Several friends and family members of Dulce Bread &Book Shop have inquired about the new Carrot Bread recipe served on various occasions. I researched a few Carrot Cake recipes in various cookbooks and cooking websites and blended several recipes to come up with Dulce’s Carrot Bread. Over at the allrecipes.com website I found the base recipe with which I began to experiment. It is with pleasure that I share it with you,as all sweet bread is meant to be shared with friends and family complimented with a steamy cup of coffee and a good read.
Dulce Carrot Bread with Cream Cheese Icing
Ingredients for bread
4 eggs
1 ¼ cups canola oil
2 cups brown sugar
3 teaspoons Mexican vanilla extract
2 cups unbleached,pastry flour (Dulce uses wheat flour)
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon sea salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
3 cups grated carrots (loosely measured,not packed)
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
1 cup chopped Colombian bocadillo veleño (optional)
Ingredients for icing
¼ cup of unsalted butter,softened
4 ounces cream cheese,softened
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon Mexican vanilla extract
? cup grated carrots (for sprinkle décor)
½ cup of chopped Colombian bocadillo veleño (optional)
Directions for bread
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9×13 inch pan or a Bundt pan.
- Beat together eggs,oil,brown sugar,and Mexican vanilla. Mix in flour,baking soda,baking powder,sea salt,cinnamon,and nutmeg. Stir in carrots. Fold in walnuts. Pour into prepared pan.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 45 to 55 minutes,or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes,then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.
Directions for icing
In a bowl,combine butter,cream cheese,confectioners’ sugar,and Mexican vanilla. Beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Stir in chopped Colombian bocadillo veleño. Frost top of cooled cake. Sprinkle with grated carrots.
I don’t know about you but when I receive a new cookbook I immediately jump to the pastries and desserts chapter. This,to me,is what makes or breaks a cookbook. This weekend I will be in Dulce’s kitchen jumping right into the twelfth chapter of Williams-Sonoma’s Essentials of French Cooking,Les Desserts and Pâtisseries. This cultural cookbook tours through 21 French regions experiencing some of the most distinctive characteristics of France’s “geography,culture,and culinary specialties.” Following a savory invitation by Patricia Wells at the beginning of this sweet journey,I shall “don an apron,roll up [my] sleeves,light the oven,take out the sauté pan,and delve into the marvelous collection of traditional French recipes offered here,” that is to say,the desserts and pastries recipes. Oh,and of course,bon appétit!
Today I will be baking the Brown Butter Sablés,a crunchy shortbread cookie that is “a favorite afterschool snack for French children.” However,I dare say that whether in school or not,shortbreads tend to be everyone’s favorite snack. I’ll report back on my cultural baking adventure soon. Stay tuned!
Simple,yet Dulce,ingredients. What more can you ask for? Butter,Brown sugar,Salt,Vanilla,Flour
Essentials of French Cooking (Williams-Sonoma)
Chuck Williams,Editor
Tucker &Hossler,Photography
Sarah Putman Clegg,Text
Pub:Oxmoor House
Pub Date:Feb 2010
ISBN:9780848732943
