Bugs Bunny was Right, Eat Your Carrots.

Any of us who grew up watching Warner Brothers cartoons noticed that Bugs Bunny was always munching on carrots.  Now I’ve done loads of gardening in my time, harvested many a carrot, and the bunnies in my yard never touched a one of them.  So, what did Bugs know that my white tailed friends did not?  Nutrition wise, carrots contain beta-carotenes, falcarinol, vitamin A, minerals and anti-oxidants in ample amounts; usually orange in color, there are purple, red, white, and yellow varieties.  Bugs was one healthy rabbit!

As a snack, they’re crunchy and this is a satisfying texture; but they’re sweet, and this makes them perfect for other uses.  When making pasta sauce, for example, adding a little carrot puree will cut the bitterness of tomatoes, sweetening the sauce.  Love caramelized carrots, add butter, heat and let carrots’ natural sweetness do the rest of the work.  In baking though, use of carrot sugar is nothing new; in fact, it dates back to medieval times and a nice bit of steamed carrot pudding.  During the Middle Ages, sugar was a scarce and expensive commodity, so substitutes were found in carrots and sugar beets. 

Now where am I going with all this information on carrots?  Cake, of course!  The word “cake” has a long history; the origin is Viking, the Old Norse term, “Kaka”; no snickering.   A baked confection of flour, eggs, honey, milk, perhaps another type of sweetener, usually a vegetable sugar, and fat; rising up during baking to give a porous texture.  Now while many Americans believe that cake was “invented” here first, it was actually brought over by the British.  Historically, the Vikings did invade the British Isles, so…  Now cream cheese frosting, that’s an American culinary invention from the 1930s; and so perfect on carrot cake (pumpkin and spice cakes too).

The recipe I’m giving you is from, once again, “The Mormon Pioneer Cookbook” by the Daughters of Utah Pioneers; this carrot cake was served with Christmas meals.  One of the spices included is cardamom; a combination of plant seed pods from India and Malaysia.  Cardamom has a unique, distinctive flavor and aroma; sort of a cross between ginger and mint, and a little goes a long way.  While cardamom was seen in cookbooks throughout the 1930s to 1960s; its use faded, but reemerged during the 1990s and 2000s; thanks to the Food Network Channel I bet.  This recipe makes one cake; I doubled the recipe and created 24 muffins; much easier for giving out to my favorite guinea pigs.  Thank you everyone, you’re the best!!!

 

 

Carrot Cake

Ingredients:

 

½ cup butter or margarine

1 and ¼ cups brown sugar
2 eggs
1 and ¾ cups sifted all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp baking soda (if doubling, only use the ½ tsp., not 1 full tsp.)
½ tsp. salt
½  tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. nutmeg
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
¼ tsp. ground cardamom
1 and ¼ cups grated raw carrots
1 cup raisins (I used half white/half black raisins)
1 cup chopped nuts (I used pecans; walnuts are good too.)

 

Preparation:

Cream together butter or margarine and sugar; beat in eggs.  Sift in flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices; mix well.  Stir in remaining ingredients.  Turn into a greased 9-inch tube pan.  Bake in a 350F oven 1 hour.

Note:  I lined the muffin tins with paper cups; the baking time only took 30 minutes at 350F.

 

Mary Cokenour

 

Cream Butter with Brown Sugar

Creamed butter and Brown Sugar

Add Eggs

Liquid Mixture

Add Dry Ingredients

Batter

Add Grated Carrot, Raisins and Nuts

Final Batter



Use a Scoop to Portion Out

Batter in Paper Cups

Two Dozen Ready for Baking

20 Minutes, Not Ready Yet

30 Minutes, Just Right!

 

Those Pioneers Loved Dessert.

During the 1800s, traveling out West entailed hardships, dangers, lack of supplies, and often injury and/or death. Nowadays our spoiled generations have no clue what it means to truly “put your back into it”; as the pioneers had to do with their covered wagons and horses to get them through the rough terrain.

When it came time for celebrations, like a wedding, the entire small community came together; foods from various ethnic backgrounds were created by family, friends and neighbors; no one was left out. Whatever provisions were available were used for the feast; everyone was going to eat well that day! A wedding, a celebration of everlasting love and life together; even the most precious of items were donated to the preparations, like sugar.

One dessert often seen was Swiss Apple Pie and there is only one way I can describe it: Crumble plus Custard plus Crème Brulee equals Swiss Apple Pie. A combination of three different pie making techniques totaling up to one rich, sugary, eyes rolling to the heavens, pie. As usual, I made two pies, one for my husband and one for my ever faithful “guinea pigs”; folks who will try my creations and give honest opinions. Comments were “wow”, “this is very good”, some lip smacking, a request for another slice, but my true test was Cindi Holyoak at the City Office. Cindi had experienced Swiss Apple Pie before, so I had an expert on my hands and I was tense with anticipation of her critique. At the first bite, her eyes and face lit up; at the second bite she confirmed that “Yes, this was the pie she knew, and it was very good!” Yes, I had passed the ultimate test and did the happy dance (at home of course, not in public).

Once again, I have used a recipe out of “The Mormon Pioneer Cookbook” by the Daughters of Utah Pioneers. Note: this recipe calls for a ten inch pie pan; if you do not have that size pan (nine inch seeming to be the standard), decrease the heavy cream by one quarter cup and eggs (not the yolks) by one. With the apples, until ready to use them, place in cold water which has a tablespoon of lemon juice included; it will keep the slices from browning, but not add a lemony taste to them. Oh, I lined my baking rack with aluminum foil under the pie pans; spillage of the custard mixture is simply a given; and who wants to clean the oven, not I!

Swiss Apple Pie (page 102)

 

Ingredients:

¼ cup butter

1 and ½ cups sifted all-purpose flour

3 Tbsp. cold water

2 Tbsp. dry bread crumbs

4 tart apples, pared, cored and thinly sliced (I used Granny Smith apples)

2 eggs (large)

2 egg yolks

2 cups heavy cream

¾ cup sugar (divided into ½ cup plus ¼ cup)

2 Tbsp. butter, melted

 

Preparation:

 

Cut butter into flour with a pastry blender. Gradually add cold water, mixing with a fork, until pastry gathers around fork. Roll out 1/8 inch thick on lightly floured board or pastry cloth. Use to line a deep 10-inch pie plate, trim edge. (I used store bought, ready-made, deep dish pie crusts; it might be cheating, but it’s still homemade.)

 

Sprinkle bread crumbs over bottom. Layer apple slices evenly in pastry; do not heap. Bake in a 350F oven 5 minutes.

 

Combine eggs and yolks; beat slightly. Add cream and ½ cup of the sugar; stir until sugar dissolves.  Pour ½ the mixture over apples. Bake in a 350F oven 30 minutes.

 

Pour in remaining mixture. Return to oven and bake 30 minutes longer (my pies took 40 minutes) or until knife inserted near edge comes out clean. Pour the melted butter over the top (that’s over the filling, not crust) and sprinkle with remaining ¼ cup sugar.

 

 

Return to oven and bake 5 minutes longer or until top is golden (mine took 10 minutes.) Let pie cool slightly before cutting.

 

Yield: 1 pie.

 

Mary Cokenour

Molasses, Brigham Young’s Sweet Tooth, and Pioneers.

Since moving to San Juan County in 2009, one important lesson I have learned is, descendants of the pioneers are close knit, and close mouthed, especially when it comes to family secrets. I have, on occasion, put a call out for recipes dating back to the pioneers; the call seemed to only attract crickets. San Juan County descendants of the "Hole in the Rock" pioneers are quite different in attitude and manner than the rest of Utah descendants.  Oh, they remember where their families came from; just not from before 1880.  Not one to be deterred, online shopping offered to me exactly what I was craving for; recipes of the Utah Pioneers. Into my hands, thanks to the U.S. Postal Service, was delivered a first edition book, “The Mormon Pioneer Cookbook” by the “Daughters of Utah Pioneers”.

This lovely little gem gives the reader, not only recipes, but historical information and a bit of old time gossip. For instance, did you know that Brigham Young had a bit of a sweet tooth? It is no wonder really, considering he was born and raised in Vermont (an East coaster just like me!); he enjoyed molasses, maple syrup, honey, as well as cake and candy made with these sweeteners. (“Life Story of Brigham Young”, page 249 by Susa Young Gates, daughter)

Another tidbit is the origin of the Mormon Pioneer Woman, as quoted from the “Forward”; “She was German, Swedish, Finnish, English, Welsh, Scot, Irish, Dutch, French or Danish.” These women of diverse ethnic backgrounds traveled over rough, and dangerous, terrain to Utah; in other words, and dare I say it, they were “Outsiders”. (Outsider, just like me, except my ethnic background happens to be Croatian.)  That is one of the "attitudes" of the area locals; if you are not born and raised locally (only San Juan County); AND descended from the pioneers, then you're an "outsider".  No matter how long you live here, or what you say or do for the community; you'll never be truly accepted.  Like I said, they tend to forget their own ancestors were "outsiders".   Bubbles can be busted, just takes a bit longer in Southeastern Utah.

So why was molasses a common sweetener used by the pioneers? Sugar needed to be shipped in from the East coast, making it rare and very expensive. Cornstalks, sorghum (a type of sweet grass), fruits, sugar beets and other vegetables were used in the making of molasses. Not only was it used for baking and cooking, but as a common table sweetener. Another common item was the apple; seems they were abundant in the Utah valleys; applesauce was stocked in a good pioneer woman’s pantry.

Molasses plus applesauce and a cake recipe was born; supposedly one of Brigham Young’s favorites too. This cake is very moist, surprisingly not overly sweet, crystallized molasses gives a slight crunch around the edges and top; this is definitely a good snacking cake. Any picnic, get-together, or family meal would be an excellent time for Molasses Applesauce Cake. Want to be exalted as an excellent baker? Add a nice cream cheese frosting and watch the green eyed monster descend over the other bakers in your group. Don't take my word for it; I had nine people taste test this cake; and it was a joint consensus!

Now excuse me while I continue on reading about pioneer cooking; of course snacking on a bit of cake.

Molasses Applesauce Cake

(page 35, “The Mormon Pioneer Cookbook”)

 

Ingredients:

 

½ cup shortening (I used Crisco)

½ cup sugar

2 eggs (I used large)

1 cup molasses

1 cup applesauce

2 cups sifted all-purpose flour

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking powder

¾ tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. cinnamon (ground)

1 tsp. nutmeg (ground)

 

Preparation:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cream together shortening and sugar until light and fluffy; blend in eggs. Add molasses and applesauce; mix well.

 

 

 

 

Sift together flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and spices; stir into molasses mixture.

 

Turn into a greased and floured 9 x 13-inch baking pan. Bake in a 350F oven 30 to 45 minutes or until cake tests done. Cool; cut into squares.

 

Yield: About 24 servings.

 

 

 

 

Notes: Definitely sift the flour well or you’ll get a lump here or there in the cake…I know.

 

Instead of “greasing and flouring” the baking dish; a baking spray, for example: Baker’s Joy, works just as well.

 

At 30 minutes, begin testing the cake by inserting a toothpick into the center and seeing if it comes out clean…my cake took only 30 minutes to bake fully.

 

Mary Cokenour