Excellent Easter Eating
Posted by Arwen Mosher in Food on Monday, April 05, 2010 10:23 PM
Cooking is the one household chore that doesn’t feel like a chore to me, and I also love to eat, so it should come as no surprise that I get excited about the feasting aspect of the Easter season.
Although I love reading about all our readers’ enthusiasm for the stuff, I don’t really care for candy. I haven’t eaten a single piece of Easter candy yet! But it’s not because I don’t like sweet stuff. I’ve just skipped the candy so I could have more room for carrot cake.
I’d rather not admit how many pieces of carrot cake I’ve eaten in the past two days. I made two large sheet cakes to feed the twenty-five people that were at my parents’ house for dinner yesterday, and I used my mom’s recipe which is deliciously moist and wonderful. There’s still more in my fridge, and while it’s there, chocolate carries no appeal for me.
My sister and I have also had a great time putting together a dinner menu for the Easter octave. Since we were trying to eat simply during Lent, now is the time to make all the meals that were too indulgent for us to have during Lent. Shrimp pasta, a favorite chicken dish, and bacon-wrapped sausages are on the menu this week. We can’t wait!
I’ve shared my mom’s recipe for carrot cake below. In the meantime, if you’re looking forward to making some culinary indulgences during this Easter season, please share! Easter’s fifty days long, and I could use some ideas.
Yellow Deli Carrot Cake
1 lb carrots, grated
1½ cups sugar
4 eggs
1½ cups cooking oil
1 Tbsp cinnamon
2⅔ cups flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 Tbsp baking soda
1½ tsp salt
Preheat oven to 350°. Grease and flour a 9x13 pan. In a bowl, combine carrots, sugar, eggs, oil, and cinnamon. Stir until texture is uniform. Add rest of ingredients and beat 200 strokes. (Or use a hand mixer or stand mixer and beat briefly.) Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 45-50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Cool completely and frost with cream cheese frosting (recipe below). Store frosted cake in refrigerator.
Cream Cheese Frosting
1 (8oz) package cream cheese
½ cup (1 stick) butter
¼ cup buttermilk*
1 tsp vanilla
1 lb (about 3½ cups) powdered sugar
1 cup chopped pecans (optional)
In a stand mixer or with a hand mixer, beat cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add buttermilk and vanilla and beat until fluffy. Add sugar slowly while beating until spreading consistency is reached. (Slightly more or less sugar may be needed.) Add pecans. If not using immediately, keep refrigerated.
*If you don’t have buttermilk, put a teaspoon of vinegar or lemon juice in a measuring cup, fill with milk to the ¼ cup line, then stir and let sit out until it curdles. It will taste just the same.
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