CRAZY CARROTS

Carrot Cake, Apricot filling, Mascarpone Frosting and Candied Carrots

Okay, so I am addicted to making cupcakes. I make a batch once or twice a week either for a special occasion or just extra special boredom. Of course my tasters always love what I make but, perhaps they may be getting a bit burnt-out on my cupcake creations. So, after this I will try to take a break from making cupcakes for at least a few days -we will see how it goes. Maybe I will move onto something savory.

Crazy Carrots:

I made these cupcakes for a Birthday at work. We will call the birthday girl, “Girdy”. I made Girdy’s favorite, carrot cake. It ended up not being the classic carrot cake you might expect but, it was really tasty. Maybe a different recipe for the cake if you want that classic taste but, everything else turned out perfectly nice and yummy.

The Candied Carrots:
1/4 Cup water
1/2 Cup sugar
Approximately 2 hand-full peeled carrots that have been made into thin zest strips or thin shavings

In a small saucepan boil water and sugar-it looks like a lot of sugar for water but it will dissolve.
Add in carrot shavings then turn to med heat
Let simmer for 10 minutes
Then take saucepan off heat and let sit for another 10 minutes
Place carrots on a wire wrack and let dry (usually takes 12 hours so be prepared, having a small fan right on them helps)
Then gently take dried carrots and store until ready to use
To keep ultimate crunchiness, try to wait until the very last moment to put them on the cupcakes before you have to serve cupcakes.

The Carrot Cake:
1/3 Cup butter at room temperature
1 Tablespoon maple syrup
1 tablespoon finely grated orange zest
¾ Cup granulated sugar
2 Eggs at room temperature
1 Cup grated carrots
1 Cup self-rising flour
¼ Cup fresh squeezed orange juice-warmed in the microwave for 15 seconds
Thick Apricot Jam

Cream the butter, sugar, maple syrup and orange zest
Add eggs one at a time and beat lightly
Lightly mix in carrots with a wooden spoon
Mix in orange juice
Then sprinkle flour in and mix well but lightly
Spoon into regular size cupcake papers and bake 20 minutes at 350 F.
Let cool
Then fill with apricot jam, I took a small knife and cut a small circle of cake out in the middle of cupcake so I could cover with frosting, then I spooned jam to fill the hole in the cupcake.

The Yummy Yummy Mascarpone Frosting:
6 Tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
1 Teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1 Cup powdered sugar
8 oz mascarpone cheese (I got mine at Trader Joes’s for 2.99)

Cream butter and lemon zest until fluffy
Sprinkle in powdered sugar and mix well
Then mix in cold mascarpone cheese until smooth

Once frosted, you should keep the cupcake in the fridge, then when 10-20 minutes before serving take them out and put the crispy carrot garnish on the cupcakes.

The End

FRESH SUMMERY SUPPER

This Dinner takes about 30 minutes and is just right for a hot summer night.

Main Dish: A Ginger Snap Honey Crusted Tilapia

Side Dish: Buttery Balsamic Vinegar Glazed Carrots

Salad: Spinach Mango Salad with a homemade olive oil and lemon dressing

Suggested Drinking Habits: A light white wine with a light fruity hint of peach.

Recipe portions are meant for a dinner for two, so... adjust as necessary.














The Salad:

2 1/2 cups baby Spinach

1/2 tomato sliced

1/4 cup diced mango

6 slices of cucumber


The Dressing:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon smushed mango

1 teaspoon italian herb mix

2 tablespoons Welches peach white grape juice

• Combine all ingredients in a tupperwear with lid. Shake well of course with the lid on tight
  
• Adjust ingredients to you taste.

The Fish:

2 medium size tilapia fish fillets

4 ginger snaps( I used Carr's Ginger Lemon Cremes without the filling)

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 cup finely chopped macadamia nuts

Honey for drizzling

• Prepare fish in a baking pan and ly coat both sides of the fillet with olive oil and lemon juice.


• Put ginger snaps in a baggie and crush with a mug until you have tiny crumbs. (If you have a food processor..go ahead and use it but it's hardly worth the mess for a little bit of cookie crumbs)


• Combine cookie crums, ginger, chopped nuts, then spinkle a good coating on top of the fish, drizzle honey over top of the ginger crust and cook at 450 degrees for about 15 minutes then turn to broil for 1-2 minutes to get the top crusty. WATCH IT ON BROIL BECAUSE THIS SETTING BURNS FAST!
  

The Carrots:

A bunch of medium size carrots cut slanted ( or however you want) and then boiled and drained.

2 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1 teaspoon sesame seeds

1 teaspoon salt

• In a medium saucepan on med-low heat melt butter and then whisk in vinegar, salt and seeds.
• Try to keep creamy by not heating the butter too much.
  
• Add drained carrots to sauce and plate-up with fish.
  

The Drink:

Combine ingredients below.

3/4 ths white wine

1/4 th Welches peach white grape juice ( in the refridgerated cultured juice section @ your local grocery store)

1 teaspoon lemon juice

Serve dinner.

The End