Carrot cake with walnuts and marscapone icing

Have you ever had a craving for cake, and desperately want to give in, but talk yourself out of it because there are healthier things to eat, and all that sugar's not good for your teeth? And then there's the bother of finding the right cake pans at the back of the cupboard, and they'll likely need a wash, and you'll have to let the butter soften first, and bring the eggs to room temperature...and oh, it's all a lot of bother isn't it?

But then, if you're like me, your mind goes to carrot cake, because that's quite healthy, isn't it? I mean, it's bloody well got vegetables right inside it, so that's like eating a cake that's full of all kinds of goodness, not to mention being a boon for your eyesight. And it's chock full of walnuts too, and aren't they like cancer fighting nuts or something? I mean how could I not make this cake for the sake of my future well -being and ocular soundess!

Actually, the real impetus for making this cake is because I read about it in another food blog, written by the wife of Giles Coren. He's a well-known restaurant critic in the UK, but I like him best for his work on a show called Supersizers, which looks at cuisine in different eras of history. If you can find it on the Food Netwwork or online, I urge you to give it a look. It's really one of the cleverest shows ever, thanks to the witty banter between the two hosts. (And not to take away any credit from Coren's wife, who herself is a very good, and quite funny, writer as well.)

So the blog find spurred me into action, not only because it was cleverly written, but because I also adore Nigel Slater, the cake's creator, his writing and his recipes. This recipe is from his book Tender, which is full of mouth-watering vegetable-based treats. I think I would like for Nigel to live in my house and turn my backyard into a lovely vegetable garden like the one he cooks from year round in England. Er, I suppose that might be a bit of a challenge living in Ottawa, but he could try.

Anyway, on to the cake.....

Start by separating out three eggs.

I had to buy some sunflower oil especially for this recipe. I've never bought it before and had to seek it out at a Birkenstock-wearing-hippy-frequented-incense-smelling natural food store.

Grate your carrots and weigh them. British recipes are fun because you have to use kitchen scales and do math (okay, so the math bit's not that much fun).

Measure the walnuts too. You can see my measurements aren't exact, but I don't think a gram or two difference matters all that much.

Beat everything together until it turns this appetizing brown-ish barf colour.

And fold in the egg whites.

Place in a pan. The recipe calls for two 8-inch cake pans, but I couldnt' find/don't have any, so I made do with one 9-inch springform pan.

I ended up cutting my 9-inch cake in half to form layers, between which I spread the cream cheese/marscapone icing. This was my first time ever making cream cheese icing and I have to say it is a dangerous thing. I could eat marscapone straight from the tub. But I didn't. Well maybe just a spoonful, but that's it. I swear.

And this is the cake's top view. I omitted the orange zest from the icing, and it was still very tasty.

Overall, this cake wasn't quite as moist as I'd hoped it would be, but it is quite good. I'm sure you'll like it, especially if you're a fan of walnuts, as they make a plentiful appearance in this cake.

A carrot cake with a frosting of mascarpone and orange by Nigel Slater

For the cake

3 eggs
250g self-raising flour
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
pinch salt
200 ml sunflower oil
25og light muscovado sugar
150g carrots
juice of half a lemon
150g walnuts, roughly chopped

For the frosting

250g mascarpone cheese
200g Philadelphia
150g icing sugar
grated zest of half an orange
some whole walnut halves

1 Set the oven to 180C. Butter 2 x 22cm cake tins and line each bottom with a disc of baking parchment

2 Separate the eggs. Sift together the flour, bicarb of soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.

3 Beat the oil and sugar in a food mixer until well-creamed then introduce the egg yolks one by one. Grate the carrots into the mixture, add the lemon juice and walnuts and stir. At this point, the sunflower oil will float to the top of the mixture and look gross. Don't worry, this is normal.

4 Fold the flour into this mixture. I did this by hand, but Nige says do it in the mixer.

5 Beat the egg whites until stiff and then fold into the mixture with a metal spoon.

6 Divide the mixture between your tins and bake for 45 mins, or until a skewer comes out clean-ish ... because this is supposed to be quite a sticky cake, except it didn't turn out that way for me.

7 To make the frosting, beat the mascarpone, Philly and icing sugar together in a mixer until smooth and creamy. You stand a better chance of this happening if the cheeses are at room temperature when you start. Stir in the orange zest. Splash some in between your cakes to sandwich together and the rest on the top and on the sides. Decorate with walnut halves.

Eat a large slice and your optometrist will thank you.

Pan co'Santi - Walnut Bread

Let me start off by saying that had I not pulled this lovely loaf from my very own oven, I’m not quite sure I would have believed I actually made it. In fact, I’m still not certain the whole experience wasn’t a fluke. The bread is that good, people.

Before I share the recipe, let me tell you a bit about it. If any of you are like me, and scour the internet for food-related articles, you’ll have no doubt heard about the revolutionary bread-making technique that was discovered several years ago and caused a bit of a sensation on the old Internet. Jim Lahey’s infamous no-knead bread garnered a lot of e-press from foodies, and after reading about it for months, I was curious to try it myself. I admit to being a bit sceptical about the process, not to mention wary of the removal of what can be the most therapeutic and satisfying part of the whole bread-making process.

Now I do not consider myself a bread-baking expert by any means. Over the years I have made a few loaves, but it’s not something I do regularly. One of the reasons is that I always feel I can buy a better loaf from a good bakery than I could ever produce at home. The loaves I have made have been tasty, and fill the house with an amazing smell as they bake, but the crust produced in a standard oven is always too soft for my liking. And my loaves often rose too high, then fell, resulting in a sad looking flat, defeated top.

So I was expecting similar lacklustre results with this bread. But boy was I wrong! This bread is unlike anything I’ve ever, ever made at home before. This bread is substantial and glorious, with a toothsome crust that crackles under your knife and gives way to your teeth. It looks rustically handmade, but impressively interesting at the same time. You know those loaves of artisanal bread you stumble over in French bakeries or farmers’ markets, for which you happily fork over $5, then rush home to cut off a slice to smear it with softly ripened cheese or chevre, or just plain old unsalted butter, sprinkled with a bit of sea salt? This is that loaf!! And you can make it yourself. It takes time, but the entire recipe is as easy as stirring together the dry ingredients, adding water and yeast and letting chemistry do its thing.

The next day, you have to do a bit of loaf forming, and another rise, but really, minimal effort is required. The secret, I think, is baking in a pre-heated cast iron pot in a ridiculously high oven. It produces a blast of heat that must crisp the crust almost immediately. The only negative thing I can say about the technique is that I couldn’t really smell the loaf as it baked, likely because the pot was literally smoking hot and it’s that I could smell rather than the bread itself (which could be a function of my retro oven). But that minor quibble is really just that, and what you’re left with is a fragrant loaf, studded with plump fruit, nuts and spices. It’s tasty as is, and even more delightful toasted up for breakfast the next morning. I opted for the cinnamon raisin variety for my first attempt, but now I’m eager to try just a plain white loaf, and whole wheat, into which I’d love to throw a bit of honey and some dried figs I picked up on the weekend.

Here's how it starts...

Combining dry ingredients. I used some pretty dried out rasisins I had lying around, and they plmuped up nicely during the long rise.

Wet ingredients added, resulting in a wet, sticky, blob.

And 18 hours later, you get this! It's like a science project on your kitchen counter. It rises again, this time in loaf form, then gets popped in the oven until you get.........

This! Amazing, right?

Even better sliced. Look at those beautiful slices.

So here's the timeline I used.

6 p.m. Assemble ingredients and leave dough to rise.

10 a.m. the next day. Prepare bread for second rise.

11:30 a.m. Put cast iron pot in oven to pre-heat.

Noon or so. Bake loaf

1 p.m. You'll have a fresh loaf of bread begging you to eat it!

Here’s how to create your own bread magic.

Pan co'Santi - Walnut Bread

recipe- The Revolutionary No-Work, No-Knead Method by Jim Lahey
Yield: One 10-inch round loaf; 1 1/2 pounds

Equipment: A 4 1/2- to 5 1/2-quart heavy pot
· 3 cups bread flour (I used all purpose and it seemed to work fine)
· 1/2 cup raisins
· 1 1/4 teaspoon table salt
· 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
· 1/2 cup walnuts
· 1 1/2 cups water
· 1/2 teaspoon instant or active dry yeast
· pinch fresh ground pepper
· wheat bran, cornmeal or additional flour for dusting (I used cornmeal)

1. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, raisins, walnuts, salt, cinnamon, yeast, and pepper, mixing thoroughly. Add the water and, using a wooden spoon or your hand, mix until you have a wet, sticky dough, about 30 seconds. If it’s not really sticky to the touch, mix in another tablespoon or two of water. Cover the bowl and let sit at room temperature until the surface is dotted with bubbles and the dough is more than doubled in size, 12 to 18 hours.

2. When the first rise is complete, generously dust a work surface with flour. Use a bowl scraper or rubber spatula to scrape the dough out of the bowl in one piece. Using lightly floured hands or a bowl scraper or spatula, lift the edges of the dough in toward the center. Nudge and tuck in the edges of the dough to make it round.

3. Place a tea towel on your work surface and generously dust it with wheat bran, cornmeal, or flour. Gently place the dough on the towel, seam side down. If the dough is tacky, dust the top lightly with wheat bran, cornmeal, or flour. Fold the ends of the tea towel loosely over the dough to cover it and place it in a warm, draft-free spot to rise for 1 to 2 hours. The dough is ready when it is almost doubled. If you gently poke it with your finger, it should hold the impression. If it springs back, let it rise for another 15 minutes.

4. Half an hour before the end of the second rise, preheat the oven to 475 degrees F, with a rack in the lower third, and place the covered 4 1/2 - to 5 1/2 -quart heavy pot in the center of the rack.

5. Using pot holders, carefully remove the preheated pot from the oven and uncover it. Unfold the tea towel and quickly but gently invert the dough into the pot, seam side up. Cover the pot and bake for 30 minutes.

6. Remove the lid and continue baking until bread is a deep chestnut color but not burnt, 15 to 30 minutes more (It took me about 15). Use a heatproof spatula or pot holders to gently lift the bread out of the pot and place it on a rack to cool thoroughly.