Carrot Pineapple Cake

My dad turned 70 on Monday and I hosted a birthday party for him. I attempted to make it a surprise party but when I realized that I needed to get some addresses from him I had to tell him. When I told him he said," The surprise will be if anyone shows up!" Lots of family and friends showed up and we had a really good time. My dad has three favorite desserts - Carrot Cake, Apple Pie and Ice Cream.  I have made my dad carrot pineapple cake every year for his birthday for as long as I can remember. When his mother turned 50 he made her the same cake and served it on a milk glass cake stand that he bought as her gift and that I now have and serve the cake to him on it every year.

Carrot Pineapple Cake

Ingredients for Cake:

2 cups Flour

2 cups Sugar

2 tsp. Baking Powder

1 1/2 tsp. Baking Soda

2 tsp. Cinnamon

1 10oz crushed pineapple, drained

2 cups Grated Carrots (the grocery stores sells grated carrots!)

1 tsp. Salt

1 1/2 cups oil

4 eggs

1/2 cup Walnuts, chopped

Ingredients for Frosting:

1 8oz package of Cream Cheese, softened

1/2 cups Butter, softened

4 cups Powdered Sugar

2 tsp. Vanilla

Milk (if needed)

1 cup Walnuts, chopped

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Mix dry ingredients together. Mix in oil and eggs. Fold in the carrots, pineapple and nuts.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes in 2 greased and floured 9" round cake pans. Cool for 10 minutes then remove from pans and let cool completely on a cooling rack lined with parchment or wax paper. I do this so that it is easy to pick up and move to my cake stand to decorate.

Frosting:

Mix the softened Cream Cheese and Butter together. Add Powdered Sugar one cup at a time. Add Vanilla. If the frosting is a little thick you can add  1 tsp of milk at a time to get the right consistency.

Use a small amount of the frosting to use as a filling. Frost the outside of the cake with remaining Frosting. Add the chopped walnuts to the outside of the cake.

If you ask my dad how he is doing with out fail he will always say, "Not bad for an old guy!" I hope you enjoy the Carrot Pineapple cake as much as my dad and I do!

 

Orange Blondies

I was in the mood to make something with oranges. I love white chocolate cranberry blondies so why not make orange ones. So I loosely based my recipe off one that I had and they turned out alright if I do say so myself!

Orange Blondies

Ingredients:

3/4 cup butter
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
2 eggs
3/4 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/4 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoon grated orange peel
12 ounces white chocolate chips

Frosting:

1 8oz package cream cheese, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoon grated orange peel
Orange juice

Directions:

1. Melt butter, stir in brown sugar. Cool to room temperature.
2. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt.
3. Beat eggs and vanilla into butter mixture.
4. Gradually add the butter mixture into the flour mixture.
5. Stir in grated orange peel and white chocolate chips. (Batter will be thick)
6. Spread into a greased 9 X 13 pan. Bake at 350 for 18-21.
7. Cool on wire rack.
8. For Frosting, beat the cream cheese, confectioner's sugar and orange peel together. Add a teaspoon of orange juice at a time until you reach desired consistency.
9. Once blondies are cooled, frost.
10. Cut into bars and store in air tight container in the refrigerator.

Serendipity and Spice

Caramel Banana Walnut French Toast

Yes it is a mouth full to say and is worth stuffing your mouth with! I decided to make French Toast for dinner. Sometimes I like to also make Stuffed French Toast. Normally I top Stuffed French Toast with Strawberries and Whipped Cream but I decided to make a Caramel Banana Walnut Syrup this time.

Doesn't this look yummy! 

Not the prettiest picture, the cream cheese filling looks a little like a glob of mayo. Now that would be really grose!

Here is the final product. Stuffed French Toast with Caramel Banana Walnut Syrup!

Recipe:

Caramel Banana Walnut Syrup

1/2 cup Butter

1/2 cup Brown Sugar

2 Banana's sliced

1/2 cup of Walnuts

Melt butter in sauce pan. Mix in brown sugar til mixed well. Add walnuts and bananas. Let the mixture get thick and bubbly. Take off of heat and set aside. You can use a spoon and serve out of the pan or pour into a liquid measuring cup for easy pouring.

Stuffed French Toast

16 slices of bread (I use the cheapest bread at the store because I need to make so much)

8 oz Cream Cheese

1/2 cup white sugar

Your favorite French Toast mixture (egg, milk, cinnamon, vanilla)

Soften cream cheese to room temperature. Mix white sugar into the cream cheese. Spread the mixture onto half of the bread. Top the bread with the other slices of bread. Dip bread into French Toast mixture and fry on a frying pan til toasted. Serve French Toast on plate and Top with Caramel Banana Walnut Syrup. 

This was really rich! I am lactoce intollerant and usually don't drink milk but I needed a little after this! I hope you enjoy this recipe!