Recipe 16:Carrot Cake

Hello guys,

Merry Christmas to all my christian readers and Happy New Year 2013!

As I promised,here is the recipe of my baking last week.I actually prepared a carrot cake using steaming method instead of baking it.Why?Because I got suggestion from some friends that steaming can make a cake moister than baking it.Which the end result is as similar as baking it.In fact I took 2 hours alone to let it cook although baking takes 40 to 50 minutes only.

Baking isn't really my thing because I was never good at it :P I mean baking pastries(cakes,biscuits,cookies etc) but I still love baking lasagna,mac and cheese and so on.

One key to the success of baking is measurement.When baking,measurement does matter,if you don't follow the exact measurement as suggested,your result might end up unsuccessful.

Like this carrot cake,I actually went through a failure at first because I misunderstood the word "cup" and "mug".The recipe said "2 cups of flour",but I used a mug to measure the flour,and after 5 minutes of whisking the flour mixture,it was very thick and there is no chance the mixture can turn up to be a cake :P

However,I did not give up just yet,went downstairs when I ran out of eggs and flour in my first failure,I made the second mixture.

Well,well,well.Much talking,now it's time for the recipe!

Ingredients

2 cups of flour*

A pinch of salt*

2 tbs of ground cinnamon*

2 tbs of baking powder*

2 tbs of soda bicarbonat*

4 eggs**

1 to 2 cups of  white sugar(depends on your definition of sweetness)**

2 to 3 drops of vanilla essence**

1 1/4 cup of vegetable oil(Preferably corn oil)**

2 to 3 cups of shredded carrot
Chopped Walnut
A cup of coconut flakes
Chopped Pineapple(I bought canned pineapple)

Methods
1.Mix all Ingredients * in a bowl and set aside
2.In another bowl,whisk Ingredients ** using electrical mixer/or own hands until everything blends together smoothly and frothy
3.Add the flour mixture little by little in the egg mixture and whisk altogether until everything blends well.
4.Lastly add the shredded carrot,walnut,coconut flakes and pineapple in the mixture,whisk for a few more minutes and ready to bake or steam

5.If you want to steam(Which will take you around 2 hours of time),preheat your steamer for about 10 minutes.If you choose to bake(The baking time is around 40 to 50 minutes),preheat your oven at 190 degrees celcius for about 10 to 15 minutes.
6.When your oven or steamer is heated,place your ingredient mixture in a cake pan,bake or steam!
7.Next is cream cheese frosting method.

Cream Cheese Frosting Method
1.When the cake is ready,cold it first in the fridge for few hours
2.Soften cream cheese and 1/2 butter
3.Whisk Cream cheese with butter,white sugar and few drops of vanilla essence.
4.Take out the cold cake and start spreading the frosting all over the cake,the thicker the better ;-)
5.After frosting,put back in the fridge and wait for few hours until the cream cheese becomes cold and serve!

I know it looks pretty ugly :P,but trust me,it's finger licking good

Happy baking,guys!