Carrot Cake

   I'm starting to count down the days.

   15...

   12...

   10...

   8...

   8 days.

   8 days until the new year begins.

   8 days left before the new school year starts.

   In a way, I'm excited. I can't wait to see the children and jump around and go mad with them. If only school was just about teaching and being with children. If only.

   Now, teachers have to handle so much more than classrooms and students. Lots and lots of paperwork. Document this and that. Go for meetings here and there. Sometimes I feel like I'm more of an odd-job man really, because I can't think of anything that a teacher doesn't do at school. Let's play a quiz shall we? Name the occupations the tasks listed below actually belong to.

   Teach.

   Prepare documents.

   Photocopy documents.

   Mail documents.

   Treat children's wounds.

   Dress up like a clown and clown around in class.

   Carry and move things here and there.

   Organise sport events. Train students for sport events.

   Paint and decorate the rooms.

   Paint the stairs, even.

   Break up a fight between children.

   Break up a fight between other teachers.

   Okay. I was joking. Or maybe not.

   The good thing is, I have these bright faces to look forward to:
   

I know, right. Bigger than me, boys and girls these days.

   Next year, I want to be a happier, more productive, fun and better teacher than ever.

   For that, I shall need better nutrition. Healthy food.

   Carrot cake should count as healthy food, right?

   If you're reading this Shaheen, you'd be proud of me... right??? I'm really sad about the loss of Moggy. I love cats.

Lots and lots of carrots.

Already cut through it before remembering to take a photo. Haha.

MAMA DOROSCH'S CARROT CAKE
Source: Bisous A Toi 
Click on the link for original recipe and cup measurements

Ingredients

CAKE
300g castor sugar
1 1/2 cups oil
4 eggs
260g flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
3 cups grated carrots, packed
3/4 cup walnuts (optional)

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
8oz cream cheese - well softened
113g butter, well softened
100g icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Instructions

CAKE

Pre-heat the oven to 360ºF with a rack in the middle position. Grease and line three 7-inch baking tins.

In a large bowl, beat together the sugar and oil. Beat in the eggs, one at a time.

In a second, medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.

Add the flour mixture to the sugar mix and mix until well incorporated.

Fold in the carrots and walnuts.

Pour into prepared pans and bake for 45 to 60 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

FROSTING

In a large bowl, beat together the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla until light and fluffy.Gradually beat in the icing sugar until well blended. Frost and decorate as you like. 

This cake turned me into a veggie eater. So proud of myself! *pats self on the back

   This cake is soooooo good. I like to put the cake in the refrigerator and take it out a few minutes before eating. So far I haven't tried a new carrot cake recipe without falling in love with it. 

It's Been So Long!

Oh how I've missed posting in this blog! I admit I have been lazy. But I haven't stopped baking. I've just been doing it a little too less. Sorry if some of the photos are too horrible :P

Cherry crumble cake

Cranberry swirl cheesecake

Cinnamon rolls

Blueberry Frangipane Tart or something

Upside-down peach and blueberry cake

Cream puff 

Apple cheese tart

Oreo cheesecake

   Oooh sungguh sedap walaupun tak cantik. And I'm off to make something with lemons!

Oreo Mousse-Cheesecake

Just to prove to the world that I am still alive, well and kicking Alhamdulillah.

I'm afraid Little Not So Little Sister took off somewhere with my camera, but thankfully I managed to acquire a decent phone with a decent camera (after conveniently but accidentally all the same leaving my nearing-ancient mobile phone on the bus). I was attempting to make an Oreo Cheesecake, but as usual I was feeling smart and ended up bungling the ingredients. I meant to double the ingredients for the cheese part so that it would turn out cheesier but... oh well. It turned out okay though. The texture was interesting- more mousse-y than any cheesecake I've made.

The recipe came from this book Little Not So Little Sister gave me as a birthday present:

In Love With Cakes by Alan Chooi. I love how cute recipe books are nowadays. Since my brothers and sisters have been hankering after an Oreo Cheesecake for a long time, I decided to go with the flow and make one. I'm not a huge fan of Oreos, but they tasted quite lovely in the cake.

Since I managed to make quite a mess with the recipe, I won't share it this time.

Awkward pause.

I see I have a lot to catch up with in the blogging world. 

Apple Tart

   I made two of this two days ago. Absolutely yum. My family loves it.

   It's a new favourite and even my brothers can't say no to it, though they say they are sick of apples!

   I used this recipe Stephanie at JoyofBaking. I love her recipes, they always work for me.

   I also made this lovely Strawberry Buttermilk Cake, using a recipe from my all time cake-hero, the Caked Crusader. It was lovely, though the strawberries were extremely tart. Next time I might roll them in a bit of sugar before mixing them into the cake. The strawberries collapsed like nobody's business but it tasted lovely all the same. It didn't quite have the texture of a cake- more like  bread pudding. I'm not sure if that's how it was supposed to turn out or if I hadn't baked it enough. Whatever it is, it's all gone now (and yes, I forgot to take a photo. Duh).

   I still haven't used the oven Dad gave me. Baked the tarts and cake at home, using Mum's oven.

   Going back to GM tomorrow. I might make something else before I go. Take care everyone! I really do miss blogging about baking.

Soon... soon!

  Somebody poked me in the wee hours of the morning and I struggled to open my eyes. I managed to squint it open a little and saw Dad staring at me, a mysterious and somewhat rather mischievous look on his face.

   "Which is more important to you now, an oven or an electric mixer?"


   "What...?" I rasped, barely managing to get my voice out. 


   "I think an oven is much more important, don't you think? Your Mum said she doesn't bake anymore these days, so you can borrow her mixer for now and get one later."


   I struggled to open my eyes a little wider but didn't quite manage.


   "There's a pretty good oven at the store, it's large and costs around RM300. I'll get one for you, shall I? That way you don't have to come home every weekend in order to bake some order for your friends. Keep this a secret from Mum though, for now." He winked at me, patted my head and left.

   And that's how I came to have my very own oven. It's 1 week old and I haven't had the chance to use it yet.

   Aren't Dads simply wonderful?

   p.s. Little Brothers, Little Sister and Big Sister, if you're reading this remember it's a secret from Mum. At least for now. Gulp. I feel guilty.