresh grated nutmeg
1/2 tsp fresh ground cloves
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup dark muscovado sugar
1/2 cup full fat yogurt
2 T mild olive oil
3 T whole milk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1-1/2 cups grated sweet carrots
1/2 cup raisins plumped in brandy (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Prepare an eight inch cake pan by lightly oiling and patting with flour. Dust away excess flour.

Sift together all the dry ingredients. In a large bowl, whip the yogurt and milk with oil until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and turn to incorporate. In thirds add the dry mixture until combined. Do not overmix. Fold in the carrots and raisins.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 20-25 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove the cake from pan and cool on rack until completely cooled before frosting.

You can frost the cake as is. I used a 3 inch cookie cutter to cut rounds and then sliced them to make layers.

I made the filling by just whipping cream cheese with a little milk, some powdered sugar and a touch of vanilla paste. Really, this is per your taste. I did not measure anything. I just made more if I needed more to fill or frost :)

The carrot tuiles are strips of carrot boiled in sugar syrup (equal parts sugar and water) and once cool, rolled in sugar. They are pliable when slightly warm. You can roll them into any shape then..

The beginning.... In Hungary

I am typing this on a plane, on my way to my next destination in Europe, but, my heart still has yet to completely leave the last - Budapest and my lovely, gracious hosts for the last few days - Zita & Ivan.

What a fabulous way to begin my month long sojourn with Europe! The sights, the food, the people - I continue on... inspired.... rejuvenated.... and full of hope.. for adventure, discovery ... and the ride that is, life!

My lovely host Zita! :)))
Can one city do that in a span of five days? No, not the city alone... but being in a charming city with a strong hold on its heritage, surrounded by warm and friendly people and having thoughtful conversations into the wee hours, can surely put the put the seed of that promise in your mind!




I am off to Germany now for a tryst with a cherished friend whom I have known for a few years now, but am visiting for the first time in his city. My host in Hungary sent me off with the words " Your are just beginning your discovery of interesting things...". I realise the truth in them. And, I am eagerly looking forward to my next stop in my pursuit for happiness! :-)

I am going to write a proper post on Budapest (I have 400+ photos to sort through) and most things I did here, when I get back home in NY.

Citrus Frivolous: Orange Pannacotta, Lemon and Poppyseed Semolina Cake and Citrus Sauce - Daring Bakers

The Citrus Pannacotta was featured Gourmet Live!

I almost did not make this DB challenge. As usual, I pushed it to the eleventh hour, which, normally is manageable. But, this time, the elements were not working with me. The sudden and drastic turn in the weather, last week, left me holding my head in my hands, willing the shooting pain to go muss someone else's life.

Sigh.. yes, Sinus trouble. After 28 years of free breathing and cooperative nasal passages, I seem to be caught in the throes of a mutiny! I am caught powerless and unable to stem the seige. What is worse, it has the most inconvenient timing! All of last week was a wash out of throbbing temples and ineffective medication :(.

So, come Saturday, the 26th, I was still unsure of what the day would bring. To make matters worse, my downstairs neighbor, far too young, was hitting the highs on his stereo and alcohol. At 4 am, I was woken up by my heart thumping irresistibly to the beats of the music reverberating from beneath.

After a frustrating half hour of trying to turn a deaf ear, I woke the poor hub to go do the manly thing and get the guy to see sense. Well.. it's hard to drive sense into a stoned out mind!:-O We spent a good amount of time buzzing the guy's door to no response. We guessed he had passed out and had to go back and make the best of it. So the music went on, and eventually, my poor tired body won over my heart's light footed-ness.

Nevertheless, when I woke up, my sinus was still an issue. Mr. FSK showed me a grandma's technique for nasal wash and it was somewhat effective, atleast for a while. I decided to make the most of my, what was likely to be a, fleeting luxury of painless lucidity. Searching for inspiration, I reached out to my short stack of cookbooks and came across a recipe by Chef Richard Leach that had me captivated.

It helped that it was a pannacotta dish, just perfect for this challenge. But, what made it interesting was that it was a beautiful and well thought out plated dessert.. one with multiple components like those whipped out by the best pastry chefs. So, I decided to tweak and adapt it, to make it more approachable.

My mind set to the task, I decided to ignore the pangs up North and plowed through it. OK! it was not so bad. The recipe does have multiple components but they are not so time consuming to put together. It does need a bit of planning but is quite worth it.

The warm sponge like cake soaking in the hot citrus syrup forms the perfect counterpoint to the crispy meringue and cold pannacotta. Chef Leach had accompanied a similar dessert with a fruit sorbet and I do think it would have made a great addition to the dessert, making the hot and cold play even more compelling.

So, let me present my Citrus Frivolous: Orange Pannacotta, Lemon and Poppyseed Semolina Cake and Citrus Sauce.

The February 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Mallory from A Sofa in the Kitchen. She chose to challenge everyone to make Panna Cotta from a Giada De Laurentiis recipe and Nestle Florentine Cookies.

Citrus Pannacotta

2 cups half and half
2 tsp powdered gelatin
zest of 1 orange
zest of 1/2 grapefruit
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 T lemon grass stalks

Bring 1-1/5 cups of half and half and all other ingredients other than the gelatin to a boil. Remove from heat and steep for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, bloom the gelatin in the remaining milk.

Strain out the lemon grass and most of the zest and add the hot milk to the bloomed gelatin and whisk vigorously to dissolve the gelatin completely. Divide into the pannacotta molds and refrigerate for atleast 3 hours. When ready, run a sharp knife around the edges to release the pannacotta from the mold.



Lemon and Poppyseed Semolina Cake

1/2 cup apricot flour
1/2 cup fine semolina
1 T poppy seeds (black preferred. I used white because I did not have any black ones)
scant 1/2 cup sugar
zest of 1 lemon
60 g egg whites
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup butter, melted and cooled
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 T baking powder (heaped)

Mix all the ingredients except the butter into a smooth batter. Add the butter and mix just until incorporated. Divide the batter into cup cake molds, filling upto 3/4 level of each mold. Bake at 300 F for 25-30 minutes until golden brown. Remove and cool on rack for a few minutes before releasing from the molds.


Citrus Meringue

80 g egg whites
80 g sugared apricot meal (grind 1/2 cup of apricots with 1/4 cup granulated sugar very finely. Reserve the rest for the cake or another use)
2 T cup sugar
zest of 1 grapefruit

Whip the whites to stiff peaks. Slowly add the sugar and continue until the mixture becomes glossy and holds stiff peaks. Mix the zest into the almond meal and gently fold it into the meringue just until incorporated. Transfer to a piping bag with a small round tip and pipe out 2.5 inch disks of about 3 mm thickness on to a silpat. If you have a stencil, it works best.

Bake at 260 F for 20-30 minutes until golden brown. Cool and carefully peel off the disks. Store in an airtight container.



Citrus Sauce

juice of 1 pink grapefruit
2 oranges juiced
2 T sugar (or to taste
1 small stick cinnamon
1 T butter
1/4 cup water

Bring everything to a boil and keep it rolling for 45 seconds. Remove from heat. Make this just before serving.


To Assemble:

Place a semolina cake at the base of a shallow soup bowl. Place a meringue disk over the cake and top with the pannacotta. Pour the citrus sauce until it comes up to 1/4 the height of the cake. Serve with slices of orange or grape fruit, mint and a fruit sorbet (optional).

Chocolate, Avocado and Orange Mousse Entremets - Daring Bakers

As every month edges closer to its last week, there come a bit of flurry into the FSK household. I am fully aware, on day 1, that the DB posting date comes around 26 days hence. Yet, the passage of time takes me by surprise every 30 days!! LOL.

For most of the month, I manage to run on cruise control, save for the occasional turns off the beaten path. Thankfully, atleast once a month, I am literally shoved off the main road, down a winding byway that promises much discovery. Often, it ends in a marked adrenaline rush and a happy ending ;-)! {I shall not elaborate!}



The January 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Astheroshe of the blog accro. She chose to challenge everyone to make a Biscuit Joconde Imprime to wrap around an Entremets dessert.

This month, this year :), I was really looking forward to making my version of the challenge. Being a connissiour of all things French and a proclaimed dessert addict, Entremets hold a cherished place in my heart, as these delicacies deserve to have.



Besides, after countless hours of mesmerising over Helene's and Aran's gorgeous creations, it indeed was an aspirational item to recreate. There could not have been a better catalyst than the DB challenge. I find that more often than not, the group tends to push my creative envelope and I am much grateful for that.

After debating with self about flavor profiles and desire to experiment, I settled on chocolate as the lead ingredient and avocado as its supporting cast.



Now, that hit all the right buttons(!), a fabulous idea and great chance to experiment. Only, now I needed another ingredient that would balance the chocolate and avocado's creaminess and enhance their snooth flavors. And, that was citrus.

Oranges are flooding the market and despite the cold, it feels awesome to bite into the fresh flesh of a ripe, juicy orange after a warm, hearty meal. Somehow, it just lightens you up and gets you ready for the next one! :)

I used the recipe given to make my jaconde with chocolate decor crosslines. I made one sheet of it. My challenge was getting the sponge cooked without browning it too much. I overcooked the first one completely. The second was more successful but still too brown to stand up to a good entremet. Nevertheless, it was tasty!



After going through almost a whole carton of eggs, I now have a lot of yolks with only time limiting my use of them. But, stay tuned for some rich recipes with them! I did some to make the rich mousses I filled my entremets with. I made a couple with all three mousses and a few with just chocolate and orange topped with fresh slices of the fruit.

And, with the left over mousse, I just filled cups with the mousses alternated by slices of fresh fruit!


Chocolate Mousse
(adapted from Cannelle et Vanille)

2 egg yolks
50 g simple syrup
150 g whipping cream + 1 tsp powdered sugar
60 g bitter sweet chocolate, melted and cooled

Note: To make the simple syrup, use equal parts sugar and water, heat until the sugar dissolves and cool to room temperature before using.

Whip the cream and sugar until it holds soft peaks. Set in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Whisk together the yolks and syrup until light. Place over double boiler and continue whisking until light, foamy and thickened, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and continue whisking until the egg mixture has cooled up and whipped to be airy and fluffy like a custard cloud.

Gently fold in the liquid chocolate into the cooked custard. Fold a third of the whipped cream gently to loosen the mixture. Fold the remaining whipped cream to create a light mousse. Refrigerate for 30 mintues before piping or spooning into the prepared jaconde molds.


Orange Mousse

1 egg yolk
20 g simple syrup
1/3 cup heavy cream
zest of 1 orange

Whip the cream and sugar until it holds soft peaks. Set in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Whisk together the yolk and syrup until light. Place over double boiler and continue whisking until light, foamy and thickened, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and continue whisking until the egg mixture has cooled up and whipped to be airy and fluffy like a custard cloud.

Gently fold in the zest and whipped cream to create a light mousse. Refrigerate for 30 mintues before piping or spooning into the prepared jaconde molds.


Avocado Mousse

1/2 ripe avocado
1 T cream
1 tsp salt
1.5 T powdered sugar (depending on ripeness)
1/6 cup whipped cream

Whip the cream to soft peaks. Puree the avocado, cream,salt and sugar and strain through a fine mesh for a smooth, creamy mixture. Gently fold in the whipped cream. Transfer to a piping bag, refrigerate for 30 minutes before piping.