This is a super easy version of the classic carrot cake…moist and soft with thin layers of light cream cheese frosting in between.

There are hundreds and hundreds of carrot cake recipe, and this one is one of the easiest one…especially when we are on lock down and have limited ingredients…

I made this cake for my husband’s birthday a few days ago…since we could not go out and celebrate as we usually do, I asked him what cake he would like and he asked for carrot cake…after searching my entire pantry for pineapple which was nowhere to be found I had to adapt…

– Why is this carrot cake “healthy”?

Well, believe it or not, there is a whole pound of carrot in it…and yes, makes me feel less guilty knowing that I am eating lots of carrot per bite.

– Is there a lot of sugar in it?

If you have been following me, I always…always try to cut the sugar and fat without compromising the flavor and texture of my baking goods.  So yes, there is sugar, but much less as compared to the recipes that you find out there and I can assure you that you will not miss it.

– Can I freeze the cake?

Absolutely, first slice the cake into desired portion and wrap in plastic film, place the sliced cakes in freezer bags, seal well by first removing all the air and store in the freezer for up to 3 months. Defrost in the refrigerator overnight and it will taste as fresh as it can be.

– Can I use different size of baking pan?

Of course, just make sure to adapt the baking time accordingly.

– Are you ready to try this easy and carrot cake?

Ingredients:

Carrot Cake

• 4 large eggs
• 175 g sugar
• 200 g vegetable oil such as canola or sunflower
• 250 g all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 lb carrot, shredded

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 1 lb cream cheese
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup powder sugar
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 ½ to 2 cups toasted walnut and chopped

Method:

Preheat oven to 350^oF.

In a bowl sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Set aside.

Mix together the eggs and sugar, whisk until think, light and fluffy, add the oil slowly in a steady stream. Continue whisking until well incorporated.

Add the sifted dry ingredients into the egg mixture and fold gently.  Once the flour is well incorporated into the egg mixture, fold in the carrot. Do not over mix…just enough to combined.

Spread the batter evenly onto 36 X 24 cm (14.5” x 9.5”) jelly roll pan. Tap the pan lightly on the counter to remove excess of air bubbles.

Bake in 350^oF for 15 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the cake comes out clean.

Let the cake cool on a wire rack.

In the meantime, whisk together the cream cheese, butter, sugar and vanilla extract until soft and fluffy. Make sure to scrape down the sides occasionally.

To assemble the cake, cut the edge of the cake and split the cake into 4 equal rectangles.

Place the first layer and spread a thin layer of cream cheese frosting and sprinkle with chopped toasted walnut, continue with all the layers of cake and finally spread the frosting around the sides of the cake and decorate with the remaining chopped almond.

Place the cake in the refrigerator until time to serve. I personally like the cake after being refrigerated overnight.

– If you enjoy this simple classic carrot cake, you might want to take a look at these cakes…

Did you know that carrots are loaded of beta-carotene? Beta-carotene is a precursor for vitamin A which is essential for boosting your immune system. Studies have also shown that carrots can protect against hypertension (increase blood pressure) and cardiovascular disease.

Thank you for visiting Color Your Recipes…have a colorful week!

A fresh cup of soy milk just out of the machine is unbelievable delicious, plain, with a bit of sugar or in your coffee.

When growing up in Brazil, my mom used to make soy milk from scratch, she would soak the beans, put them into the blender, and grind until a consistency of milk shake and then strain, then the milk is place into a big pan and boiled.

When the soy milk is cooking there is a very distinct aroma, therefore when I make soymilk I love the smell that comes from the machine as it brings me so many great memories of my childhood.

Now, I make fresh soy milk every 3 days and we use in coffee, with cereal, baking and just as it. Soy milk is an essential part of our breakfast.

– Are looking for a healthy substitute for dairy-free milk?

Soy milk might be the answer for you if you are looking for a no-dairy milk.

– How the homemade soy milk taste?

I would really encourage you to try making soy milk from scratch as it tastes much better than the store-bought ones, no matter which brand.

When buying store-bought soy milk (like many plant-based milks), you will often find unnecessary additives, preservatives and thickeners.

– What is the easiest way to make soy milk?

Well, the most common way to make soy milk is to use a good blender, but I decided to use a soy milk machine, a specific machine that is built to mainly make soy milk.

– What do you need to make soy milk?

Only one ingredient…a good quality of organic soybeans. Really…soybeans and water. The trick is to soak the soybeans overnight or up to 12 hours.

How I do it?

I wash about 5 cup of soybeans and soak overnight. Drain well and store into 2 freezer bags. I use the frozen beans and place directly into the machine with water. After approximately 35 minutes, the process is done.

I pour the milk through a thin colander and the milk is ready to be used. The remaining is stored in a glass container, cooled and stored in the refrigerator.

One important thing is to wash the soy milk machine as soon as you are done, otherwise all the small soy particles will stick on the wall of the machine/blade making it very difficult to wash.

– How do I make soy milk without a machine?

Wash the soybeans and soak overnight.

Blend the soaked soybeans in water until smooth like a milk shake consistency.

Pass the soybean paste through a filter/fine colander or cheese cloth.

Boil the liquid on the stove top and let it simmer for a couple of minutes.

Remove from the heat and serve.

You can make the soy milk more diluted by adding more water to the final liquid.

– Like the freshly made soy milk? You might want to take a look at these…

Did you know that soy contains is a great source of protein? Soy in low in saturated fat and does not contain cholesterol and is an awesome substitute for dairy milk.

Thank you for visiting Color Your Recipes…have a colorful week!

This is somehow a combination of caramel apple and apple pie…the slices of apples are covered with caramel and layer on a buttery, tender and flaky crust…absolutely yum!

– Have you ever tried apple tarte tatin?

Well, this is my very first time and I already can tell you that this is my favorite apple dessert…if you like caramel apple and apple pie you just landed on the right recipe.

– What is apple tarte tatin?

Apparently is a French version of apple pie…it is mainly an upside-down tart baked in skillet. You have one layer of crust topped with caramelized apple.

– How easy is to bake an apple tarte tatin?

In my opinion, is much easier than apple pie, since you just need one layer of crust…make the caramel in the skillet, layer the sliced apples (or halves) and top with the crust just before taking to the oven.

Once baked, just make sure to be careful…flip the skillet on a serving plate and voila…done! Delicious as it is or with vanilla ice cream, which I did not have…sniff sniff…but will make sure to have some next time around.

– Are you ready to try this out?

Ingredients:

Crust

• 50 g butter
• 20 g sugar
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 120 g all-purpose flour
• 20 g almond flour
• 1 large egg

Caramel apple

• 2 large apples, peeled and sliced into 8 slices each
• ¼ cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 pinch salt
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon Bourbon

Method:

In a bowl, add the cold butter, sugar, flour, almond flour, salt and using a pastry blender cut the butter into the flour until the texture resemble coarse cornmeal with butter pieces just like small peas.

Add the egg and mix with a fork just until the dough pulls together.

Wrap the dough in a plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375^oF if using convection oven or to 400^oF for regular oven.

In the meantime, place the sugar in an oven proof skillet or cast-iron pan (about 8 inches or 20 cm) and turn the heat to medium high. Watch carefully as the sugar can burn very fast. Once the sugar turns to light brown swirl the pan carefully until the sugar turns amber brown.

Remove the pan from the heat and add the butter. Once the butter melts, add the vanilla extract and Bourbon. Swirl gently and place the slice of apple, arranging them neatly. Place the pan back to the stove and cook for 2-3 minutes. Turn the apples one by one carefully and cook for another 3 minutes.

Remove the skillet from the heat.

Lightly flour the work surface and the dough, then flatten the disk rolling pin by gently tapping the dough a few times from the middle to the top and bottom. Lift the dough and give it a quarter turn. Lightly dust the top of the dough with flour if necessary or the rolling pin, then roll out into a round at approximately 9 inches in diameter.

Place the crust on top of the apples and tuck the pastry inside the skillet.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, until the crust is golden brown.

Let it cool for 5-10 minutes, invert the pan on top of a plate.

Serve warm or room temperature.

– Looking for easy desserts recipe? Ty these out…

Did you know that apples contain pectin? Pectin is used in the making of jam as a thickening agent. Moreover, pectin is a dietary soluble fiber which can help lower cholesterol.

Thank you for visiting Color Your Recipes…have a colorful week!

This almond cream muffins are super quick and easy with moist and tender crumb with a hint of the delicate almond flavor.

The combination of cake flour and almond flour make this muffin light and moist with a hint of almond…super delicious with a cup of coffee or tea.

– Looking for an easy and no mess muffin recipe?

This recipe uses one, only one bowl, and it is super, I repeat… super easy to make for breakfast or snack.

– Can I add fruit in it?

Absolutely, you can add berry, such as blueberries, strawberries, frozen or fresh and/or lemon zest…use your imagination.

– No oil muffin?

Yes, instead of oil or butter, this muffin uses the fat from the cream (crema Mexicana).

– Are you ready to try this recipe?

This recipe was slightly adapted from Brechel.

Ingredients:

• 100 g of cream
• 1 egg
• 65 g cake flour
• 20 g almond flour
• 4 g baking powder
• 1 pinch salt
• ½ teaspoon almond extract
• Sliced almond for topping

Method:

Preheat oven to 350^oF.

In a bowl whisk together the cream, egg, sugar and salt.  Mix until sugar is dissolved.

Sift the cake flour, almond flour and the baking powder into the egg mixture.

Add the almond extract and mix gently, do not over mix.

Scoop into pre-lined paper muffin cups, about 80% to the top.

Sprinkle sliced almonds on the top of each muffin.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of a muffin comes out with crumbs.

Transfer the muffins to a cooling rack.

– Looking for more simple baked sweets? Check these out…

Did you know that almond flour is packed in protein? Almond flour also contains vitamins, minerals and it is a great source of fiber as compared to the white flour.

Thank you for visiting Color Your Recipes…have a colorful week!

This ciabatta has a super open crumb, it is so light and airy…perfect to dip into an extra virgin olive oil, as your soup companion or as sandwich.

With the present social distancing, for me baking bread has been one of the best therapy, as I twist here and there recipes to see if I can get a better result…and all my friends love it as I tend to send them out very often.

If you are not familiar with ciabatta please look at this post and this one…

– Why is this ciabatta so light?

It is so light because has 78% of water in the dough.

– Is the dough very sticky?

Definitely, since 78% it’s water…as the gluten forms less sticky the dough will be. As the ratio of water increases, harder is to handle the dough.

– What is the secret to work with sticky dough?

Wet hands…yes, wetting your hands before handling the dough makes all the difference.

– Is it really a no-knead bread?

Absolutely…only mix well and use two methods, stretch and fold (all four sides) and coil and fold (2 sides).

– Is it hard to achieve such an open crumb?

Yes, just follow the recipe carefully and handle the dough very gently.

In this recipe I added extra steps as compared to the Easy No-Knead Ciabatta and I believe I got a better texture.

– Ready to check on the recipe?

I end up with 3 loaves and gave two to my friends that live in the area…no need to mention that they were so happy as it is so hard to find freshly baked bread now days due to the lock down.

Ingredients for:

2 loaves

• 530 g bread flour
• 414 g water
• 20 g olive oil
• 8 g salt
• 3 g yeast

3 loaves

• 800 g bread flour
• 624 g water
• 30 g olive oil
• 12 g salt
• 4 g yeast

4 loaves

• 1100 g bread flour
• 858 g water
• 40 g olive oil
• 17 g salt
• 5 g yeast

Method:

In a rectangle container with lid, mix the water with yeast.  Stir gently until all the yeast is totally dissolved.

Add in olive oil, salt and flour.  Mix using a Danish dough whisk as the dough will be very wet.

Mix until the dough comes together.

Cover the dough and let it rest for 1 hour in a warm environment.

Using a stretch and fold method, wet your hands and gently pull the dough from one side of the container and fold into the middle of the dough. Do the same on the other three sides of the container, folding always into the middle of the dough.

Once all the sides had been stretched and fold over, flip the dough so the fold in on the bottom of the dough.

Cover and again let it rest in a warm place for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Once the time is up, perform the same stretch and fold (all for sides of the container and tuck the fold on the bottom again). Cover and let it rest in a warm place for another 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Next we will be using the coil and fold method. Wet your hands and reach under the dough which is spread on the container and lift slowly, the front of the dough will detach and go under forming a coil, repeat on the opposite side. Then use the same method on the other side.

Let it rest for 45 minutes and repeat the method of fold/coil. Cover and let it rest in a warm place for 45 minutes to 1 hr. The dough will be very giggling…

Sprinkle flour on the counter and on top of the dough. Turn the container with the dough on the counter and let the dough fall into the flour surface.

Sprinkle more flour on the top of dough and loose the bottom with the help of dough scraper.

Cut into 3 pieces, and gently place them on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet.  Sprinkle more flour on the top to avoid sticking. Cover and let it rest for approximately 1 to 1 ½ hour.

In the meantime, preheat the oven to 450^oF with an empty pan on the bottom of the oven and boil approximately 1 to ½ cup of water.

Spray the dough with a little water, then place the dough into the oven and carefully add the boiling water on the empty pan to create steam. Close the oven door and bake for 15 minutes at 450^oF.

For the first 10 minutes, spray a little water in the oven every 5 minutes. After the 15 minutes, remove the water in the oven and lower the temperature to 425^oF and bake for another 15 minutes.

Turn the oven off and leave the oven door ajar for 10 minutes.

Remove the ciabatta from the oven and let it cool completely on a wire rack.

Ready to be picked up…

– Looking for more bread recipes? Check these out…

Thank you for visiting Color Your Recipes…have a colorful week!

Have you ever had these little gems? Each bite comes with a slightly sweet flaky crust with a creamy egg custard…so good!

– Before the post…a few words regarding today’s situation.

During this uncertain time, I still want to keep my blog on… cooking/baking is a therapy for me.  I have been sharing bread and even meals with friends and neighbors. This is the time where compassion and kindness are the greatest human emotion.

As we are all living the unthinkable, I wish you all faith, courage, patience and love…may this situation be over soon.

– Back to the post…

I still remember when my son was about 1 year and we were in a local dim sum…he loved these egg tarts…but only the custard…he would spoon all the egg custard and leave us the crust…similar to what he did with the Oreo cookies. One day I found all the Oreo cookies in the jar without the cream and all of chocolate wafer cookies had his teeth marks…

– Where are these egg tart originated?

Apparently, these are a lighter version from the Portuguese egg tart (pastel de nata) and were introduced to Hong Kong and Macau by the Portuguese colonizers.

In my opinion the Portuguese tarts custard are denser and milkier as compared to the Chinese one, which has less milk and are shinier.

– Where can I find these egg tarts?

They are usually found in Chinese bakeries and dim sum…and best when served warm.

– Is it a lot of work to make these egg tarts?

For the longest time I want to make these egg tarts but the thought of molding each tart by hand individually was too intimidating…until this past Saturday when nothing was planned, and I decided to work on it…

To my surprised it was a piece of cake…and not as laborious as I thought…making the crust was easy, molding it too a bit of time since it had to be done one by one, and the egg custard was super, I repeat super easy.

– How can I store the leftover egg tarts?

You can store them in the refrigerator and use a toaster oven or an air-fryer to warm them since they are better when served warm.

– Are you ready to try?

This recipe was inspired by Kathrine Kwa YouTube video  with minor adjustments.

Ingredients:

Crust dough

• 100 g butter, slightly softened
• 30 g sugar
• 1 large egg
• 200 g all-purpose flour

Egg custard

• 4 large eggs, I used extra large eggs
• 250 ml boiling water
• 100 g sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 100 ml milk

Method:

Crust dough

Using a hand mixer, soften the butter until creamy, add the sugar and continue to mix, stopping occasionally and scrap the sides of the bowl.

Gently whisk the egg and add to the butter mixture, half at the time until creamed mixture.

Slowly add the sieved flour into the creamed mixture and use a spatula to mix until resembles a coarse crumble.

Using your hands put together the coarse crumble into a ball. Wrap the dough with plastic film and refrigerate for approximately 30 minutes.

In the meantime, make the egg custard.

Egg custard

Dissolve the sugar into the hot water, mix well until all the sugar is dissolved. And set aside until cool to room temperature.

Whisk eggs gently, add the milk and vanilla extract. Pour the sugar water to the egg mixture and stir it. To avoid bubbles do not whisk vigorously.

Strain the egg mixture to a very fine mesh strainer.

Assembly

Preheat oven to 300^oF.

Remove the crust dough from the refrigerator and using a roller pin flat the dough to approximately 2 mm (⅛ in).

Cut dough with a cookie cutter that is just a bit larger than your tart tin in size. Line dough in the middle of tart tins, one by one.

Lightly press the dough with your thumbs, starting from the bottom then up to the sides. While pressing the dough, turn the tart tin clockwise/anti-clockwise in order to make an even tart shell. Trim away any excess dough.

Alternatively, you can weight approximately 25-28 g of the of the dough, make a ball and place in the center of the tart tins and with your thumbs press until the dough covers the tin like the method describe above.

Use a fork and poke holes the bottom of the dough. Pour the egg mix into the tart shells and bake for 15 minutes, or until the edges of the tarts are lightly browned. Turn the oven temperature down to 275^oF and continue to bake for another 10 minutes. Keep an eye on the tarts and once the egg custard starts to puff up, open a little the oven door to avoid the custard to over bake.

To make sure the egg custard is done, poke a toothpick at the center of the tart and if the toothpick standstill, the tarts are done.

Remove form the oven and let cool on the wire rack.

Serve warm.

– Care for more dessert recipes? Check on these…

Thank you for visiting Color Your Recipes…have a colorful week!

This simple Swiss roll cake loaded with creamy, sweet and nutty taro filling is amazingly delicious. The soft and cottony cake layer with the purple cream is just heaven…

As mentioned on my previous post…here I am with another taro post, this time taro was made into a creamy and rich filling for Swiss roll cake.

If you are interested in learning more about taro root, please check my previous post…

– Why this cake is different?

Yes, you read it right, the filling of this cake is made with taro…taro can be used in savory or sweet dish, it is super versatile and packed with healthy elements in it.

– Can I find this kind of cake in Asian bakeries?

Yes, again, you can find taro filled cake (birthday cake) with layers of taro cream in between cake. They even decorate the cake in purple so you are aware of its flavor.

– Ready to try this unique taro filling?

Ingredients:

Taro filling

• 500 g taro cut into small cubes of approximately ½ in
• 1 can low fat coconut milk
• 60 g sugar or more if you prefer a bit sweeter

Cake Roll

• 3 eggs
• 35 g vegetable oil (I used sunflower)
• 30 g milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 60 g cake flour
• 1 pinch salt
• 6 g white vinegar
• 60 g sugar

Method:

Taro filling

In a medium pot add the taro and the coconut milk. Cook under medium heat for approximately 10 minutes.

Add the sugar and stir gently. Cook for another 5 to 10 minutes. At this point the taro will be soft and breaking/melting into the coconut milk.

If you like with little pieces of taro, remove from the heat and let it cool. If you like creamier, let it cook a couple more minutes and mashed the remaining pieces of taro into the cream.

Let the taro cream cool completely and store in the refrigerator.

Cake Roll

Preheat oven at 275^oF.  Line a 9 x 13 inch (23 x 33 cm) jelly pan with parchment paper.

In a small bowl, mix cake flour with salt., and set aside.

In a medium bowl, stir together egg yolks, oil, milk, vanilla extract. Add the sifted mix of cake flour and salt to the egg yolk mixture. Mix well until smooth and all the flour is well incorporated, resembling a pancake mix batter.

In a large bowl of a hand-held mixer or stand mixer whisk the egg white with the vinegar until large bubbles form. Add the sugar slowly into thirds. Whisk until medium/firm peaks form. Do not over beat, the meringue should be shiny and form soft but firm peaks.

Add about ⅓ of the meringue to the egg yolk mixture and mix gently until all the egg white is incorporated to the batter.

Pour the egg yolk mix to the remaining meringue and fold gently until all the egg white is combined to the batter.

Pour the batter into the prepared baking sheet and spread evenly. Gently tap the pan against the counter to remove excess of air bubbles. Bake at for 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.

Remove cake from the oven and transfer it with its parchment paper onto a wire rack and let it cool.

Flip the cake to another piece of parchment paper of silicone mat.

Peel the parchment paper from the cake and roll it. Let the cake cool.

Unroll the cake and spread a thin layer of the cooled taro filling. Roll back and wrap tightly with a plastic wrap.

Place the cake roll in the refrigerator for a couple of hours before serving.

– If you like this Swiss cake roll, you might want to look at these dessert recipes…

Thank you for visiting Color Your Recipes…have a colorful week!

This ciabatta has a slightly crispy crust and chewy crumb with all size of holes and loaded with Kalamata olive…delicious for sandwich or just dipped in olive oil.

My husband loves olives, all kind of olive, so when I made this bread he was is awe…and now this is his favorite bread…

his simple and easy no-knead ciabatta uses an overnight poolish, so you need to plan ahead…but after this first step there is not other trick…indeed super simple and easy.

– What is ciabatta?

Ciabatta is Italian means “slipper”, meaning that the bread is so running that has a shape of slipper…mainly flat.

– No-knead ciabatta?

Yes, like all the other no-knead bread, ciabatta can be made using the same method.

– What is poolish?

Poolish is a starter or pre-dough which is made of 100% hydration (equal parts of water and flour by weight) and a pinch of yeast. Allow the poolish to develop for about 12 to 16 hours depending of the room temperature.

– Are you ready to try this recipe?

Ingredients:

Poolish

• 100 g water
• 100 g bread flour
• 1 pinch of yeast

Final Dough

• 325 g water
• 15 g olive oil
• 5 g salt
• 2 g yeast
• 100 g whole wheat flour
• 300 g bread flour
• 150 g Kalamata olive drained and sliced

Method:

Poolish

The night or late afternoon before, in a medium/large bowl dissolve the yeast into the water and add the flour. Mix well and cover. Let the poolish ferment at room temperature for 12-16 hours.

Once the poolish has lots and lots of bubbles and started to collapse on the top and smell sweet, it is time to start the bread.

Final Dough

Measure and add the water and pour into the poolish.  Mix gently to loosen the poolish up. Add the, olive oil, flours, yeast and salt.

Mix it up with a Danish dough whisk or with a fork. Mix until the dough comes together. Go around the bowl (rotating approximately ¼ every time) using a stretch and fold method for 10 times.

Place the dough onto a rectangle container with lid and let the dough rest for 1 hour.

Fold in the sliced Kalamata olives using the stretch and fold method until the olives are evenly spread into the dough (4 times). Cover the dough and let it rest for 30 minutes.

Use the coil and fold method, 4 times and tuck the end of the dough down. Cover the dough and rest for 30 minutes.

Repeat the process for another 2 times. Resting for 45 minutes in between.

After the last dough resting, 40 to 45 minutes, sprinkle flour on the counter and on top of the dough.

Turn the container with the dough on the counter and let the dough fall into the flour surface.

Sprinkle more flour on the dough and loose the bottom with the help of dough scraper.

Cut into 2 pieces and place them on a flour couch. Do not worry about its shape. Sprinkle more flour on the top if necessary, to avoid sticking. Cover for approximately 45 to 50 minutes.

In the meantime, preheat the oven to 450^oF with a pan containing water.

Gently transfer the dough to a pan lined with parchment paper.

Bake for 15 minutes at 450^oF. Remove the water in the oven and bake for another 10 minutes. Lower the temperature to 425^oF and bake for another 5 minutes.

Remove from the oven and let it cool completely on a wire rack.

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– If you enjoy this simple and easy recipe of no-knead bread, you might want to look at these…

Did you know that olive is a fruit? Kalamata olives were originally from Greece and in now days these olives grow in United States and Australia. Olives are considered healthy, as they are a good source of fiber and vitamins.

Thank you for visiting Color Your Recipes…have a colorful week!