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 Carrot Cake Adapted from Joy of Cooking.
Total time: About 2 hours.
2 large carrots (2 cups grated carrots)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)
1/2 cup shredded coconut (optional)
Preheat oven to 325F.
Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and spices, set aside. Grate your carrots using the small holes on the cheese grater (if you haven’t already).
Cream together oil and sugar until slightly fluffy. Add eggs and mix until smooth. Slowly add flour mixture and mix until smooth. Add grated carrots, nuts and coconut (if using) and combine well.
Bake in a greased pan for 60-80 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out mostly clean.
Frosting: estimated 1:4:1 mix of cream cheese, powdered sugar and brown sugar, plus 1 tsp vanilla extract
I put my pecans on top instead of inside the cake. And yes, I served this for breakfast. It actually tasted better chilled (and the frosting set beautifully).
 Eggs Benedict Jenn and Jill challenged The Daring Cooks to learn to perfect the technique of poaching an egg for the December 2010 Daring Cooks’ Challenge. They chose an Eggs Benedict recipe from Alton Brown, Oeufs en Meurette from Cooking with Wine by Anne Willan, and Homemade Sundried Tomato & Pine Nut Seitan Sausages (poached) courtesy of Trudy of Veggie num num.
Total time: 1 hour
4 eggs
2 English muffins
4 slices of Canadian bacon/back bacon (or plain bacon if you prefer)
Salt and vinegar (for poaching)
Hollandaise Sauce
Chives, for garnish
1. Fill a medium saucepan halfway with water and bring to a simmer.
2. Add salt and a splash of vinegar (any kind will do). I added about a tablespoon of vinegar to my small saucepan (about 3 cups of water/720 ml of water), but you may need more if you’re using a larger pan with more water.
3. Crack eggs directly into the very gently simmering water (or crack first into a bowl and gently drop into the water), making sure they’re separated. Cook for 3 minutes for a viscous but still runny yolk.
4. While waiting for the eggs, quickly fry the Canadian/back bacon and toast your English muffin.
5. Top each half of English muffin with a piece of bacon. Remove the eggs with a slotted spoon, draining well, and place on top of the bacon. Top with hollandaise and chopped chives.
 Poached Egg on Eggs Benedict
 Hollandaise Sauce on top of Eggs Benedict Jenn and Jill challenged The Daring Cooks to learn to perfect the technique of poaching an egg for the December 2010 Daring Cooks’ Challenge. They chose an Eggs Benedict recipe from Alton Brown, Oeufs en Meurette from Cooking with Wine by Anne Willan, and Homemade Sundried Tomato & Pine Nut Seitan Sausages (poached) courtesy of Trudy of Veggie num num.
Total time: 35 minutes
3 large egg yolks
1 tsp. (5 ml) water
¼ tsp. (1 ¼ ml/1½ g) sugar
12 Tbl. (170 g/6 oz.) unsalted butter, chilled and cut in small pieces
½ tsp. (2 ½ ml/3 g) kosher salt
2 tsp. (10 ml) freshly squeezed lemon juice
Pinch cayenne pepper (optional)
Directions:
1. Fill a medium saucepan halfway with water and bring to a simmer.
2. Cut the chilled butter into small pieces and set aside.
3. Whisk egg yolks and 1 tsp. (5 ml) water in a mixing bowl large enough to sit on the saucepan without touching the water (or in top portion of a double boiler). Whisk for 1–2 minutes, until egg yolks lighten. Add the sugar and whisk 30 seconds more.
4. Place bowl on saucepan over simmering water and whisk steadily 3–5 minutes (it only took about 3 for me) until the yolks thicken to coat the back of a spoon.
5. Remove from heat (but let the water continue to simmer) and whisk in the butter, 1 piece at a time. Move the bowl to the pan again as needed to melt the butter, making sure to whisk constantly.
6. Once all the butter is incorporated, remove from heat and whisk in the salt, lemon juice, and cayenne pepper (if using).
This is slow, time consuming and absolutely perfect. The general principle for Hollandaise sauce is 1 egg to 4-6 Tbsp of butter. The only thing I might change for me is dropping down to 10 Tbsp of butter, as I felt it was a little too buttery with my 12 Tbsp of butter (I use only real salted butter). Once on top of my Eggs Benedict, I didn’t notice so much.
 Chinese Tea Eggs Sarah from Simply Cooked was our November 2011 Daring Cooks’ hostess and she challenged us to create something truly unique in both taste and technique! We learned how to cook using tea with recipes from Tea Cookbook by Tonia George and The New Tea Book by Sara Perry.
Total time: 30 minutes, plus steep time (I did 4 hours)
6 eggs (any size)
2 tablespoons (30 ml) (6 gm) black tea leaves, or 4 tea bags
2 teaspoons (10 ml) (5 gm) Chinese five spice powder
1 tablespoon (5 ml) (3 gm) coarse grain salt
toasted sesame seeds, to garnish
Directions:
1. In a large enough pot to avoid overcrowding, cover the eggs with cold water. Bring to a boil over medium heat and simmer for twelve minutes.
2. Remove the eggs with a slotted spoon and keep the cooking water.
3. With a spoon, tap the eggs all over until they are covered with small cracks. This can also be
done by tapping and rolling the eggs very gently on the counter.
4. Return the eggs to the pan and add the tea leaves or bags, Chinese five spice powder, and salt. Cover
the pan.
 Tea and five-spice 5. Heat gently and simmer, covered, for one hour.
6. Remove the pan from the heat and let the eggs cool down in the liquid for 30 minutes.
7. Remove the eggs from the liquid. Peel one egg to check how dark it is; the others can be returned to the liquid if you wish to have the web-like pattern darker. Allow the eggs to cool fully.
8. To serve, peel and slice the eggs in halves or quarters. Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds.
I mostly followed instructions, simmering for only another 15 minutes and steeping – cooling down – for 4 hours. I used whole spices instead of Chinese 5 spice blend (cinnamon bark, fennel seeds, star anise, cloves, pepper) and Chai Spice Black Tea because that’s what I had. I served my eggs deviled with heaping amounts of chipotle.
 Apple Butter (Yes, I ate some, and no, I'm not ashamed.) The September 2010 Daring Cooks’ challenge was hosted by John of Eat4Fun. John chose to challenge The Daring Cooks to learn about food preservation, mainly in the form of canning and freezing. He challenged everyone to make a recipe and preserve it. John’s source for food preservation information was from The National Center for Home Food Preservation.
Total Time: About 4 hours.
6 apples, washed with skins and cores removed
1/2 cup apple cider
1/4 cup loosely packed brown sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground allspice
pinch (1/8 tsp) of ground cloves
Makes about 2 cups of apple butter.
Cut apples into slices.
Combine apple slices and apple cider in a large saucepan. Cook slowly and stir occasionally to prevent sticking. Cook until apples are very soft (falling apart).
Gently mash the apples in the pot with your spoon or potato masher. (Alternatively, you could: Position a food mill or strainer securely over a large bowl. Press cooked apples with cider through the food mill or strainer to make a pulp. Be sure to collect all the pulp that comes through the food mill or strainer; for example, scrape any pulp clinging under the food mill into the bowl.)
Add brown sugar and spices to your apple pulp. Simmer over low heat, stirring frequently. When cooking down the apples, you want to leave the lid ajar or use a splatter screen. This will allow for evaporation. Another trick is to support the lid by laying two wooden spoons across the top of the pot.
To test for doneness, spoon a small quantity onto a clean plate; when the butter mounds on the plate without liquid separating around the edge of the butter, it is ready for processing. Another way to test for doneness is to remove a spoonful of the cooked butter on a spoon and hold it away from steam for 2 minutes. It is done if the butter remains mounded on the spoon.
Pour contents into desired storage container or multiple containers. Refrigerate up to 2 weeks, freeze up to a year, or home canning is good for a year.
I never took my apples or apple butter mix out of the pot until the very end. I used a really sturdy pot, and I could tell it was done when I moved the spoon through the apple butter and everything *stayed in place*. That might have been overcooked, but it also made the apple butter very sweet and flavorful.
This recipe is a half batch. A full batch is 12 apples, 1 cup cider, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 Tbsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp allspice and 1/4 tsp cloves.
 Pumpkin Muffcake 1 3/4 c flour
1 1/2 c pumpkin puree
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/4 c oil
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp ginger
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
Preheat oven to 350F.
Grease a muffin tin with soft or melted butter. Dust with sugar.
In a medium sized bowl, combine flour, spices, baking soda and baking powder, set aside.
Stir together sugar and oil until well blended. Add pumpkin puree and eggs. Mix until smooth. Add flour mixture and mix well, removing larger clumps, until mostly smooth.
Pour batter into greased muffin tin, and bake 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the closes muffin comes out clean.
I put some (soaked, drained) raisins in a handful of the muffins, and while it was good, it wasn’t as good as the muffin by itself. Slathered in butter was the way to go, but I still feel like it was missing something. Walnuts maybe?
 Pumpkin Bread Total Time: 1 hour
Makes 1 loaf.
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 cup fresh pumpkin puree
1 3/4 cup flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cloves
Some people add chopped nuts. I don’t.
Preheat oven to 350F.
Grease a loaf pan with soft or melted butter. Dust with sugar.
In a medium sized bowl, combine flour, spices, baking soda and baking powder, set aside.
Stir together sugar and oil until well blended. Add pumpkin puree and eggs. Mix until smooth. Add flour mixture and mix well, removing clumps, until smooth.
Pour batter into greased pan, and bake 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
This recipe calls for fresh pumpkin puree, which has considerably more water in it than the stuff you find in a can. For a recipe with canned pumpkin, please see Dad’s pumpkin bread (it makes two loaves!).
 Perfect Pocket Dough That’s right: I’m calling it perfect because it is. I’m even giving it a special large photo all its own.
Total time: 20 minutes.
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup plain yogurt
2 Tbsp oil
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
Makes about 10 sandwich pockets.
In a large mixing bowl, sift together dry ingredients.
Make a well in the middle. Add oil and yogurt into the middle, mix well, and incorporate into the flour mix until most of the flour has turned into pea sized or larger clumps.
Using your hands, combine the clumps together to form a soft ball of dough. Let rest 15 minutes before using.
Seen here with ham, cheese, and mashed potatoes. I scooped the filling out to show the dough a little better, but some potatoes stayed behind; they wanted to be eaten that badly.
This is a much better dough for Cheesesteak Sandwich Pockets.
 Cinnamon Brioche with almonds and honey 2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup warm milk
½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened
2 large eggs
1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
2-4 Tbsp honey
2-4 Tbsp finely chopped almonds
1. In a medium-sized bowl, stir together the flour, yeast, sugar, and salt.
2. Slowly mix the warm milk, butter, cinnamon and 2 of the eggs into the flour mixture.
3. Knead until the dough is smooth. The dough is ready to rise when it is completely smooth and pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
4. Cover the bowl and allow the dough to rise until it is doubled in size.
5. Transfer the dough from the bowl onto a floured work surface and punch it down a few times.
6. Press the dough out into a rectangle then spread with the honey. Sprinkle with almond pieces.
7. Roll up like a Swiss roll and place on a lined baking tray.
8. Cover the pan and allow the dough to rise until it is doubled in size.
9. Preheat the oven to moderately hot 200°C/400°F/gas mark 6.
10. Remove the dough covering, bake for 10 minutes. Turn the pan, and reduce the heat to moderate 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4 and bake for an additional 25 minutes, until the brioche is golden brown. Allow it to cool for 5 minutes in the pan, and then transfer it to a wire cooling rack.
 Friendship Bread and blueberry muffins Total time: 30-60 minutes, plus 7-10 days.
Friendship bread is that chain-letter-bread that you divide with your neighbors and continue to reap the benefits from over and over again. The concept is to take your starter, triple it, then share it with 2 people. You bake with your share, and they bake with their share in 10 days.
Starter:
3 tsp active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water
1 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
1 cup white sugar
1 cup warm milk
In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water, 3-5 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Scoop out 1 cup for each of your neighbors. Keep the remaining for yourself. Some people store them in ziplock bags, others in small plastic containers. Either way you do it, this needs to be 3 separate starters. Store in the refrigerator 7-10 days.
For the next 7-10 days, either squeeze and massage your starter in its bag or stir it gently with a spoon, daily.
Day of Baking:
Frugal Fanny Style:
your starter dough
1 cup flour
1 cup milk
1 cup sugar
In a large mixing bowl, combine your starter, flour, milk, and sugar. Mix well. Scoop out two cups for two more starters for yourself. Continue to Hungry Hippo Style.
OR skip this step and move straight on to
Hungry Hippo Style:
your starter dough
1 cup flour
1 egg
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
softened or melted butter
sugar for dusting
Preheat oven to 325F.
Grease a loaf pan or muffin tin with soft or melted butter. Dust with sugar.
In a large mixing bowl, combine your starter and all the other ingredients. Beat until well blended. If you want to fold in fruit or other bread or muffin add-ins, now is the time to fold them in. Pour batter into loaf pans or muffin cups.
Bake 22-25 minutes until dark golden brown.
Planning/Party Patsy Style:
Do Frugal Fanny Style except only scoop out one cup of new starter for yourself. Double the ingredients in Hungry Hippo Style and make two loaves of bread or a loaf of bread and 12 muffins (pictured). If you bake them side by side, increase bake time to 45-60 minutes.
Is Stacie Amish? Does Stacie have Amish friends? Is it just the bread that’s Amish? How about none of it. Or let’s say yes to all of it, just for fun. It’s all Amish. Bring on the farm.
“Cuppy,” you ask, “what happened to the nice even numbers of 1 scoop this, 1 scoop that?!” I strangely found the original recipe too sweet. Yes, I thought something was too sweet. I blame La Niña.
Do you need to share this starter? No. Do you need to share the bread or muffins? No.
As of this post, I’ve used the same batter 4 times, and I have one in the refrigerator.
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