Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

By: Lucy Waverman

This recipe would also make great muffins.

3 cups (750 mL) flour
3 cups (750 mL) granulated sugar
1 tsp (5 mL) salt
1 tbsp (15 mL) baking soda
1 tbsp (15 mL) ground cinnamon
1½ cups (375 mL) corn oil or canola
4 eggs
1 tbsp (15 mL) vanilla
1 1/3 cups (325 mL) puréed cooked carrots
¾ cup (175 mL) grated carrots

Cream Cheese Frosting
8 oz (250 g) cream cheese at room temperature
6 tbsp (90 mL) unsalted butter
3 cups (750 mL) icing sugar
1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla
Juice of half a lemon (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C).

2. Grease two 9-inch (1.5-L) square or round pans.

3. Mix together flour, sugar, salt, baking soda and cinnamon. Add oil, eggs and vanilla and beat well with an electric mixer. Fold in puréed carrots and grated carrots.

4. Pour batter into prepared pans and bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until edges have pulled away from the sides. Let cool for 3 hours before icing.

5. To make cream cheese frosting, cream together cream cheese and butter with an electric mixer. Slowly add icing sugar and beat until smooth. Mix together, vanilla and lemon juice and add just enough for the frosting to be of spreading consistency. Smooth frosting over sides of cake.

Makes 2 small or one 2-layer cake

Read more »

Caramelized Onion Phyllo Tarts

By: Julia Aitken

These rich, appetizer-size tarts make elegant canapés or, when served alongside a green salad, a pretty summer sit-down appetizer for four or six people. Refrigerating the tarts makes the pastry soggy, so store them at room temperature and serve within a couple of hours of baking. Use a mini-muffin pan with cups that hold 2 to 3 tbsp (25 to 45 mL).

Filling

1 tbsp (15 mL) butter
1 tbsp (15 mL) olive oil
2 large red onions, thinly sliced
1 tsp (5 mL) granulated sugar
1⁄2 tsp (2 mL) salt
1 tsp (5 mL) balsamic vinegar
Freshly ground black pepper
2 eggs
1⁄4 cup (50 mL) whipping cream

Phyllo Tart Shells

2 tbsp (25 mL) butter
2 tbsp (25 mL) finely grated
Parmesan cheese
1⁄2 tsp (2 mL) dried thyme
1⁄4 tsp (1 mL) freshly ground
black pepper
2 sheets (each 13 x 13 inches/
33 x 33 cm) frozen phyllo pastry, thawed

1. For filling, heat butter and oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions, sugar and salt; cook, stirring, for 3 to 5 minutes until onions start to release some of their moisture.

2. Reduce heat to medium; cook, stirring occasionally, for about 40 minutes until onions are very tender, browned and sticky. Remove skillet from heat; stir in balsamic vinegar. Taste and add pepper and more salt if necessary. Let cool completely.

3. With a fork, beat eggs and cream into onions until well combined; set aside.

4. For phyllo tart shells, clarify butter by melting it in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Carefully skim off any scum, then pour butter into a small bowl, leaving any milky residue behind in saucepan.

5. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).

6. In a separate small bowl, stir together Parmesan cheese, thyme and pepper.

7. Lay 1 sheet of phyllo on work surface; brush with half the clarified butter. Sprinkle evenly with Parmesan mixture. Lay second sheet of phyllo over first; brush with remaining butter. Cut stacked phyllo into 12 even-size rectangles.

8. Carefully fit 1 phyllo rectangle into each of 12 cups of a lightly buttered mini-muffin pan. Spoon onion filling into phyllo tart shells, filling each generously. Bake for 16 to 18 minutes, until pastry is golden and crisp and filling is bubbly. Let tarts cool in pan for 5 minutes; remove tarts and serve warm or at room temperature.

Makes 12 tarts

Read more »

Butter Tart Muffins

By: Lucy Waverman

These muffins are very dense and really do taste like butter tarts. They are also not supposed to look rounded and perfect like a regular muffin, so when putting them in the pan leave them looking messy.

¾ cup (175 mL) granulated sugar
½ cup (125 mL) butter, cut into pieces
2 eggs, slightly beaten
½ cup (125 mL) milk
1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla
1½ cups (375 mL) raisins
1½ cups (375 mL) flour
2 tsp (10 mL) baking powder
1 tsp (5 mL) baking soda

Read more »