When I was first married, I had this fantasy about how my life would go: my dear hubby would go to work and I'd have the perfect house and cook these amazing meals. The only problem with that was I was never one for housecleaning and I couldn't cook. Well, that's not exactly true, I could cook, just not well and certainly not varied. My grandmother used to say I didn't have the recipe for ice cubes. I took exception to that because I could most certainly could make ice cubes, but you get the picture.
So I decided to learn how to cook. And along the way I discovered baking. Now I could already follow the instructions on the box of cake mix and I could handle the recipe on a bag of chocolate chips--but I'm talking about real baking--the flour and sugar kind. I started with bread. Yeast breads, quick breads, muffins, biscuits. Mmmmm!
One of the first cookbooks I bought myself (I had received several as wedding gifts from concerned friends in an attempt to keep my husband from starving) was the Sunset Cook Book Of Breads (10th Edition, Lane Books). This wonderful cook book transported me to an amazing world filled with all the fantastic things flour and yeast can create. I literally made most every item in the book.
One of our favorites was the Carrot Bread. A simple quick bread redolent of cinnamon, moist and sweet, studded with finely shredded carrots, a crisp crust--perfect with a cup of coffee or tea. And if that wasn't enough, it was baked in 1 pound coffee tins! I was never as proud of anything as when my hubby had his first bite and smiled. Eureka! And that's how I got hooked on baking--seeing the pleasure people got from eating something I had made.
Sadly, the Sunset Cook Book Of Breads is out of print. Check your local library or scour yard sales for it. If you can find it on Amazon or ebay, snap it up, it's worth it's weight in gold.
But in the meantime, here is the recipe for Carrot Bread. I added raisins that were plumped in hot water. If you're not a fan of raisins, feel free to leave them out. As for those coffee cans, we're now a Keurig family so there aren't coffee cans in the house, but I've made this in loaf pans, decorative loaf pans, soup cans of varying sizes as well as the standard coffee can. Feel free to experiment. Note that today's coffee cans hold less than a pound of coffee but don't let that stop you, fill the cans 2/3 of the way up and you'll be just fine.
I used 4 mini disposable loaf pans and one 5.5 X 7.5 loaf pan. That's the magic of this recipe, want one for you and gifts to give? Done! Want mini's to freeze so you won't do as I would and eat it all in one sitting--got you covered. But mostly, it's knowing that if you fill the pan 2/3 of the way, you can bake it in any shape and number you want. Of course, adjust the baking time if you make this bread in, say a cake, bundt or springform pan--just test it.
The Orange and Honey Whipped Cream Cheese takes this delicious bread a notch up and is a quick and easy. With Easter on the horizon, this would be perfect on the brunch table--something made ahead and oh so very good. Enjoy!
Carrot Bread
- 4 eggs
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 1/4 cups Canola Oil (I prefer Canola Oil because it's flavorless, but if you have vegetable--also flavorless, or corn oil, feel free to use that)
- 3 cups all-purpose flour, unsifted
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 cups finely shredded raw carrots (about 3 large carrots)
- 1 cups raisins, plumped
Boil 1 cup of water and pour over the raisins. Leave to plump until ready to drain and add to recipe.
Scrape and grate the carrots. Using the fine shred blade to your food processor, grate the carrots until you have 2 cups.
In a large bowl, beat eggs, gradually adding the sugar and beating until thick. Add the oil and continue to beat until thoroughly combined. Stir in flour, baking powder and soda, salt and cinnamon until the mixture is smooth.
Stir in the carrots. Drain the raisins and add them to the bowl, stirring until the carrots are blended well.
Turn into the prepared pans, filling the pans no more than 2/3 full. Bake in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for 1 hour for large loaf or 45 minutes for smaller loaves for until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool and remove from pans. Enjoy with cinnamon or honey whipped cream cheese.
Makes 2 5 X 9 inch loaves or 4 coffee can sized loafs.
Orange and Honey Whipped Cream Cheese
- 1 package cream cheese, room temperature
- 4 tablespoons honey (or more to taste)
- 1 heaping tablespoon orange zest
- 1 tablespoon orange juice
In mixing bowl, combine the cream cheese, honey and zest. Mix until combined. Slowly add the orange juice, whipping to incorporate. Spread will be soft, but will hold shape and isn't runny.
Not only is this spread wonderful with this bread, but give it a try with bagels, graham crackers or even as a quick filling for a mini tartlette topped with a fresh strawberry.
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