Carrot Cake

Cook, Crafter and Wonderer's  Famous Carrot Cake

If there is one cake I'm very proud of, it would be my carrot cake. I like the fact that I can say it is low in fat, that it is delicious and that it is a household favorite. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Carrot Cake Ingredients

1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
3 eggs or equivalent egg substitute
3/4 cup milk and vinegar mixture ( to 1 cup of milk- any type- add 2 tbsp vinegar and let sit for 5 minutes)
2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup applesauce
1 cup shredded coconut ( I use unsweetened)
1/2 cup chopped or crushed pecans
1/2 cup chopped or crushed walnuts
1 cup raisins
1 8oz can of crushed pineapple with juice
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp freshly ground nutmeg

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease and flour cake pans or if using  a cupcake mold place paper liners.
2. In a medium bowl, sift together flours, rising agents, salt and spices. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, combine eggs, milk mixture, applesauce, sugar and vanilla. Mix well.
4. In a medium bowl, combine shredded carrots, coconut, nuts, pineapple and raisins.
5. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix well until completely incorporated using a large spoon or spatula.  Add carrot mixture to batter and fold in well.
6. Pour into prepared pans, and bake at 350°F (175°C) for 20-25 minutes.  This cooking time is for 3 8-inch pans, if baking on a square pan or bigger diameter, adjust baking times accordingly. I would suggest you check  your cake in the center with a toothpick for doneness (if it comes out clean, it's done). If baking cupcakes, you can use an ice cream scoop to put the batter into liners and bake for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
7. Allow to cool for at least 10 minutes before transferring to wire rack to be completely cooled. 
8. Once completely cooled, frost cakes with cream cheese frosting ( recipe below). You can add chopped nuts on side for added decoration.
9. Enjoy! 

Cream cheese frosting 

Ingredients:

1 package of room temperature cream cheese ( Neufchatel cheese can be used)
1 stick of butter at room temperature
1/4 tsp salt
4 cups confectioner's sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
2-3 tbsp milk ( fat free half and half works as well)

Directions:

1. On a stand mixer, cream butter and cream cheese for 5 minutes at high speed until mixture turn paddle and if very fluffy. 
2. Lower speed and as salt and flavorings until incorporated.
3. On low speed, slowly add sugar to mixture. Once combined add milk for desired consistency. The less amount of milk, the thicker the frosting.

Hot Air Balloon Mobile

I have a wonderful friend who is expecting and while visiting her she showed me these beautiful glass balloons she had purchased for her baby's room. It gave me a wonderful idea, to make her a handmade gift that would incorporate her balloon theme. I had seen some balloon mobiles on Etsy and Pinterest and thought to myself that  I could make one.

Here's what you'll need to make one:

1. Felt in different colors (I ended up using about 1/4-1/2 yard of each color)
2. Embroidery thread ( I used white and brown)
3. Embroidery ring
4. A book ring
5. Glue gun and glue sticks
6. Balloon pattern
7. Pen
8. Scissors
9. Cotton filler
10. Embroidery needle
11. White acrylic glue
12. Paintbrush

The first step in making the mobile was to find a balloon pattern online, I just performed a Google Search and printed the balloon I liked the most. Once that was done, I cut out the pattern and traced it on the felt. Each balloon had 4 sides, I needed a total of 24 balloon cutouts, but you can modify to who many balloons you'll need.

Once the patterns were traced and cut, my next step was to work on the balloon baskets. For the baskets, I ended up cutting strips of brown felt and creating a weaved pattern of 4 strips height-wise and 12 small strips lengthwise. Each strip was about 1/2 inch. Once I had the weave completed, I glued everything down. I was able to fold the weave in half, (height-wise) and end with a 2 x 12 strip. I then started cutting my assembly down to 2 x 2 pieces and gluing approximately 3 inches of brown embroidery thread on each side. Below is a picture of the finished product.

For the balloons themselves I started by gluing two sides together as shown below.

That was followed by adding glue to the second side of the balloon and placing one of the strings of the embroidery thread on the glue (picture below).

I repeated both of the previous gluing steps and this is the finished product.

All the clouds I cut freehand, I made sure to fold my felt in half so each time I made a cloud I ended with two identical copies. If cutting the clouds freehand seems a little too daunting of a task, you can always search online for a cloud pattern or template and use that as a guide.

Instead of gluing the clouds together as I did for the balloons, I used the embroidery thread and needle to stitch them together. Before going all the way around on the stitching, I used cotton filler to fill the clouds and give them a 3D effect.

The embroidery ring was a plain wood once, I ended buying an 8 inch but looking back I could have used a smaller one. Since I didn't want the wood to show I painted the ring white using some acrylic paint and a paintbrush.

Once the ring was dried assembly time came. I used the glue to place clouds all around the outside loop of the embroidery ring, making it seem like the balloons were reaching the sky.

Using my white embroidery thread and needle, I "sowed" a knot on the top of each balloon and added different lengths of thread in order to create my balloon heights. I I also added some thread to plain clouds to help me fill any gaps between balloons.

To complete the assembly, I tied 5 long strings of embroidery thread to the inner loop of the embroidery ring. 

I had all the strings tied to a book ring that can be used to mount the finished product.

I also tied the balloons and clouds that were connected to embroidery thread to that inner ring before placing the outer ring and tightening. That way no thread knots can be seen from the outside and it keeps the mobile able to be adjusted without affecting the outer look.

Here's another picture of the finished product: