BLACKBERRY CARROT PICNIC CAKE
When I was seventeen and well into my passion for cooking and baking, my mom gave me a recipe from a Foody friend of hers. It was Carrot Cake ! What ???? This was 1969 and I had never heard of such a thing ! But I was absolutely intrigued ! I went right to work on this mystical concoction. Grated carrots (3 cups yet !) crushed pineapple , lots of oil and cinnamon and all baked up in an angel food tin. Of course, now there are bundt pans designed just for these style of cakes. To add to the allure, it was topped with a decadent icing made with cream cheese ! That was it for me !I couldn’t stop making it ! I remember my “bestie” and I whipping it up late at night and not even having the patience to let it cool ! We smeared this wonderful frosting all over the still hot cake and dug in , melted cake and icing all over us ! But what I really loved was offering people a slice of Carrot Cake and watching their reaction . No thanks. I really don’t like carrots, was the usual response. But the reaction I remember by far was that of my brand new, best ever boyfriend who really loved his food ! No. I can’t eat that, thanks anyway. Well, I forced him to try just one bite and he never left !! He is still here ! And loves carrot cake almost as much as he loves me !
For ages after that it still remained unknown until it exploded onto the food scene about ten years later. There are many versions of it today but one that really stuck with me I found in the August 1988 issue of Bon Appetit Magazine. It was called Blueberry Carrot Picnic Cake and the very thought of it conjures up a summer picnic with a blue checkered tablecloth, cold chicken and this ! Just as I suspected, it was wonderful ! I was going to make one for a special friend’s birthday when I thought of blackberries. It was late August and blackberries were everywhere , my yard , my mom’s yard, down the lane, down by the beach . Everywhere ! Big sweet, juicy, free blackberries, just waiting to be part of my Carrot Cake ! The result was amazing ! Well that was then and this cake still holds its own ! All the commercial Carrot Cakes out there can’t begin to compete with the one you bake yourself at home !
So, today, just to trend things up a little, I poured a beautiful, purple mirror glaze over the frosted cake . It is a spectacular presentation and really fun to try. The glaze goes together easily and must be poured over a frozen cake. But even without the glaze, this Blackberry Carrot Picnic Cake continues to remain in a class of its own !
BLACKBERRY CARROT PICNIC CAKE
2 cups flour, 2 tsp baking powder, 3 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp salt
Mix dry ingredients together. Set aside.
I cup sugar, ½ cup brown sugar, 4 eggs, 1 cup corn oil, 3 cups grated carrots, 2 cups blackberries
Whisk together sugars, eggs and oil. Stir in carrots. Stir in dry ingredients and mix well.
Fold in blackberries. Spoon batter into well greased bundt pan or angel food tin.
Bake in oven preheated to 375 degrees for 1 hour. Cool completely.
CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
12 oz softened cream cheese, 4 oz softened butter, 2 tsp vanilla, 3 cups (approx) icing sugar
Beat altogether until thick and fluffy and very spreadable. You may need a bit more or a bit less icing sugar. Frost cooled cake and freeze overnight or a few hours if you are doing the mirror glaze.
MIRROR GLAZE
2 packages gelatin, 1 cup luke warm water, 1 ½ cups sugar, ⅔ cup sweetened condensed milk
11 oz white chocolate chips,melted, gel food coloring (purple)
Soak gelatin in ¼ cup of the water. Mix the rest of the water and the sugar in saucepan over medium heat. Stir in sweetened condensed milk and stir until sugar dissolves. Do not let mixture boil. Over medium low heat, stir in melted chocolate and gelatin. Stir until smooth and completely mixed. Remove from heat. Stir in coloring. Cool to 90 degrees or luke warm.
Pour over frozen cake.
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