Sunday, November 18, 2012

Discovering Fall

It's been a crazy month and I'm personally looking forward to it's end. I'm exhausted. And I can't believe that Thanksgiving is only a few days away! I haven't been cooking at all, unless you count defrosting some of the contents of my freezer in anticipation of losing power (which I did not, thankfully!). I am totes looking forward to trying out some new fall side dishes and baking some pies. 

Somewhere along the way, and for some unknown reason, I made a carrot cake, a potential alternative to pumpkin pie or a nice fall birthday cake. (I probably bought carrots for another use and forgot why.) Speaking of birthdays, I recently had one of my own and on that oh-so-special day, managed to get a reservation to see Discovering Columbus, the installation by the artist, Tatzu Nishi. The exhibition has been extended because of The Hurricane, so you now have until December 2 to get your own reservation. (It's free, but you need an advanced reservation to see it.) I highly recommend it. When else are you going to be able to see a statue in person that is otherwise situated out of reach at 75 feet in the air? And then you should go home and make some carrot cake. Because there's...Cream. Cheese. Frosting.


The structure

Entering The Room

Columbus

Nishi's Wallpaper Design




Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
From The Ski House Cookbook

Cake 
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
Pinch of ground nutmeg
4 large eggs
1 1/3 cups canola oil
3 cups shredded carrots (about 6 medium)
1 cup chopped pecans



Frosting
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, room temperature
1 (16-ounce) box confectioner’s sugar
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Butter one 9 x 13 pan or two 9-inch round cake pans.

2. To make the cake, in a medium bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. In a large bowl, beat the eggs lightly to combine, then whisk in the oil. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir to combine. Stir in the carrots and nuts. 

3. Pour the batter into the prepared pan or divide the batter evenly between the two round pans. Bake for 45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean. Remove to a rack to cool. For the round pans, cool for 5 minutes, then unmold and cool completely. 

4. To make the frosting, in a large bowl beat together the cream cheese, confectioner’s sugar, butter, and vanilla. Spread the frosting evenly over the top. For a layered cake, spread the frosting between the layers and over the sides and top. Store covered at room temperature for up to 2 days or refrigerated for up to 5 days.