The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Carrot

evonlim's picture
evonlim

weekend baking is always for friends. my friends have no preference, so it allows me to experiment and practice... !!

 

getting confident with my hands :)

i am making bread now as well for Sunday's friends. more practice

 

here is the crumb shot.. added cranberry for color contrast.

one more picture :)

evon

 

 

johannesenbergur's picture
johannesenbergur

Been experimenting a little lately, and so far this is the recipe I'm most satisfied with. Baked it twice already and it's been amazing both times.

 

200g wheat flour
200g durum/semolina flour
40g wheat flour - for dusting and adding if it's too sticky.
15g fresh yeast
200g water
15g sugar
5g sea salt
100g plain natural yogurt
25g oil (preferably olive)
40g carrots.

Peel the skin off the carrots and use your peeler to finely slice bits of the carrot. Chop the carrot slices to reasonable pieces, quite small.

Mix the yeast with the tepid water as usual, add the sugar and salt and mix everything. Add the yogurt, make sure it's about room temperature, if it's too cold, microwave it for a few seconds, add the oil as well.

Get your flour in the bowl, add around 100g at a time and mix with a fork for as long as it makes sense. Get your hands in and start the kneading. The entire dough needs to be kneaded for approximately 10 minutes. While kneading add the carrots, little by little, so they get into the dough.

Get the dough into a bowl and let the dough rise for 6 hours (should quadruple). Get the dough out and handle it really carefully, shape it into loaves or rolls and let it rise under a moist lukewarm clean towel for around 2 hours.

Get your oven to maximum temperature, place the bread in and turn the heat down to 200°C. Bake it to taste or until golden brown. If possible spray milk on the loaf/rolls every once in a while. If possible, use steam while baking.

Expect incredibly light, fluffy and tasty bread.

 

*They are not supposed to be this burned

gothicgirl's picture
gothicgirl

I had a craving for carrot cake the other day.  It was one of those cravings you try to ignore, but in the end you submit because, like it or not, you did not try all that hard to avoid it in the first place.

Carrot Coconut Cupcake

Submitting to my desire also gave me the opportunity to play around with a recipe.  I always enjoy that!  I did not just want carrot cake, I wanted carrot cupcakes, and I did not just want carrot, I wanted carrot coconut.  I do not bake with coconut often because my husband, and main test subject, dislikes the texture of it.  Did I say dislikes?  I mean loathes. 

Regardless of the likes of my husband my mind was set on carrot coconut, so on the way home from work I picked up a few things and set to work.

Carrot Coconut Cupcake 

The original recipe for the carrot cake is my father's.  It is an excellent, moist, and very dense carrot cake, but I knew with all the eggs and oil it would make a very poor cupcake.  Besides, I hate getting a cupcake with a greasy liner!  Yuck!

So, I made some modifications, such as reducing the eggs, replacing some of the oil with applesauce, and adding some buttermilk to thin the batter and to add a slightly tangy note to the cakes.   Adding the coconut helped add moisture along with the grated carrots, so in the moistness department I figured I was good.

Carrot Coconut Cupcake 

The original cake calls for 1 teaspoon of baking soda for a 9″x13″ cake which is quite dense.  I wanted fluffy cupcakes that would dome proudly inside the liners so I added an additional 1/4 teaspoon of baking powder.

My modifications resulted in tender, moist, flavorful cupcakes with a slightly chewy texture from the shredded coconut.  Even my husband, who avoids coconut like the plague, said they were pretty tasty ... coconut aside. 

Carrot Coconut Cupcake Fixins' 

Carrot Coconut Cupcake   Yield 24

1 cup sugar
2 eggs
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/4 cup applesauce
1/4 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup shredded carrots
1 cup shredded coconut

Heat the oven to 350F and line your cupcake pans with paper liners.

Sugar, Eggs, Applesauce, Buttermilk, Oil, and Vanilla

In a large bowl combine the sugar, eggs, oil, applesauce, buttermilk, and vanilla.  Blend until smooth and well incorporated.

In a smaller bowl sift the dry ingredients, then pour the dry onto the wet and whisk until the dry ingredients just moisten.

Folding in the Carrots and Coconut

Add the shredded carrots and coconut and fold gently, making sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl.

Fill the cupcake liners 1/3 of the way full.  Bake for 25 - 30 minutes, or until the center of the cupcake springs back when lightly pressed. 

Carrot Coconut Cupcake Fresh from the Oven 

Allow the cupcakes to cool in the pan for three minutes, then turn onto a wire rack to cool the rest of the way.

Carrot Coconut Cupcake 

I frosted my cupcakes with a simple cream cheese frosting. 

Cream Cheese Frosting   Enough to decorate 24 cupcakes

1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 - 8 oz bar of cream cheese, softened
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Blend the butter and cream cheese on medium speed until well mixed, about five minutes.  Add the vanilla and blend to combine.

Add the powdered sugar and blend on low until the powdered sugar is moist, then blend on high for thirty seconds to remove any lumps.

Carrot Coconut Cupcake

Store frosted cupcakes in the refrigerator. 

Enjoy! 

Posted on www.evilshenanigans.com - 3/17/2009

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