Close Up - Carrot Cake

In fourth grade, I failed my eye exam.  I didn’t just fail, but I failed MISERABLY.  I had known for some time that this was going to happen, but I couldn’t admit it to myself.  The day of the eye exam I hoped that I would be able to fudge my way through it, kind of how I had fudged my way through my multiplication tables in 3rd grade (I’m still terrible at my 8’s).  I don’t remember much of the exam, but the long walk back from the nurse’s office, back to the classroom, that ended with me in tears, before I walked back through the door remains with me.

It’s funny the things you remember in a semi-traumatic moment.  (It's all relative.  It was just the aches and pains of growing up, but at the time seemed like the most dire moment of my 9 years on Earth.)  I for some reason remember what I was wearing that fateful day.  I wore a tie dyed t-shirt, knotted on the side and some black lyrca shorts.  I had on a red woven headband that we had gotten on a family trip to Guatemala.  What I was wearing is really of no importance, but I was positive the minute I got the note to go to the optometrist that I was going to be this lame, four eyed girl in that awkward phase in life.  Boys were never going to like me and I was going to be this nerdy preteen that loved Ace of Base.  I loved Ace of Base, I kind of still do.  And even before the glasses I was still nerdy, but I thought it was debatable.

Devastated and dramatic, I took my slip home to my parents and within a week my dad took me to the optometrist.  I don’t know if my pops could tell that I was apprehensive or nervous, but he made me feel better and it wasn’t the worst thing in life.  I resigned myself to bad eyesight, but if I was going to have glasses they were going to be cute/cute for a young girl in the early 90’s. It took me forever.  Knowing that I would have to wear them all the time and be seen in them put a lot of pressure on me.  So I picked a pair of frames that had little flowers on the side (probably my first error in the glasses category, but I kind of liked them).  Of course, I also picked one of those lanyards to hold my glasses around my neck (that was definitely my second error).  No one really wore cool glasses at that time, and I wish I could say I was ahead of my time, but I was really no exception.

While we were at the eye doctor, another woman was there picking out new glasses as well.  I’m not sure if she felt sorry for me (because I was so young and had to wear glasses) or actually thought I had some spunk, but she approached my dad about testing me for commercials because she worked for an advertising agency.  Maybe my life wasn’t doomed after all!

So my mom set it up and I went and tested for this commercial.  (Interestingly enough it was for some sort of Betty Crocker product or kitchen related brand.)  I wore my new glasses and they tested me for it without them.  I was terrible at memorizing my lines and all together was probably VERY bad at it.  In the end they went with someone else.  The main reason, the nice woman explained to me, was because there would be hand close ups  and I was/am a nail biter.  I don’t remember being too crushed by it, it’s not something I was sure I really thought was that cool, but that was the last and only time I stepped in front of a serious camera person. 

Last week, I ended my feud with the limelight and had professional photos taken by my friend John at Redtown Photography.  I wasn’t sure what to expect (he might not have been either).  I was nervous and giddy at the same time.  I was nervous the photos would be bad or just not exciting or that John would be bored and think this project was super lame.  I was giddy because it’s freaking cool.

And it was freaking cool.  John showed up with all this equipment and flashes and stands and fancy photography stuff.  I made him lunch, because that’s what a good hostess does (and that’s what I’m sure they do on the Food Network).  Once we got to work, I just let him play with it.   It was a fun and different experience and a learning process for both of us.  I could go on and on about how easy he was to work with and how fun it was to have someone in the kitchen and how fantastic everything turned out, but I won’t.  I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves!

Carrot Orange Cake Adapted from a Bon Apetit recipe found here.

Ingredients:
½ cup – butter
½ cup – vegetable oil
½ cup – unsweetened applesauce (the natural kind)
1 cup – brown sugar
1 cup – sugar
4 – eggs
1/3 cup – orange juice
1 TBSP – orange zest
2 cups – all purpose flour
2 tsp – baking soda
1 tsp – baking powder
1 tsp – cinnamon
1 tsp – ginger
½ tsp – nutmeg
½ tsp – salt
4 cups – peeled, grated carrots (just under a 3lb bag of baby carrots run through the grater on the food processor)
¼ cup – raisins, rehydrated in warm water for about 30 seconds

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.  Use baking spray to coat 2 – 9” round pans.  Cover the bottoms of the pans with a parchment circle and respray the pans.
In your mixer, beat the oil, butter, applesauce, and both sugars until combined.

Add the eggs, one at a time, beating the batter until combined after each addition.  Beat in the orange juice and zest. 

In a large, separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt.  Add the flour mixture, gradually, to the sugar mixture.

Beating until combined between additions.

Stir in the carrots and raisins to the batter by hand.

Bake the cakes for about 50 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.

Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients:

1 ½ - 8 oz packages of cream cheese
1 ½ - sticks of butter, room temp
5 cups – powdered sugar
2 TBSP – sour cream
1 tsp – Wonder Flavor (This amazing product by McNess, or you can just use vanilla extract)

Directions:
Beat the cream cheese and butter until combined.  Slowly add the sugar to the butter until combined.  Finally beat in the sour cream and the Wonder Flavor.

Wrap up and substitutions:
The cake was delicious.  The flavors were all there and it was incredibly moist.  I got a lot of compliments on the addition of the raisin and how much they were enjoyed.  I had originally planned to buy shredded carrots (it’s the Semi-Homemade in me), but the grocery store was out.  I was worried that shredding the carrots was going to be time consuming and frustrating.  As soon as I figured out the attachment on my food processor it was quick and simple.  I would also recommend soaking the bowls, food processor equipment as soon as you’re done with the carrots since they can dye white plastic orangey.  No complaints were filed in the making of this cake. 
When making it again, I will probably up the raisins to a ½ cup and I will also cut down on the orange juice.  It was nice to have a hint of orange, but it kind of drowned out the carrot flavor.  So I will either split the orange juice in half with carrot juice or with just water.  It’s important to keep the orange flavor in tact, but not make it the central point of the palate. 

All my photos were shot with me in my contact lenses.  Sadly, I still wear glasses, but I think they’re much hipper now.  Fourth grade may have seemed like my down fall, but I should have known that there would be something else to rear it’s ugly head down the line.  In 5th grade I received the beautiful news that I would need braces.  Glasses and braces at the same time – the absolute worst.  (It was pretty bad.)  Somehow I managed.  And the reality is, I don’t feel super scarred by it.  So they made me a little nerdy and socially inept for a small fraction of time, but it all worked out. I had my “swan” transformation when the braces were gone and I got contacts (probably getting boobs helped with that too).  Even though I ditched my head gear and my face lacked it’s four eye decoration, I was still the same person.  Nothing had really changed and I think it’s best that way.  Today I would even say SOMETIMES I look cute in my glasses, and without my nerdy side you would be reading a boring blog with unimaginative recipes.  Now if only I could get John to come take pictures every time I decide to bake something - life might be perfect.

I took all these awesome pictures of John. Obviously, I'm not a professional photographer, but he looks pretty cool.

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