Carrot Cupcakes

This is a Martha Stewart recipe with my modifications.

Ingredients:

(For 18 cupcakes)

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

½ tsp cinnamon

A pinch of powdered cloves

½ tsp powdered cardamom

Salt

1 cup sugar

1/3 cup oil

¼ cup orange juice

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups grated carrots

¼ cup coarsely chopped walnuts

Method:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin tin with paper baking cups.

Put the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, powdered cloves, cardamom, and salt in a bowl and mix.

In a large bowl, mix the sugar, oil, orange juice, vanilla extract and eggs.

Combine the dry and wet ingredients. Stir in the grated carrots and walnuts and mix well.

Divide the batter among the muffin cups and bake for 20-25 minutes or until the cupcakes are lightly browned and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

I skipped the cream cheese frosting in the original recipe and used nutella instead.

Carrot Halwa

I had a huge bag of carrots that had been sitting in the refrigerator for a good 2 weeks before I decided that something needed to be done with it. I decided to make one of my favorite Indian sweets- Gajar Ka Halwa.

This dessert is a bit time-consuming and takes a little over an hour to prepare, but it is a delicious treat that is well worth the time spent making it.

I followed the basic steps in Manjula's recipe video while making the halwa.

Ingredients:
4 cups grated carrots
1 cup heavy cream
2 cups milk (I used 2 %)
3 Tbsp ghee (clarified butter)
½ cup sugar
¼ tsp powdered cardamom
A handful of raisins
A pinch of saffron

Method:
Heat the ghee in a large saucepan. Toss in the raisins and fry them. They will absorb the ghee and plump up. Remove and set aside. Next, add the grated carrots. Cook for about 5 minutes till the carrots are coated well with the ghee.

Pour the heavy cream and milk into the saucepan, add the saffron strands and cook till the milk-cream mixture comes to a boil, about 3-5 minutes. Turn down the heat, add the raisins back and continue to cook, stirring constantly, till the carrots absorb all the liquid, about 45-50 minutes.

Add the powdered cardamom and sugar. Mix well, stir continuously and continue cooking till all the sugar melts and the carrot mixture is almost dry, 5-7 minutes.

Serve hot or cold. I like to have this warm with a good scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Gingered Carrot and Parsnip Soup

Ingredients:
1 small onion, peeled & thinly sliced
3 large carrots, peeled and chopped
1 large parsnip, peeled and chopped
1 piece fresh ginger (about an inch long), peeled & grated
1 Tbsp olive oil
Salt & pepper to taste.

For the white sauce:
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp flour
2 cups milk

Method:
Heat the olive oil in a pan. Add the onions & sauté till transparent. Add the ginger followed by the chopped carrots & parsnip. (You could add some dried herbs too at this point depending on your taste.) Cover and cook till the vegetables soften.

Cool & then blend/puree the mixture.

Meanwhile, in a separate pan, prepare the white sauce.
Melt the butter, blend in the flour, salt & pepper. Add milk gradually, stirring constantly, and cook until the mixture begins to boil.

Add the vegetable puree to this & continue cooking for 10 minutes or so, stirring constantly. Adjust the amount of milk depending on the consistency desired.

Garnish with chopped herbs & serve hot.

Update: I am sending this over to Tami at Running with tweezers who is hosting the Second Annual Super Soup Challenge .