Something Everyone Can Get Behind

Happy Easter, bunnies! I hope everyone ate lots of fantastic food on Sunday. I cooked a bourbon and brown sugar glazed ham, a roast chicken with lots of lemon and garlic, some sort of delicious braised cabbage dish (which was infinitely better than it sounds)...and these carrot cake Whoopie pies. You may not celebrate Easter. You may not eat meat. You may detest and downright avoid cabbage like the plague. But I’m certain carrot cake Whoopie pies are something everyone can get behind. I was dumbstruck at how easy they are to make and how over-the-top amazing they turned out to be. I made a test-batch on Friday night (the contents of which were devoured by friends and my parents) and I kept making them straight through to Sunday. We ran out more than once.

I invested in two silpat mats, and let me tell you, they are magical. You can literally pick the cookies (or biscuits, or scones, or whatever you put on the baking sheet) off the mat as soon as they come out of the oven. No sticking, prying or scraping. No burnt bottoms. I’m told it’s wise to purchase two silpat mats and use one for sweet things and one for savory things. The flavors tend to linger because you can’t wash silpat mats in the dishwasher. But some warm water and soap is really all you need to get them clean, anyway.

The best thing about Easter is carrot cake. I’m a fan of these Whoopie pies not only because they are a lighter alternative to typical carrot cake, but also because they are outrageously simple to make. In fact, it’s their simplicity that I love: they’re little individual cakes (well, pies, actually) and there’s no arguing over who gets the bigger slice. You needn’t worry about baking three separate cakes, then layering and frosting each one to make a traditional carrot cake. You don’t have time. And you have this recipe.

Carrot Cake Whoopie Pies
Adapted from Gourmet

Ingredients
1 1/8 c all-purpose flour
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 stick (1/2 c) unsalted butter, softened
1/3 c plus 2 Tbs packed light brown sugar
1/3 c plus 2 Tbs granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 c coarsely grated carrots (about 2 medium) I like to buy bags of pre-grated carrots and give them a rough chop to make them a bit tinier.
1/2 c raisins
8 oz. cream cheese
1/4 c honey, or slightly more, to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees, putting an oven rack in the middle.

Whisk together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Set aside.

Mix together butter, sugars, egg, and vanilla in a bowl and beat for about 2 minutes. Gently fold in carrots and raisins, then add flour mixture and stir until just combined.

Chill dough in freezer for 15 minutes.

Drop roughly 1 Tbs batter per cookie 2 inches apart (an ice cream or cookie scoop works great) on silplat mats or a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake until cookies are lightly browned and cake-like, about 16 minutes. Cool cookies on sheets for 1 minute, then transfer cookies to racks to cool completely.

While cookies are baking, whisk together cream cheese and honey until smooth.

Sandwich flat sides of cookies together with a generous dollop of cream cheese filling in between.

I couldn’t wait to eat these (hence, the Friday-night devouring) but they do take on a more Whoopie-pie-like quality on the second day – and if you can wait that long, well, you’re much, much stronger than me.

Let Them Eat (Carrot) Cake

I'm going through a bit of a cupcake phase. It happens to the best of us, I'm afraid. In New York, we have no shortage of incredible cupcake spots - Magnolia, Crumbs, Buttercup, Billy's...I could go on and on...but I won't, because making cupcakes from scratch is so much better than buying them. I'm beginning to think that statement applies to all homemade food. There's something about cupcakes that elicit fits of joy in otherwise calm people. I recently brought a batch of these Carrot Cake Cupcakes to the women in my mentoring group, Girls Write Now, and they literally shrieked with glee.

It's finally warm in New York, which reminds me that Easter is right around the corner (April 4, wheee!). Growing up, my Jewish father made ham for my Catholic mother every Easter Sunday. The details of my half-Jewish, half-Catholic and wholly religiously confused childhood are a story for another blog. Two things we always had at Easter were hyacinths and carrot cake. Now I don't know much about flowers, but I do know that these carrot cake cupcakes are the best I've ever had (thank you, Martha Stewart). And I've had a lot of carrot cake. They're not overly sweet or greasy, unlike the giant slabs of carrot cake you find at the bakery. There's so much deliciousness going on in these cupcakes - coconut, pineapple, walnuts - that they make me want to jump up and dance around. I wholeheartedly recommend making a batch, and sharing them with your mother.

Jewish friends, fear not: Passover Seder is March 29, and I will have lots of recipes from Aunt Lynn. Challah and bagels and brisket, oh my!

Carrot Cake Cupcakes
Adapted from Martha Stewart



Ingredients
4 cups peeled and finely grated carrots
3 large eggs, room temperature
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
1/3 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup crushed pineapple, well drained
1 cup walnuts or pecans, toasted and finely chopped
1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 standard muffin tins with paper liners. I ran out of paper liners and greased the unlined pans with butter. Just be sure the tin is completely cooled - and I mean completely - before removing the cupcakes, or they'll fall apart.

In a bowl, whisk together carrots, eggs, sugar, oil, buttermilk, vanilla extract, and coconut, pineapple and nuts if desired. In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Stir flour mixture into carrot mixture until well combined.

Spoon batter into muffin cups, filling each 3/4 full. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center come out clean, about 28 minutes. Let cool in tins on wire racks for at least 10 minutes. Turn out cupcakes onto wire racks, and let cool completely.

Frost with Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting

Makes about 28 cupcakes. I promise, you'll eat them all.