Mark's Easter Carrot & Cinnamon Cake with Lots of Frosting!!

I decided to make my husband a cake for Easter instead of getting him an Easter egg, as he kept telling me he didn't want an egg.

I know he loves carrot cake so i decided to make one with extra frosting!!!

He loves mini eggs so to make it more festive i decorated the cake with them.

So he did get an egg after all.......

Pre heat oven 180c, 375f gas mark 5

Cake

½ pint sunflower oil
8oz soft light brown sugar
4 medium eggs beaten
6oz golden syrup
12oz self raising flour
2 tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
9 ½oz grated carrot

Frosting recipe follows next picture.

Grease and line 2 x 20cm round tin.

Put the oil, sugar, golden syrup and eggs in a mixer and blend together, add the flour, cinnamon, bicabonate of soda and grated carrot to the mixer and mix till just blended.

Pur the mixtures equally into the tins.

Bake in the oven for 30/35 minutes, or till a skewer or cocktail stick comes out clean.

Leave to cool in the tins for 10 minutes, then take them out of the tins and let cool completely before you frost them.

Frosting

8oz full fat cream cheese

4 ½oz unsalted butter room temperture

1lb icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 bag of Cadbury mini eggs

In a mixer cream the butter till it's soft and pale, add the cream cheese and stir together, add the vanilla extract and stir it in, then stir in the icing sugar, till it's smooth.

Turn both cakes over so you have flat surfaces to frost.

Put a layer of frosting on the top of the first cake, then sandwich the second cake on top.

Spread the rest of the frosting all over the cakes, and decorate with mini eggs. 

Curried Parsnip, Carrot & Ginger Soup

I had a lot of parsnips left in my garden that needed to be used up, and my son absolutely loves soup, so i used them to make a big batch of soup.
He is only two but he loves food with a lot of flavour and he especially loves anything curried.
So i made up this recipe for him.

Makes 11 child portions
Prep time 20 minutes
Cook time 1 hour

2 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion cut into wedges
1 kg parsnips cored and cut into 3cm lengths
1 kg carrots sliced in half and cut into about 3
1 tbsp grated  fresh ginger or ground ginger
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp ground coriander
1 tbsp dried coriander
1 tsp brown sugar
½ tsp turmeric
Fresh ground pepper to season
2 tins of plummed tomatoes
1 ½ litres of vegetable stock

In a large roasting tin mix the first 11 ingredients and roast for 30 to 35 minutes.
Blend the vegetables till smooth with the tomatoes and vegetable stock, then heat through in a saucepan, season to taste and serve.

Beef Stew & Herby Dumplings Especially for Mary...

I made this stew for my dear friend Mary when she was feeling under the weather. We lived in America at the time but have since moved back to England
So Mary this is for you so you can make it when your feeling ill, or even better get someone else to make it for you.

It does freeze well, so you could make it and freeze it for when you need it..

Serves 6

Prep time 15 minutes

Cooking time 3 hours

Pre heat oven to 180c, 380f, gas mark 5

2 tbsp olive oil

1 kg stewing beef cubed

1 large onion chopped

5 carrots sliced

250g chestnut mushrooms sliced

2 garlic cloves finely chopped

1 tbsp dried oregano

½ tbsp fresh rosemary finely chopped

½ tbsp fresh thyme finely chopped

1 tsp celery salt

1 tsp ground black pepper

3 tbsp flour

2 tins plum tomatoes

1 tsp Worcester sauce

½ bottle of red wine

500 ml beef stock

Dumpling Ingredients

250g self raising flour

140g suet

1 ½ tsp baking powder

1 ½ tsp dried oregano

roughly 60ml water

In a large casserole dish that has a lid, heat oil then season and brown beef, remove from dish.
Add the onions to dish and sauté till softened, then add the carrots and sauté for 3 minutes, then add the mushroom and sauté foe 3 minutes, add garlic and sauté for 1 minute.
Add all the herbs, pepper and celery salt and sauté for 1 minute, stir in the flour, then add the beef back to the dish, add the wine cook out for 2 minutes, then add the tomatoes, Worcester sauce, and beef stock bring to the boil then turn down heat and simmer for 2 ½ hrs.
Make the dumplings by mixing all the dry ingredients together, then gradually add the water till you have a dough that is slightly sticky, roll into balls about the size of a golf ball and place in the stew, make sure you leave enough room for them to expand.
Cover the dish and cook in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes.