Carrot Spice Cake

Some weeks ago we went to Borough Market and had this amazing Carrot Spice Cake with coconut. Decided to give it a go and, last weekend, baked my own! It wasn’t exactly as the one from the market but it was really good and moist inside.

I baked a cake with some cream cheese frosting and some plain cupcakes. Both were delicious! The recipe under is solely for one cake.

Carrot Spice Cake

• 150 g of flour
• 1 tea spoon of baking powder
• 3/4 tea spoon of baking soda
• 1 tea spoons of ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tea spoon of ground nutmeg
• 225 g of sugar
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup of vegetable oil
• 275 g of carrots
• 1/3 tin of crushed pineapple (total used: 144 g net)
• 100 g of chopped walnuts (reserve some to decorate)
• 40 g of flaked coconut

1. Pre-heat the oven at 170ºC.
2. In a bowl mix the flour, the baking powder, the baking soda, the cinnamon and the nutmeg.
3. In a large bowl mix the sugar with the eggs and the oil. Add the flour mix, stirring well.
4. Peel the carrots and grate them thinly. Add it to the batter.
5. Add the pineapple, the walnuts and the coconut and mix well.
6. Grease a cake tin (20 cm / 8”) with butter and sprinkle with flour. Pour the cake dough into the tin and cook in the oven for approximately 35 minutes. Note that the cake will be quite moist inside and will gain some additional consistency after cooling down. 
7. Serve simple or with some cream cheese frosting (recipe under).

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 9 tbsp of cream cheese
• 3 tbsp of butter at room temperature
• 12 tbsp of icing sugar
• 1 tea spoon of vanilla essence
• crushed walnut and flaked coconut to decorate

1. In a bowl mix the cream cheese, the butter, the sugar and the vanilla. Whisk well until you get a smooth and glowing frosting.
2. When the cake has completely cooled down, using a spatula, cover the top of the cake with the frosting. You can be creative here!
3. Sprinkle the frosting with some crushed walnuts and flaked coconut.

Portuguese Rice Pudding

After another crazy week only focusing on dissertation I decided to celebrate the delivery of my first draft this weekend with some homely dessert…

Sweet Rice, called Rice Pudding in the UK, is a very traditional Portuguese sweet that my grandmother use to make. She didn’t like cooking but she made the best Sweet Rice I’ve ever tried…

 

Portuguese Rice Pudding (serves 10)

• 250 g of rice for pudding (carolino in Portugal)
• 0.5 l of water
• salt
• 3 pieces of lemon peel
• 1 stick of cinnamon
• 1 tea spoon of butter
• 3.5 cups of milk (4 to 5 cups if using carolino rice)
• 250 g of sugar

1. In a pan cook in low fire the rice in the boiling water, seasoned with a pinch of salt, the lemon peel and the cinnamon. Let it cook until the water evaporates.
2. Add the butter and a cup of milk to the rice and stir gently. Keep the fire low and stir occasionally to assure that the rice doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan.
3. When the rice starts to get a bit dry, add some more milk. Repeat this procedure as often as needed making sure the rice never gets dry. You should cook the rice for approximately 30 minutes to 45 minutes depending on the pan and type of stove you are using. If you’re using carolino rice it may take a bit longer for the rice to cook.
4. When the rice is cooked (try it if needed) add the sugar and stir well. Let it cook in low fire for an additional 10 to 15 minutes. Add more milk in case it gets dry. I usually like my Rice Pudding runny so I tend to add a bit more milk.
5. Take the lemon peel and the cinnamon stick out of the rice. Pour into plates or bowls and serve sprinkled with cinnamon.