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Crescent Dragonwagon

EVELYN CROSS’S VERY SPECIAL LONG-AGO CARROT CAKE

By Crescent Dragonwagon

RECIPE ONLY


Moist, tender, sweet (honey-sweetened, with a little molasses, no sugar), and rich, spiced but not overly so, this is best traditional-styled carrot cake I have ever tasted. I never order carrot cake no matter how good the bakery or restaurant, because I know it won’t be as delish as this one. Thank you, Evelyn Cross… who gave me this recipe a shocking 45 years ago!

Of course you can top it in the classic manner, with a cream cheese icing, but to me it is infinitely more perfect with my Indian-Style Buttermilk-Rosewater Ice Cream and a sprinkle of finely chopped pistachio nuts.


Ingredients:
Wet ingredients:

1 cup mild vegetable oil (corn, peanut, canola, or algae all work well here); plus a little extra for greasing pan
1 cup minus 2 tablespoons honey (warm honey slightly if it is more solid than liquid)
2 tablespoons blackstrap molasses
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla ice cream

Dry ingredients:

1 1/3 cup wholewheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/3 teaspoons EACH baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg, preferably freshly ground

Mix-ins:

2 cups grated carrots, packed
3/4 cup dark raisins
1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts, toasted (omit if you are going to serve with the Indian-Style Buttermilk-Rosewater Ice Cream and a sprinkle of finely chopped pistachio nuts)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300. Oil a rectangular 9X13 inch pan, and set aside.

2. Combine the vegetable oil, honey, and molasses, using a handheld mixer, until emulsified (whipped into one gooey mass, no distinct oil or honey). Add, one at a time, the eggs, then the vanilla. Set aside.

3. Sift together, into a large bowl, all the dry ingredients.

4. Pour/scrape the honey-oil-egg mixture into the sifted dry ingredients, scraping out every last bit with a rubber spatula.Combine the wet and dry mixtures thoroughly, by hand, but don’t overbeat; lastly, stir in the carrots, raisins, and, if using, the walnuts.

5. Transfer the batter into the prepared pan, and bake for an hour. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.

Based on a recipe from The Dairy Hollow House Cookbook.

Makes 18 3-by-2-inch servings. Everyone, however, will want seconds or thirds.

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Filed Under: #DinnerwithDragonwagon, recipes Tagged With: carrot cake, desserts

Read Aloud with Crescent and Mark

NOT A LITTLE MONKEY, by Charlotte Zolotow, illustrted by Michelle Chessaree

"So, the little girl climbed into the big waste-basket and waited." ' Oh no,' said her mother, ' we don't want to throw you away.'"There are many ways to express love and the need for attention. Here, a busy mother and her just-a-bit naughty little girl tease each other affectionately — the little girl making her point without even uttering a word.That's today's story time — read aloud by the author's daughter at Crescent Dragonwagon's Writing, Cooking, & Workshops, with Mark Graff's "text support" and discussion."Just right for two-to-fours, the humor of this true-to-life story of a mischievous little girl who blocks her mother's attempts to clean house will elicit giggles from the lollipop set." Kirkus Reviews

Posted by Crescent Dragonwagon's Writing, Cooking, & Workshops on Thursday, June 4, 2020

Read Aloud with Crescent

Read Aloud with Crescent

The Washington Post on Crescent’s Lentil Soup Recipe

The Washington Post on Crescent’s Lentil Soup Recipe

Greek Lentil Soup with Spinach and Lemon, photograph by Tom McCorkle, Washington Post

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