Sunday, May 13, 2007

Recipe: Carrot Cake

Remember when you were a kid and your Mum (or Dad - we don't believe in gender stereotyping here at TMICS) would make a carrot cake and then let you lick the mixture off the beaters? Well, this is a bit like that, only colder.

1/2 cup carrots, grated
3/4 cup walnuts, chopped
1/4 cup + 40g brown sugar
60g butter
60g white sugar
300ml milk
3 eggs, beaten
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp Boyajian lemon oil (or perhaps about 1/2 lemon's worth of rind?)
1 tsp cinnamon
125g cream cheese
300ml cream

OK, this is a slightly complicated one. Here we go!
1) In a saucepan, melt the butter. Add in the 1/4 cup brown sugar, the grated carrots and the walnuts. Heat it over a medium-high heat until it gets all caramalised and goopy.
2) Lightly beat the eggs together with the white sugar and the rest of the brown.
2) Heat the milk in a seperate saucepan with the cinnamon, vanilla and lemon oil. When it's hot, but not boiling, pour it slowly onto the beaten eggs and sugar while stirring. Return the mixture to the saucepan and stir over low heat until it thickens into a custard.
3) Mix your caramelised carrot mix into the custard and put it in the fridge to cool down.
4) Beat the cream cheese and cream together, then mix in the chilled custard. Put the whole delicious mess in your ice cream machine and bask in its hypnotic whirling.

Verdict: Simply fantastic. This tastes exactly like carrot cake. Quite unsettling really. It's rich and zesty and cakey and freaking delicious. Get on it!