Cakegirl's Kitchen

Better Than A Bag of Candy

When I calculated the calories in my homemade Granola… I knew it was time for a new snack mix. I have been a long time handful of raw almonds and a handful of Craisins Mixer. I love a little crunch, and a little sweet. But I really needed something to kick it up a notch this time. A quick search around the kitchen and I came up with this new on the go snack.

YOU WILL NEED

1 cup whole raw almonds

1 cup dried cranberries

1 cup shredded coconut - I used REAL coconut, not the sweetened stuff in a bag.

2 tablespoons Agave Nectar

Dash of Sea Salt.

On a large cookie sheet, mix almonds and shredded coconut. Drizzle Agave Nectar over mixture. Bake for 25 - 30 min on 350 degrees until the coconut is nicely toasted. Check once during the baking time and stir the almonds and coconut to ensure the sweetener covers your entire mixture. When it's done, the coconut will be a nice golden brown. Remove from oven and immediately sprinkle with Sea Salt, then mix in the dried cranberries.

If you can, resist the urge to give it a taste, because the sweetener will BURN YOUR TONGUE!

Allow to cool for about 20 minutes, THEN taste. You will be so pleased with your crunchy, sweet, quick, portable snack mix. If you are lucky enough, some of the coconut will stick to the almonds as it cools - BONUS!!!!

**EXTRA TIP - Don't be like me and put it all in one sandwich bag - split it up into several resealable sandwich bags for better portion control.

YUM!!!!

My Mommy's Carrot Cake

Of all of my coveted cake recipes, this one, I can say, is truly a family recipe.

My mother didn't make a lot of cakes, but she made THIS carrot cake. It was one of her specialties. I remember that the recipe was in an old tattered and torn cookbook - probably purchased from a church fundraiser or something like that. The carrot cake page always easy to find - stained and yellowed from years of handling and splattered cake batter. The recipe was plain and simple… not loaded up with fillers like pineapple and raisins that you find in some carrot cake recipes. The most she would do was add some chopped walnuts sometimes. She made it in a tube pan, the kind that you bake a pound cake in, and she never frosted it. Growing up, we would just have a plain slice of carrot cake and it was delish!!!

When I decided to post this recipe, I wanted to take pictures of my process (which differs a bit from my mom's) but I forgot to take them… so, at some point, I will come back and add pics - for now, you will have to envision it…

Cake
2 cups flour
4 eggs (at room temperature)
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
1/2 tsp salt
1 package (16 oz carrots)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare pans - spray with baking spray. (Either (3) 8 inch pans, (2) 9 inch pans, or 24 cupcake liners in muffin pan)

Scrape carrots to peel, wash, then slice. In a blender on puree setting mix carrots and oil until mixture is smooth. Pour mixture into a large bowl. Add four eggs to blender and pulse for about 10 seconds, just until lightly beaten. Pour eggs over carrot mixture, use a cake spatula to get as much of the mixture out of the blender as possible. Add sugar and cinnamon to the bowl, mix lightly with cake spatula. In a small bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to carrot mixture and mix well with a hand mixer just until all of the flour is incorporated. Pour batter into prepared pans.

Depending on the size of your pan bake for about 30 min. Cake is done when it is slightly browned and a toothpick or cake tester inserted in center comes out clean.

***As I always say with recipes, make it your own. I personally never measure the cinnamon. I sprinkle it in with a little nutmeg and even a little ginger. If you like a little spice flavor, spice it up!

Cream Cheese Frosting
8oz cream cheese at room temp
1/4 lb butter (one stick) at room temp
1 box confectioners sugar
1 tbs vanilla extract.

Cream together cream cheese and butter, add vanilla. Gradually sift in powdered sugar and mix for 4 - 5 minutes until frosting is light and fluffy.

ENJOY!

Blue and Orange Graduation Party

Yes… Yes… Yes…
It's been a while. Well, you know how that goes, Life Happens. But just because I have not been posting, does not mean I have not been working hard to provide the best party experiences for the CakeGirl Kitchen fans.

So… Here are some pics from a Blue and Orange Graduation Party styled in June. If you have questions about anything you see in the pics, just let me know. I love to answer your questions.

Remember - the fabulous is in the details!!!