A few days ago I had a conversation about carrots with one of the farmers at the Green Market – it looks like the new crop is still a bunch away. Alex, the farmer will start harvesting baby carrots at the end of May beginning of June. Right now there are fresh carrots at the market -- farmer Alex calls them “horse carrots” -- which are a bit woodsy in texture and kept in dirt to extend their freshness over the Winter months.
I use these carrots in a cake recipe and they are sweet in flavor and have a delicious mellow taste.
(Spring carrots)
In Search of a Cake
For my daughter Arabella’s christening my Austrian family flew in and we arranged a German speaking priest for the ceremony. We dressed our daughter in a dirndl (a cute traditional Austrian folklore dress in pink and lavender color). I wanted to create a cake to celebrate her important day.
We tried different kinds of a cakes which bridge her Austrian/American heritage for her christening, and with a little trial and error we decided to go with a
a traditional American carrot cake with a not so traditional cream cheese ganache and poppy seed meringue.
(carrot cake with poppy seed meringue and creme cheese ganache topped with candied carrots)
Carrot cake
(recipe for 13x9x2-inch sized cake pan mold, 20 portions or so)
3-1/3 (14 ounces) unbleached flour
½ teaspoon cinnamon powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½-teaspoon baking powder
4 cups shredded carrots
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1-½ cups vegetable oil such as canola oil
4 large eggs
1 cup simple syrup (½ cup sugar mixed with ½ cup hot water)
1 ounce rum
1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit
2. Sift together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder
3. Toss shredded carrots with 1/3 of the flour mix
4. Mix sugar, salt and oil in electric mixer with paddle attachment then add eggs Add flour/baking soda mixture to incorporate then add carrot/flour mixture
5. Brush cake mold (13x9x2-inch sized) with non stick cooking spray then dust/coat with all purpose flour
6. Pour batter into cake mold then bake in preheated oven for 18 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean when piercing in the middle of the cake
7. Invert cake onto a cutting board or second sheet pan (same size so that the cake will slip out of mold)
8. Brush cake with simple syrup and rum
Cream Cheese Ganache
1 pound cream cheese
1 cup powdered sugar
1 lime (zest from one lime)
1. Mix cream cheese, powdered sugar and lime zest with a wire whisk until smooth and spreadable.
(poppy seeds)
Poppy Seed Meringue
2 cups ground almonds
2-½ cups sugar
2 tablespoons ground rice
4 egg whites
2 tablespoons poppy seeds
1. Preheat oven to 280 degrees Fahrenheit
2. Mix all ingredients to a smooth paste
3. Spread thinly on parchment paper lined cookie sheet pan (13x9x2-inch sized).
4. Bake in preheated oven for 12 minutes or until golden in color
Cake assembly: spread cream cheese ganache evenly over baked carrot cake surface then lay the poppy seed meringue on top of it (peel parchment paper of poppy seed meringue). Cool thirty minutes before cutting into portions.
Why Poppy Seeds?
Poppy seeds add a crunchy texture and a nutty flavor, and they are used in a myriad of baked goods (and in a variety of cooked dishes) in Austria. So this added a little bit of Austria to the American carrot cake. I still remember the last time visiting Vienna while exiting an airplane looking over a blood-red blooming field of poppies.
You might have seen artist’s paintings of a summer scene with beautiful red flowers – that is what comes to my mind when I cook with poppy seeds.
A little tip: Because of their high oil content, poppy seeds must be kept stored airtight in a refrigerator otherwise they are prone to rancidity. And don’t take these little gems for granted -- apparently it takes about 900,000 poppy seeds to equal a pound!
(horse carrots)
