Orange Cake with Orange Zest and Orange Juice with Cream Cheese Frosting

Epicurious recipe\
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Carrot-Orange-Cake-with-Cream-Cheese-Frosting-904


4 Forks, the highest rating.

My lower-sugar version of this Christmas' Orange Cake is at the bottom.

Cake

• 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
• 1 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
• 1 cup sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 1/3 cup orange juice
• 1 tablespoon grated orange peel
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups finely grated peeled carrots
• 1 cup raisins

Frosting:

• 2 8-ounce package cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter

• 6 tablespoons orange juice
• 2 teaspoons grated orange peel
• 5 cups powdered sugar, sifted

For cake:
Preheat oven to 325°F. Lightly butter 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Line bottom with waxed paper; butter paper. Using electric mixer, beat oil and both sugars in large bowl until well blended. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in orange juice and peel. Sift flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt into large bowl; add to sugar mixture and beat to blend. Stir in carrots and raisins.

Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake until tester inserted into center of cake comes out clean, about 55 minutes. Transfer pan to rack. Cool cake 15 minutes. Turn cake out onto rack. Remove waxed paper and cool. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Wrap tightly in plastic and store at room temperature.)

For Frosting:
Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese and butter in large bowl until light. Beat in orange juice and 2 teaspoons orange peel. Add sugar; beat until smooth. Refrigerate until thick enough to spread, about 30 minutes.

Using serrated knife, cut cake horizontally into 2 equal layers. Place 1 cake layer on platter. Spread with 1 1/2 cups frosting. Top with remaining cake layer. Using icing spatula, spread remaining frosting in thick decorative swirls over top and side of cake. (Carrot cake can be prepared 2 days ahead. Cover with cake dome and refrigerate.) Serve cake cold or at room temperature.

Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Carrot-Orange-Cake-with-Cream-Cheese-Frosting-904#ixzz19F8z7x25

My lower-sugar version of Christmas Orange Cake:
Reduce sugar to 1/2
Reduce oil by 1/3- Sometimes I substitute 50% of the oil with buttermilk/yoghurt/curd/applesauce - yes, I've made it several times!

Orange zest of 1 whole orange, and fresh orange juice from 2 oranges. 

I didnt have carrots this time, but- with them, will give a nice orange color, and make the cake dense and moist.

No frosting- instead I top with small chunks of white chocolate.
If doing the frosting, cut down the sugar, its way too sweet.
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Enjoy!!

Homemade Pizza with Mushrooms, Bell Pepper, Mozarella & pizza base

When I woke up this morning, I was on a mission.
To make myself a new winter cream with all those coming-of-age butters- Shea, Pistachio, and some aging oils Walnut, Apricot and dashes of EOs- to smooth skin, keep me warm and up metabolism.

That done, I slathered myself smooth, I began to want more work... serves me right for overdoing the Turmeric- (read about Turmeric & upping metabolism here)

So, I sliced & diced Onions, peppers, Mushrooms

sauteed them all with liberal lashings of extra Virgin olive Oil, salted and peppered them. Cut slices of Mozzarella

 

Whipped Pizza sauce over pre-heated Pizza base

 Piled the veggies - Red onions, baskets of mushrooms, Red & Yellow Peppers

 

Cheese slices on top -  This is the other mini - Wait is that enough cheese?

-

Looks better now

 Forgot the Rosemary, lift the cheese, sprinkle it in. And into the oven we go.....

 Voila... 

Whats life without a microwave..

 Cut & Eaten in the next 10 minutes by Me n my family..

Feels like I'm in a Jason Statham movie- boy, that dude moves...

The end.
Maybe part 2 will come up later.

Jasmine Tea for Mom n Me (and Rose Tea)

Jasmine Tea & Rose Tea !
These indulgent drinks arouse the senses of touch, taste and scent and are a pleasure to be enjoyed.

Ok, this isnt the conventional way to make Jasmine Tea  but its delicious n energizing besides smelling awesome!
and to top it all, the Jasmine are plucked fresh from the backyard.

 This Jasmine is a sambac, or Night Jasmine, a rare double-petalled variety at that. Its blooms open early in the morning and its heady fragrance is incredible.

This morning these beauties are headed into Tea.
Black Tea!
Green tea, which is normally used to make Jasmine Tea & served as such in Chinese restaurants, does not have a wide following in India.

So, 2 cups water, 2 tbsp Tea or about 1/2  the quantity to make regular black tea only so as to not overpower the Jasmine

Boil tea with 1 cup milk or more.

Drop in the Jasmine.
Turn the burner off, cover with a lid for 5 minutes.

If the Jasmine is boiled, much of its fragrance is lost

Garnish with a couple of blooms to heighten the fragrance. Serve immediately.

Sit back, Relax
Close your eyes , smell the fragrance and sip it slowly.

And is it really aphrodisiac?

Couldnt say for sure, but I find it relaxes me from yesterdays tensions and makes me warm & forgiving. Surely thats aphrodisiacal?

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Rose Tea
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 Every once in a while, a flower seller comes by on his (bi)cycle with bags of flowers attached to it. Since I'm trying my hand at infusing them, (another post), I have fragrant roses at hand.

These are Rosa centifolia, the lighter colored variety which are more fragrant than the deeper pink ones.

Taking a couple handfuls of the washed and draining petals, I put them in a pot of merrily boiling water with black tea already added.

Turn off burner, cover with lid, wait 5 minutes.
After 5-6 minutes, the petals are near the consistency of cream and I love eating a couple of them along with my tea.
Add a touch of milk or drink without.

Tea is ready.

Sit back, smell the aroma of fresh roses & sip slowly.

Rose Tea unlike sedative Jasmine, makes for a  happy, playful & carefree mood.


Treat your senses!
Try them sometime!

Eggnog Recipe w Bourbon & Rum

Recipes for the Holidays

Talk of the Nation, December 19, 2008 · It's a question that many people have on their minds this season: Does spiking the homemade eggnog safeguard it against salmonella? Eggnog expert and microbiologist Vince Fischetti of The Rockefeller University in New York runs some tests to find out.

Found this on the net-and seems really nice to share.

Eggnog Recipe

1 dozen eggs
1 quart heavy cream
1 quart light cream
1 pint bourbon
1 quart rum
nutmeg
sugar to taste (1/2 - 3/4 lb)

Beat eggs, add bourbon and rum slowly with stirring to prevent precipitation of egg proteins. Beat heavy cream separately until it peaks and add to the egg/bourbon/rum mix.

Add the light cream with stirring. Add the sugar to taste with mixing (1 pound/batch), then add nutmeg to taste.

Leave standing at least overnight with lid slightly ajar in refrigerator. Serve after 2-3 weeks in the cold.