Carrot cake with cream cheese frosting

Over the weekend, I satisfied a craving to bake by whipping up some home-baked carrot cake with cream cheese frosting! 

As I savoured the smell of carrots and cinnamon wafting from the oven in delicious anticipation, I was especially reminded this Easter that the reason we break bread and drink wine together to remember this significant weekend. It's a reminder that God came down in flesh, in 3D, to provide us with an unforgettable, multisensory experience of Himself. 

There is nothing less sacred about quiet moments in the kitchen with God than in church where a huge band is playing and a powerful speaker in preaching. God came down to earth so His love could penetrate every area of our lives - our waking, our sleeping, our eating, our working, our relationships.

Hope you had a wonderful Easter, everyone!


Simple carrot cake recipe
From Allrecipes.com
INGREDIENTS:

4 eggs 1 1/4 cups vegetable oil 2 cups white sugar 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 2 cups all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons baking soda 2 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

3 cups grated carrots 1 cup chopped pecans 1/2 cup butter, softened 8 ounces cream cheese, softened 4 cups confectioners' sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 cup chopped pecans

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan.
2.	In a large bowl, beat together eggs, oil, white sugar and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Mix in flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Stir in carrots. Fold in pecans. Pour into prepared pan.
3.	Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.
4.	To Make Frosting: In a medium bowl, combine butter, cream cheese, confectioners' sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Stir in chopped pecans. Frost the cooled cake.

Ambling slowly in a world that frantically runs: My year-long flirtation with sourdough

"Sourdough bread, made properly, ambles slowly in a world that frantically runs. It might even ask for a tall glass of sweet tea and a rocking chair on the porch." 

With a description like this, how could I resist trying my hand at this ancient art? And so I did.

A year ago, I tried multiple times to get a starter going from scratch, with each attempt turning out to be the equivalent of a science experiment gone really bad.

All of the information I could find on making starters were catered to those in temperate climates, with the recommended temperature for cultivating the finicky mixture of natural yeasts and lacto-bacteria being around 23°C - a temperature only possible in Malaysia with air-conditioning. Which I don't have.

Which ended up with hyperactive mixtures of fermenting goo that bubbled up too quickly and turned rancid even quicker.

This week, I was suddenly struck with the mad fancy to try again what I had failed miserably in. I stumbled across a forum post by a sourdough baker who said that in the heat of summer, he keeps his starter cool by placing the jar in a bowl of water. Of course I had to try that!

Fast forward a few days, and I now have a very happy, healthy, bubbly, and non-puke-smelling starter. I almost feel like a proud mommy.

But of course, the real test of a good starter - Will it rise bread without the use of commercial yeast? I put my starter to the test.

And, as you might have guessed from the picture above, I succeeded! While it didn't rise as much as I had hoped it would, it definitely rose and had the most marvelous, complex, rich taste.

Look at the delightfully irregular air bubbles created by the sourdough starter! You'll never find this kind of rustic authenticity with commercial yeast.

I can just imagine how perfect it'll taste with some homemade pumpkin soup - love! 

It's ridiculously easy to make me happy. Give me simple domestic pleasures - food, pets, company... coupled with a touch of nature - a purple sunset, a walk in the park, a light breeze - and I'm in my idea of heaven.