Carrot Marmalade

A revived version of one of my older recipes, like most things I cook over time evolution kicks in and I find ways to improve on the original. I first tasted this jam whist working in the Sahara, some of the local Berber people ate it on there version of a pan-cake. At first I wasn't sure what it was but after some miscommunication I learnt the vibrant orange colour came from carrots. Since I've developed my own version and has become a signature item on all the tables in Kaffeine.

1 kg peeled and grated carrots
3 un-waxed lemons
3 oranges
1 liter water
1 kg granulated sugar

METHOD:
Place the carrots and water into a large heavy based pot, using a peeler peel skin off the lemons and oranges, roughly slice peel and add to the pot. Over a strainer squeeze the juice out of the oranges and lemons and pour into pot.  Keeping the seeds and pith place in muslin cloth and tie into a tight bundle and lastly add to the carrot and citrus mixture. Place pot over a high heat and bring to a simmer, once simmering turn the heat down slightly and cooking for 1 hour.
After the hour is up remove the muslin bundle, add sugar and turn up the heat, once rapidly boiling cook marmalade for 20 minutes. To test if marmalade is ready place a tablespoon of jam on a cold plate and leave to cool for 1 minutes then run your finger through the middle of marmalade if the jam doesn't merge back together it is then ready. Carefully pour the marmalade into sterilized jars and cover with lids, leave marmalade to cool and set for a couple of days before using.

Incredibly Moist and Super Juicy Carrot Cake

My friend Matt who lives in Auckland emailed me the other day asking for a good carrot cake recipe, I had one but its in my head and I'd never bothered to write it out. My ideal carrot cake has a lot of other ingredients to make it really moist and fruity, so I add bramley apples which are good for cooking and banana, but my secret ingredient is a teaspoon of good quality dark cocoa powder which rounds all the flavours together. Also if you can't get sweet spear carrots then just use regular carrots.

Here you are Matt happy baking x.

175g self-raising flour
175g golden caster sugar
175g butter at room temperature
3 large eggs
150g finely grated sweet spear carrot
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon dark cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
70g walnut halves
100g sultanas
1 lime
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 small ripe banana mashed
1 bramley apple peeled and finely grated
10g pumpkin seeds

ICING:
200g full at cream cheese
50g icing sugar
1 teaspoon lemon juice

METHOD:
Pre-heat the oven to 170oC, grease 2x20cm sandwich cake tins with butter then line the base and sides separately with parchment paper.
In a small pot place the rind and juice of lime, vanilla and sultanas and place on medium heat stirring once in a while till the sultanas have soaked up the liquid then remove from heat to cool slightly.
Place in a large mixing bowl the flour, sugar, butter cubed, eggs, carrot, cinnamon, cocoa, soda, 50g of the walnuts, sultanas, banana and apple. Using a electric beater mix all the ingredients till evenly combined. Then divided the cake batter between the 2 cake tins and place in oven on middle shelf for 30 minutes to cook.
Once cooked leave to cool completely before turning out and removing parchment paper.
For the icing place the cream cheese, icing sugar and lemon in a bowl and mix together with a wooden spoon till well combined. Place one of the cakes on a serving plate and evenly spread out half the icing over the top then place the second cake on top and evenly spread out the remainder icing over the top surface. With the extra walnuts place them evenly round the top edges of the cake (almost like a watch face) then sprinkle the pumpkin seeds round the middle of the cake and your cake is now ready to eat!

Carrot and Lemon Jam:

I first tried this jam while working in the Sahara desert during Ramadan, this is one of the condiments the locals put on their pan-cake and breads. When I first tried this unusual vibrant orange spread I thought it was a peach or apricot preserve but to my surprise the jam was made from carrots. I've made many batches of this spread and have discovered the flavour improves with time. 

1kg Carrots

2 Un-waxed Lemons

1.2kg white sugar

Method:

Wash and peel the carrots and place in a large pot with cold water, place the pot on a high heat and bring to the boil. Cook the carrots till just tender, drain and run carrots under cold water till you can hold the carrots in your hand.

Finally grate the carrots and place a heavy based pot with sugar, place lemons in a food processor and pulse till the lemon is a mushy paste and add to the pot. Put the pot on a medium high heat and bring to a simmer stirring occasionally. If the jam starts to burn on the base turn the heat down. To test if the jam is ready place a small teaspoon on a cold saucer and leave for a few minutes then run your finger through the jam if the jam doesn’t run back together then the jam is ready.

Pour the jam into sterilized glass jars (I usually use 4 250ml glass jars) leave the jam to cool slightly before screwing on the lids. Do not clean the sides of jars till the jam has cooled completely as the glass jars will shatter. The flavor of this jam will improve with age I recommend leaving it for at least 6 weeks before serving.

Carrot Cake Friands

Tiny, moist, and gluten free. These friands have a longer shelf life compared to muffins and cakes, a fresh variation on the usual plain almond or strawberry variety.

600g ground almonds

10 egg whites

250g butter

1 zest and juice of un-waxed orange

1 peeled and grated green apple

100g raisins

100g Walnut roughly crushed

3 Carrots

300g caster sugar

150ml natural yoghurt

½ teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon vanilla

Icing:

150g mascarpone

400g icing sugar

1 teaspoon lemon juice

12 Walnut halves

Method:

In a large mixing bowl add the ground almonds, sugar, crushed walnuts, raisins, cinnamon, baking powder, peeled and finally grated carrots, evenly combine with mixing spoon. Then melt the butter and add the orange zest and juice, vanilla, yoghurt, and apple. Add the wet mixture to the dry and mix together till evenly combined.

Place the friand batter in the fridge for 8 hours or over night.

Once the batter has chilled heat oven to 160oC, grease 12 hold friand pan with spray oil or a little vegetable oil (if you don’t have a friand pan you can use a 12 hold muffin pan 3inch width and 1 inch deep) then spoon in the mixture till 3/4 level with the top of the moulds and place in oven for 30 minutes they should be a very pale golden brown on top.

Leave to cool for 10-15 minutes before removing from pan, when removing run a clean knife round the edges and they should come out clean (remove from pan while still warm not cool other wise they tend to stick).

In a mixing bowl place the mascarpone, lemon juice and icing sugar and blend together till smooth. You can either pipe the icing onto friands or spoon icing over the friands and garnish with a walnut on top of the icing. Leave the icing to set for 30 minutes before serving.
This mixture is enough for 24 friands; the batter can be stored for up to a week in an air tight container in refrigerator.