It's that time again when we have a 10 lb bag of carrots from Costco. And soon after we slice, dice and shred it into veggies, soups, pot pies and Shepherd's pie, it's time to draw upon this fab recipe that will make those babies disappear faster!

This time we made a double recipe, one to give away. Much appreciated by all last time I passed it around. And so easy and quick to make, not many bowls, no fancy egg and sugar creaming. I just upped the spice by adding different ones into the mix, but feel free to just use cinnamon. I did see some recipes using ginger powder, but I didn't think too much of that.

That was it, super easy, super quick. Super delish!

Got carrots? Go for it...

This recipe makes 2 20cm (8-inch) pans or 1 22x33cm (9x13inch) rectangular pan

Ingredients:
Cake:
3 cups grated carrots (about 5–6 large carrots)
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans, lightly toasted

4 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground allspice (optional)
1/2 tsp ground mace (optional)
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg (optional)
1/4 tsp ground cloves (optional)

Cream cheese frosting:
1/2 cup butter, softened
225 g (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
4 cups confectioners' sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
Pretty and whole pecans for decorating

Directions:
Cake:
1. Lightly toast nuts and either pound them in a mortar and pestle for bigger chunks, or process quickly for more even sized bits (which is what I did).
2. Wash and peel carrots, then shred in the processor. Set aside.
Nuts first, then carrots... that way you don't have to wash the processor bowl in between :)

3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
4. Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan.
5. In a large bowl, beat together eggs, oil, white and brown sugar and vanilla.
6. In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices and salt.
7. When wet ingredients are smooth and glossy, after 3-4 minutes, fold in the flour mixture.
8. Followed by the carrots and pecans or walnuts.

9. Pour into prepared pan.
10. Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 50 minutes, or until it passes the skewer test.
11. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.

To Make Frosting:
12. In a medium bowl, combine butter, cream cheese, confectioners' sugar and vanilla.
13. Beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy.
14. Frost the cooled cake and decorate with the pecans (or walnuts)

Cut them into squares or bars, and this is what I did with the corners ..... bite sized delights!

This recipe was adapted from Simply Recipes and I doubled it just because I usually do.

Ingredients:
3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
2 cups sugar
2 tsp baking soda
1-1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp allspice
1 can pumpkin purée
2 stick / 225 grams melted butter
4 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup water (or milk or beer?!?)
4 tsp molasses
2 tsp orange zest
1 cup chopped pecans


Directions:
1. Butter the pans and set aside.
2. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350F.

3. In a large bowl, whisk the dry ingredients to mix thoroughly.
4. In another bowl, mix the pumpkin purée, butter, eggs, water, molasses and zest.

5. In 3 batches, fold the dry ingredients to the wet and stir until just combined.
6. Add the pecans and give a final stir, taking care not to over mix.
7. Pour the batter into the 3 loaf pans and place them both on the middle rack, making sure to leave adequate space in between the pans (and the walls of the oven, of course).

8. Bake for 45-60 minutes until they pass the skewer test.

9. Let cool for 5 minutes on a wire rack before removing it to cool completely.
Wait to cool before slicing or glazing.

An orange juice glaze would work really well with it. Just a cup of powdered sugar with 2-3 tbsp orange juice... And maybe a bit more of zest in here too. Want to amp it up a notch? Maybe a dash of Grand Marnier...

Lovely, moist with tender crumbs. Great with my morning coffee.

Make the crust:
1. In a blender, pulse graham crackers, sugar, zest and melted butter.
2. Press this into the bottom of your 8 inch springform pan.
3. Bake for 10-12 minutes on a 350F oven, then cool on a wire rack

Cheesecake:
4. In a stand mixer, add the cream cheese to further soften, about 2 minutes.
5. Gradually add the sugar and salt, making sure to scrape down the sides.
6. Add the yogurt, vanilla and lemon zest and juice.
7. Add the eggs one at time until thoroughly mixed.
8. Pour this beautiful and healthful batter into the cooled crust.
9. Bake for 1 hour until the sides have pulled away from the pan and the middle is just a tad done.
10. At this point I usually turn off the heat and leave the cheesecake in the oven for another 20 minutes.
11. Remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack.
12. If it still hasn't passed the skewer test, invert a stainless steel bowl to cover the pan, propping it up on the sides so that bit of steam can escape but you are still retaining most of the heat.
13. When cool, cover with plastic wrap then refrigerate for at least 6 hours, or overnight.
14. Serve with your favorite berries.

Amazing array of flavors that amps up any curry. I use it a lot for Fish curry with the accompanying Baba's fish curry powder. We used to buy a premade package of it, but now it's just as easy to sizzle it together in the pan.

In equal measure:
Cumin seeds
Fennel seeds
Fenugreek seeds
(Brown) Mustard seeds
Nigella (kalonji) seeds

Fry them together before adding the aromatics to coax out this flavorful blend. You can grind them for a meat rub or sprinkle on fried or roast potatoes.

Ingredients:
For the Bottom Layer:
85 grams unsalted butter, cut into pieces
200 grams bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 tsp instant espresso powder
2 tsp vanilla extract
4 eggs, separated
Pinch salt
1/4 cup light brown sugar

For the Middle Layer:
2 tbsp Dutch processed cocoa powder
5 tbsp hot water
200 grams bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1-1/2 cups cold heavy cream
1 tbsp sugar
Pinch of salt

For the Top Layer
3/4 tsp powdered gelatin
1 tbsp water
6 ounces (1 cup) white chocolate chips
1-1/2 cups cold heavy cream

Directions:
A. Bottom cake layer:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Butter the bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform pan.
2. Set a large metal bowl over a pan of simmering water, and place the butter, chocolate and espresso powder
3. Stir until smooth.
4. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool
5. Whisk in the vanilla and egg yolks.

6. Whisk the egg whites and salt until frothy.
7. To this add half of the brown sugar and beat until combined.
8. Add the rest of the brown sugar and beat at high until soft peaks form.
9. Fold about a third of the egg whites into the bowl of cooled chocolate.
10. Gently fold in the remaining egg whites until just incorporated.
11. Pour the batter to the prepared pan.

12. Bake for about 15 minutes until the cake has almost set. It will have pulled away slightly from the edge of the pan but will remain slightly soft in the center.
13. Cool, inside the pan, completely.

B. Middle mousse layer:
14. Melt the finely chopped pieces of chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water. Stir this every so often until the mixture is smooth and consistent.
15. In the meantime, mix the cocoa powder and hot water in a bowl.
16. Once the chocolate over the pan has melted, remove from heat and set aside to cool down for about 5 minutes.

17. Whip the cream, sugar, and salt in a stand mixer with a whisk attachment on medium for 30 seconds, until it thickens.
18. When it thickens, increase the speed and continue whipping for about another 30 seconds until soft peaks form.

19. By this time, the melted chocolate should be sufficiently cool. Whisk together both chocolate mixtures until relatively consistent and smooth.
20. Into the chocolate, whisk about a third of the whipped cream until the colour is uniform.
21. With a spatula, fold in the rest of the cream until the colour is uniform once again.
22. Pour the mousse into your springform pan holding the cake.
23. Gently shake and tap the pan, then use a spatula to smooth the mousse over the cake.
24. Leave to chill in the refrigerator.

C. Top layer:
25. Simmer 1/2 cup of heavy cream over medium-high heat.
26. In the meantime, add gelatin to a bowl of water and set aside for 5 minutes.
27. Remove cream from heat and whisk in the gelatin until it has completely disintegrated.
28. To a bowl of the white chocolate, pour the cream and gelatin mixture and whisk the mixture is consistent in texture and the chocolate has melted. Set aside for 7 minutes to cool, though stir every now and then to keep the mixture smooth.

29. Whip the last 1 cup of heavy cream in a stand mixer on medium, increasing the speed as it begins to thicken. Once soft peaks have formed after about 30 seconds, Whisk 1/3 of the whipped cream into the white chocolate, cream, and gelatin mixture until smooth and the colour is uniform.
30. Fold in the rest of the cream with a spatula until the colour is uniform.
31. Taking the springform pan out of the refrigerator, pour the white chocolate mousse into the pan over the chocolate mousse.
32. Gently tap the pan and smooth the mousse with spatula.
33. Chill the cake in the refrigerator for about 3 hours up to a day until the cake has fully set.

34. Take the cake out of the refrigerator at least 45 minutes before running a thin knife between the cake and the side of the springform pan, and removing the pan.
35. Decorate as desired. We used Valrhona chocolate pearls. Yummm.... Just enough texture to balance this creamy and luscious dessert.