at home with ann

I've told you before how much I love carrot cake.  I wouldn't say I'm a huge cake lover in general, unless it's the cheese variety, but I adore carrot cake.  Carrot cake cupcakes were a natural choice for Colin's C themed birthday party, and I justified it by telling myself he'd be at least get a vegetable mixed in with the butter, sugar and flour.  The original recipe is supposed to yield 12 cupcakes, but I filled mine a little low and had plenty for 12 regular cupcakes and 12 mini cupcakes.  I doubled the original frosting recipe (my measurements below), because you never want to be stingy on frosting, and had a little leftover.  The birthday boy got a mini cupcake and thought it was the most amazing thing he'd ever eaten.  I held it for him to take bites, and at one point he grabbed my hand and shoved the entire thing into his mouth.  I'd say they were a success .  I'd also say that it appears he is biting my hand in this picture based on the...

These cookies are so good, and perfect for the season!  I admit I jump all over the pumpkin bandwagon come fall.  I usually use the canned version from the market, but it's very easy to roast your own sugar pumpkins.  I have high hopes that our pumpkins will last through Halloween so I can cook them, but they usually get chewed up by some animal in the middle of the night.  Life in the country.  Pumpkin Cookie Sandwiches with Cream Cheese Frosting Original recipe modified from Food Network Yield: About 20-25 sandwich cookies Ingredients: Cookies: 1 cup sugar 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened 2 Tablespoons maple syrup 2 eggs 1 cup pureed pumpkin (canned or fresh) 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg (freshly grated is best!) pinch ground cloves pinch salt Frosting: 2 (8 oz) packaged cream cheese, softened 1 cup confectioners sugar 1...

Carrot is my favorite kind of cake.  This may be because cream cheese is my favorite kind of frosting.  Plus, you're eating vegetables, so it's "healthy".  Eat enough carrots and you get a nice fake tan (ie. your skin turns orange).  Eat enough carrot cake and you'll get more than a fake tan, but we're all about moderation around here.   Carrot Cake recipe from Joy of Baking Ingredients: 3/4 pound (340 grams) raw carrots (about 2 1/2 cups finely grated) 2 cups (260 grams) all-purpose  flour 1 teaspoon  baking soda 1 1/2 teaspoons  baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 4 large eggs 1 1/2 cups (300 grams) granulated white  sugar (I would cut this down to one cup next time, it was pretty sweet!) 1 cup (240 ml) safflower, vegetable or canola oil (or other flavorless oil) 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce (optional, but makes the cake super moist) Cream Cheese Frostin...