Carrot Cake

Carrot Cake

Ingredients:

Cake Base:

1 1/2 cups corn oil
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
2 cups flour
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup drained crushed pineapple
½ cup raisin
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cinnamon powder
2 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. salt

Icing:

6 oz. cream cheese, softened (leave out of refrigerator 1 hour)

2 sticks butter, softened

2 c. confectioners' powdered sugar

Some gum paste

½ cup chopped walnuts

Cake Base Procedure:

1. Mix corn oil, sugar, eggs, flour, baking soda, cinnamon powder,

vanilla and salt with a beater so they are well blended.

2. Mix 2 cups of shredded carrots and blend with a spoon.

(Use large hole of shredder for carrots).
3. Add 1 cup chopped walnuts. Blend with spoon.
4. Add 1 cup drained crushed pineapple.
5. Add 1/2 cup raisins.
6. Pour into well greased 9 x 13 inch pan.
7. Bake in middle of 350 degree oven for 50-60 minutes.
8. Cool on wire rack. Leave in pan.

Icing Procedure:
Beat the cream cheese and the butter until light and fluffy.

Gradually beat in icing sugar.

Use gum paste to decorate the top of the cake with carrots shapes.

Put some chopped walnuts on the side of the cake as show

in the above picture.

Sugar Paste For Tartlets

Ingredients:
1 cup or 200 grams sugar
4 cups or 512 grams flour
½ cup or 120 grams vegetable shortening,
½ teaspoon salt
3 eggs
1 lemon

Procedure:
Sift flour on to baking board, make hole in center,
and put in grated lemon rind, salt, sugar, eggs, and vegetable shortening.
Mix the whole to a stiff pastry. This paste is used for the bottom layer of pies and to line tartlet tins of various kinds. It is excellent for turnovers.
Sufficient for thirty tartlets.

Gum Paste Recipe

Ingredients:
4 cups Confectioners' Sugar, sifted (reserve 1 cup for later)
1 Tablespoon Gum Tragacanth (or Gum Tex)
1 Tablespoon Liquid Glucose
4 Tablespoons Warm Water (or 3 Tbs warm water + 1 Tbs lemon juice)

Procedure:
Pour the water in a large bowl and add gelatin (glucose) slowly.
Stir until gelatin is dissolved in the water.
You may need to microwave 20-30 seconds or heat on the stove with a double-boiler to get glucose to melt. Add confectioners' sugar and gum tragacanth.
Mix well. You'll end up with a soft, sticky dough.
Store dough in a well-sealed plastic bag at room temperature overnight (if possible) for it to set. Knead in the remaining 1 cup of powdered sugar and it will become soft and pliable - no longer sticky. Add more powdered sugar if it continues to feel sticky.

Suggestions:
Store your gum paste recipe mixture in a large ziplock bag while working with smaller pieces of it (or keep in bowl and cover gum paste surface with a wet towel.) This will help keep it from forming a crust. If you do get a crust, don't worry, knead in a little confectioners' sugar.

Pineapple Nut Bread

Pineapple Nut Bread

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter -- softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
pinch salt
1 cup crushed pineapple -- drained
1/2 cup walnuts

Procedure:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two loaf pans.Cream the butter and sugar together in a large mixing bowl. Beat the eggs in one at a time, and blend well after each addition.Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together. Add the flour mixture alternately with the crushed pineapple to the egg mixture. Stir in the nuts.Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pans, and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes clean. Makes 2 small loaves.