I’ve been wanting to make apple butter since last fall and knew when I saw the Rome Beauties at the market the other day, now was the time.  I don’t often see Romes here, but when I do, I think of all the lovely things I might cook, because they’re the perfect apple to cook with.  Their somewhat mild flavor intensifies richly with cooking.

Why apple butter?  Why not apple pie, or apple cobbler, baked apples, a pandowdy, buckle, or slump?

Outside of apple butter being another thing I can check off my “Made it Myself” list which threatens my sanity from time to time, it’s a flavorful fat-free substitute for butter on my morning toast.  Once in the habit, you don’t miss the butter.  I like to stir it into oatmeal or hot Grape Nuts instead of milk and sugar, and it swirls nicely into a cup of non-fat plain Greek yogurt with a sprinkle of granola.

When I started looking for a recipe, I was surprised to find most were loaded with sugar — sometimes as much as four cups.  I found one that contains far less and you can make it in the slow cooker like I did, or on the stove in far less time.

Make it on a chilly day when you want the whole house to smell sweet and spicy.  You’ll have the people you love wanting to know what you’re cooking.

Apple Butter

1 c. dark brown sugar, packed

1/2 c. honey

2 T rice vinegar

1/4 c. water

1 lg. cinnamon stick

1/4 tsp. ground allspice

1/8 tsp. ground mace

1/8 tsp. ground cloves

2-1/4 lb. Rome Beauties (4 lb.)

Core the apples and cut into large chunks.  Add the apples along with all other ingredients to the bowl of a large slow cooker.  Cover it and cook on low for 10 hours.

Once apples are softened, discard the cinnamon stick and scoop apples with a slotted spoon into a mesh strainer.  With the back of a spoon or spatula, mash the apples to extract fruit as possible.  Discard the remaining pulp.

Return the strained contents to the slow cooker and mix with whatever remaining juice is left.  Cook for an additional 1-1/2 hours on high, stirring from time to time.

Scrape apple butter into a sealable container and refrigerate for up to 1 week.

rome beauties are best

chop them up, but go ahead and leave the peelings on

add a cinnamon stick & honey (thanks, Becky!)

a pinch of smidgen dash

put everything in the bowl

give it a good stir before you put the lid on

slow cooked 10 hours

makes 24 oz. of spicy sweet tart apple butter

slather it on your morning toast

Notes:

• This recipe was adapted from Cooking Light’s “Overnight Apple Butter.” To view the stovetop variation, click the link.
• Historically, apple butter was made simply by poaching apples in apple cider.  I didn’t have apple cider, and quite frankly didn’t want to add more sugar, so used a bit of vinegar and water instead.
• I left the peelings on the apples, because if I can, I usually do.  I can’t stand getting rid of all those nutrients and I love the texture.
• Speaking of texture, I used a chinois to strain the apple butter and was left with not much in the way of pulp, so ended up adding that back to the mixture.  The peelings had cooked nearly completely down so it made sense.
• After the final cook on high, I allowed the mixture to cool down completely in the slow cooker.  By this morning, it was a nice consistency with a delicious sweet tart flavor that was perfect on my toast.
• If you’d like to know how to properly can apple butter, then Elise of Simply Recipes has an outstanding post on making and canning.

For further consideration:

• To be honest, not much goes into this recipe, but I did pay $1.99/lb. for the Rome Beauties which cost nearly $5.00.  I ended up with three 8-oz. containers of apple butter.
• The apple butter I’ve been purchasing (R.W. Knudsen Family Organic Apple Butter) — and no I’m not being paid to say it — comes in a 16 oz. jar and sells for under $4.00.  There are only two ingredients in their apple butter:  apples and apple juice concentrate.  It’s velvety smooth, a deep caramel color, and quite delicious.
• In a taste comparison test, the spices in the recipe I made are subtle in flavor, but do make a difference.  And there’s a slight tang I also like.  Does that mean I’ll make my own apple butter when I run out?  Not necessarily. But it’s a great recipe — more than just something to check off my list.
• Now, I’m wondering about apple butter swirl gelato…and I have a gelato recipe that isn’t swimming in fat.

I’m not much of a New Year’s resolution person.  I could blame it on the fact that I often don’t finish what I’ve begun, and to some extent that may be true, but know it’s more about being someone who constantly takes stock, reflects, compulsively evaluates, over-analyzes, sifts, sorts, and thrives on general hair-splitting.  It’s endless, so to some degree  I welcome January 1 each year to think in a more focused way — at least that’s what I’ve convinced myself of.

It’s really more about being able to sigh for the first time after a busy holiday season and quietly celebrate that I don’t have to cook anything too involved if I’m not in the mood.  That for the first day in quite some time, mental lists, menus to plan, groceries to purchase, and errands to run aren’t interrupting a quiet moment, or causing alarm should something important be forgotten.  It’s exhausting, and each year I vow to live through the holidays more graciously, more collected, and more as someone who enjoys and participates rather than orchestrates and delivers.

And so I’m reflecting on our holidays today and remembering some of the delicious food we shared with those we know and love.  It always allows us to pause long enough to enjoy one another’s company, to laugh, clink our glasses in a toast or three, and then smile at the quiet that comes after everyone has picked up their forks and begun to eat.

This beautiful and delicious Pear Gorgonzola and Walnut Rustic Tart was made on Christmas Eve in celebration of a special couple, recently engaged who happen to have a kitchen always filled with music, and often, dancing.  Here’s to you Lisa and Steve!

This year, there will be more music and dancing in my kitchen.  I promise myself.

Pear Gorgonzola and Walnut Rustic Tart

For the pastry…
2 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 T fresh thyme leaves
12 T unsalted butter, cold
4 T ice water

For the filling…
1 c. gorgonzola cheese
4 Bosc pears, cored, unpeeled, sliced 1/8″ thick
1 handful walnuts, raw, crumbled in fist
1/4 c. all-purpose flour
heavy cream

For the glaze…
2T agave nectar
1 T balsamic vinegar
fresh thyme

Make the pastry first using by combining flour, salt, and thyme in the bowl and pulsing it a few times to mix.  Add the butter in cubes all at once, and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse clumps.  Add the ice water a dribble at a time, pulsing as you go, but only just until the dough begins to come together.  Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and bring it together in a ball.  Flatten with your hand, then wrap in plastic to chill for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Place pears in a large bowl or plastic bag and sprinkle flour over, tossing (or shaking if you’re using a bag) gently to coat.

When the dough is chilled, roll it out on a lightly floured piece of parchment into a 1/8″ thick circle, about 18″ in diameter or so.  Crumble the cheese evenly across the center of the dough, making sure to leave a border of about 2″.  Arrange the pear slices over the cheese, then sprinkle over the walnut pieces, making sure to tuck a few here and there beneath the pears.

Turn the edge of the dough up over the pears, pleating it as needed.  Brush the pastry with a bit of heavy cream and transfer the tart to a baking sheet.  Bake for about 40-45 minutes until the pears and pastry are lightly browned.

To make the glaze, in a very small saucepan, stir the agave nectar and balsamic vinegar over low heat.  When the mixture is thin and easily poured from a spoon, add a pinch of fresh thyme and mix in.  Use a brush to evenly coat the pears with the glaze.  Sprinkle a few more fresh thyme leaves over before serving.

slice pears thinly

dust pear slices with flour

layer pears over gorgonzola

sprinkle walnuts over

fold dough over filling and brush with cream

Notes:

• This tart recipe was adapted from one found in desperation at a lovely site I recently found:  Desserts for Breakfast.  Fabulous recipes, great personality, and wonderful photography!  We enjoyed it as an appetizer at a Christmas Eve dinner and it was well received, so thanks!
• Pears are in season typically between July and January, with the bulk being grown on the west coast of the US.  If you’re thinking locavore and/or seasonal, time is almost up to try this great recipe!
• Bosc pears, originally developed in Belgium, are perfect for baking and roasting because they hold up better, but if you can’t get pears period, then apples would work in this recipe.  If you do have pears, but are picky about walnuts, then try this with almonds instead.
• Gorgonzola is produced in Italy’s Lombardy region and was originally called “stracchino verde.”  The blue is produced when holes are poked into the aging cheese so mold can develop.  If you turn your nose up — literally — at any blue veined cheese, you may be interested to know that when you cook gorgonzola, it sweetens, and mellows in flavor — like garlic!  It’s perfect with pears — especially when cooked.  But the combo is also fabulous in salads, souffles, and with pork.  Mmm…we love gorgonzola and pretty much any blue veined cheese.
• When I make tarts like this, I use a round baking stone.  They come in all sizes, shapes, and of course are made by a variety of manufacturers.  If you’re interested in buying one, I’ll encourage you.  The crust they help develop is fabulous!
• It can be a bit awkward getting the tart into the oven where the stone has been as the oven preheats.  Either roll out the dough over a piece of lightly floured parchment, or cover a baking sheet or the back of a jelly roll pan with the parchment and slide the tart from the counter to the covered baking sheet.  Then, transfer the tart to the hot baking stone by dragging the parchment.  It sounds complicated, but it isn’t.  Susan of Wild Yeast has written a great post written about the great results baking stones help achieve.  There’s another great discussion about baking stones — specifically Pampered Chef stones — at the Fresh Loaf.  I use one of those and have never had any problems with it.  But I do need a larger one to use for bread.
• I used a mandoline to slice the pears because it gets them very thin, it’s quick, and they’re uniformly sliced.  A mandoline is another great kitchen tool to add to your collection if you don’t have one.  I started with an inexpensive plastic model until I was gifted one a couple of years ago — a Bron Stainless Steel.  It’s a bit scary, but works very well.  The guard that comes with most mandolines can make slicing some foods impossible because of their size unless you cut them first, so if you get one, consider purchasing a mesh safety glove as well.  Bear in mind they’re only “cut resistant” so you still can’t slice with wild abandon.  Perhaps controlled abandon.  Caution?  Right.
• If you don’t have a food processor, the dough can easily be made by pinching the butter into the flour mixture until pea-sized crumbs appear, then tossing the mixture in ice water until moist clumps form, and the dough begins to take shape.  You know I prefer this method, but the processor comes in handy when I’m busy.
• This recipe comes together very quickly, but making the dough the night before helps save some time.
• Although I’ve not tried it, I’ll bet the constructed tart could be frozen if well wrapped, then thawed and baked.

leave it on the baking stone to keep warm

]]> http://www.sassandveracity.com/2011/01/03/pear-gorgonzola-and-walnut-rustic-tart/feed/ 35 http://www.sassandveracity.com/2010/11/28/pumpkin-maple-bread/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=pumpkin-maple-bread http://www.sassandveracity.com/2010/11/28/pumpkin-maple-bread/#comments Sun, 28 Nov 2010 19:51:58 +0000 kellypea http://sassandveracity.com/?p=1650

It’s as good an excuse as any to say I still seem to be decompressing from our vacation, slowly coming back to Earth, but not quite willing to sit down and harness my thoughts long enough to write anything.

Thinking it might be motivational, I did spend time in my kitchen dabbling with some traditional flavors of the season, incorporating them into a variety of dishes — including baked goods, casseroles, and soup. Pumpkin and cranberries often took a lead role, and in the case of this moist bread, provided quite a treat with coffee or tea in the morning.

It’s delicious toasted or not, but especially so with a smear of maple cream cheese butter.  On the motivation front, written words are elusive, but time to sit and ponder it all just might produce something.

I’m thankful for that.

Pumpkin Maple Bread

2 eggs
1 c. golden brown sugar
1/4 c. canola oil
1/4 c. unsweetened applesauce
1/3 c. pure maple syrup
7 oz. fresh roasted pumpkin
1-1/2 c. all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
pinch freshly grated nutmeg
pinch allspice
1/2 c. chopped pecans

Beat eggs, sugar, oil, applesauce, syrup, and pumpkin to a medium bowl and stir to mix well.

In a separate larger bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, salt, and spices to combine. Scrape the pumpkin mixture into the dry ingredients and stir to mix only until just moistened. Stir in the pecans.

Pour mixture into a large loaf pan well sprayed with oil. Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until a wooden skewer inserted in the center is removed clean. Allow to cool briefly in the pan before inverting onto a baking rack to cool completely.

Maple Cream Cheese Butter

4 oz. softened cream cheese
2 T pure maple syrup
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 T softened butter

Combine all ingredients and mix until smooth. Enjoy on toasted or untoasted bread.

Notes:

I used the pulp from Wee Bee Little pumpkins for this recipe. They were baked whole in a 350 degree oven about 1 hour with several vents piercing the shells before baking. After baking, they were cooled completely at room temp., then split and the pumpkin removed, seeded, and mashed. The pumpkin not used was sealed in a ziplock bag and frozen for another time. It will last quite a long time if all the air is removed from the bag before freezing.

The bread is so moist and flavorful, we loved it.

I haven’t tried it with canned pumpkin, but I’m sure it would be just fine. Just make sure to use solid pack pumpkin and not the pie filling.

It’s a fairly sturdy bread, so I would imagine that it will travel well in holiday mailing, but I haven’t tried it myself.

If you plan to make it ahead, it freezes well if cooled completely before wrapping well and chilling.

This recipe was adapted from an old collection of New England recipes gathered together by a women’s club.  Most of them have been passed on from family member to family member over generations, or shared with friends for years.

My husband and I have been on a diet.  I suppose we finally noticed ourselves in the double-mirrored closet doors we pass frequently in daily comings and goings, stopping long enough on one recent occasion to wonder, “Who are they, and what happened to us?”  Or perhaps it was that as well as the stereotypical question one considers when the last child leaves the house and the next 50 years of one’s life stretch ahead:  Now what will we do? Goodness knows the possibilities are nearly limitless, but considering engaging in new adventures sporting matching muffin tops isn’t an attractive option.  Hence, the diet.

Eat less, exercise more.  Watch portions, no seconds.  Eat whole grains, dark greens, and brightly colored vegetables and fruit.  Cut back on the Coke (him) and the wine (me).  Not exactly rocket science, I know, but I’ve gotten to the point where I don’t feel like cooking.   It’s easier to slice cucumbers and dip them into a two tablespoon ration of roasted garlic hummus I purchase instead of making it myself.  I know.  Make my own hummus.  I have before.  Does that count?

I have been fairly diligent about baking whole grain bread the two of us chew on throughout the week, on mornings toasted and smeared with a bit of apple butter, or at lunch with an ounce of cheese.  No cooking involved outside of the initial bake, and it has been fun experimenting.

With the toothsome texture of this loaf made primarily of spelt, at least I’ll know we’ll have thin cheeks.

Seedy Oaty Spelt Loaf

4 c.+ 3 T spelt  flour

4 T raw sunflower seeds

4 T flaxseeds

1 T coarse sea salt

1-1/4 c. warm water

1-1/2 tsp. active dry yeast

1/4 c. grapeseed oil

2 T rolled oats (not instant or quick-cooking)

2 T pressed barley

Find the directions here because I know you’ll enjoy reading them as much as I did.

Notes:

• Some of you know I’ve been engrossed in planning for a trip to the UK in October (which is only two weeks away!) and so I’ve been online quite a bit, getting to know the areas we’ll be driving through and staying in.  In my “travels” I came across the Hobbs House Bakery, several of which are in Gloucestershire.  I had to do a bit of investigation, of course, and found this Really Slow Food article on Hobbs House Bakery.  I’ve adapted my recipe from their “Large Combine Harvester Recipe” which the bakery describes as “a wonderfully seedy, oaty, spelt loaf.”  Sadly, our travels won’t quite take us near enough to one of their bakerys, so I’m glad to have tried one of recipes myself.
• Spelt is an ancient grain related to wheat which has excellent nutritional value, and is supposed to cause fewer problems for those sensitive to wheat.  You can read more about it here.
• I like barley, pressed or otherwise.  It looks a lot like rolled oats, but has a more nutty flavor to it.  I like to eat it plain with milk and a bit of honey once in a while at breakfast.  It’s chewy, so it keeps me busy.  I purchase it locally at the Asian market, Ranch 99.
• The original recipe calls for rapeseed oil, which is another name for canola oil.  I used grapeseed oil which is very high in antioxidant vitamin E.  Grapeseed oil is relatively tasteless, and has a higher smoking point than olive oil or canola oil.  It’s great used in salad dressings. La Tourangelle and Spectrum Organics are popular labels.
• I use a kitchen scale when making recipes written with weights, but converted it using the amounts written in the recipe above.
• I used organic whole grain spelt flour from Arrowhead Mills which can be purchased locally at Henry’s Markets or Whole Foods.
• We’ve enjoyed this dense, nutty, flavorful bread slice by toasted slice.  It’s filling, and quite sturdy.  Kept on the counter in a well-sealed plastic bag, it’s gotten us through an entire week.

Something happened to our Sunday dinners this busy season.  They’re usually what I manage to hang on to after watching our weeknight dinners dissipate one by one from thoughtful, healthy salads and planned entrees, to a quick forage through the wilted inhabitants of my veggie bin for something to saute with rice or pasta.  Throw in some garlic and it’s dinner, right?  Hardly, but it can be eaten in a bowl, sometimes as late as 9:30 p.m. while we’re huddled in our dimly lit family room in front of a recorded show and making weary attempts at questioning one another about the day.

It’s no wonder that looking forward to uninterrupted time in the kitchen draws my attention to the weekend where the result is pleasant time together over a meal that is special — read:  is served on a plate at a reasonable hour.  The idea of “special”  seems to be part of a process to me;  a recipe catches my eye and lingers on the periphery of the minutiae that accumulates in my head, and somehow I manage to remember the main ingredient while on one of my less than stellarly organized grocery shopping trips.  The remembered ingredient is then wedged into my freezer, which just might contain the very same ingredient somewhere in its depths, as a reminder that Sunday dinner is a possibility.  Hopefully, this classifies me as an optimist.

Time goes by.  Other ingredients are collected in other stop-after-work trips to the store for the cat food or laundry detergent I forgot on the previous trip, and because those ingredients are often perishable, they become part of a different meal (see above).  It’s a vicious cycle.

Finally, the day arrives as it does each year.  Busy season ends, and glimmers of a normal life surface.  The long-awaited day in the kitchen and meal are planned and the big question looms:  Will it have been  worth the wait?

Absolutely.

(And this has nothing to do, of course, with the fact that Chef Voltaggio not only took the time to comment on my effort, but put a shout-out about my speck in the food universe on his site, Voltaggio Brothers in “Food Writing.”)

A gracious and hearty thanks to Michael Voltaggio!

Michael Voltaggio’s Indian-Spiced Short Ribs

1/4 c. coriander seeds
2 T cumin seeds
1 T black peppercorns
1 T ground ginger
1 T ground cardamom
1 T cinnamon
1 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper
3 bay leaves, crumbled
2 T canola oil
4 boneless short ribs (10 to 12 ounces each), trimmed of fat
Salt
1 lg. sweet onion, thinly sliced
2 carrots, chopped
1 celery rib, chopped
3 plum tomatoes, coarsely chopped
2 heads of garlic, halved crosswise
2 cups dry red wine
1 quart chicken stock or broth

Preheat the oven to 325° F.

In a cast iron skillet, toast coriander and cumin seeds slowly over medium heat until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool.  Transfer seeds to a spice grinder and add peppercorns, ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, crushed red pepper and bay leaves.   Pulse to a powder and set aside.

In a large casserole pan, heat the oil. Season meat with salt and cook over high heat until browned and crusty on all sides, about 15 minutes. Remove to a platter and set aside.

Add onion, carrots and celery to the same pan and cook over medium until softened and lightly browned, about 7 minutes. Add tomatoes, garlic and 3 T of the spice mix.  Cook until tomatoes begin to fall apart, about 3 minutes, then add wine, scraping up any browned bits on the bottom of the pan.  Bring to boil and reduce by half.  Add stock and bring to a simmer. Add the browned meat and juices to the vegetable mixture and season with salt. Cover with foil or a lid and place in the oven about 2 hours or until just tender but not falling off the bone.

Remove meat to a baking sheet and pour the rest of the mixture through a strainer into a saucepan. Press against the solids with a spoon to extract more juice before discarding. Boil the liquid over high heat until reduced to 1 cup.

While the sauce is reducing, preheat broiler placing a rack about 6- 8 inches from heat. Brush meat with sauce, then sprinkle lightly with some of the remaining spice mixture.   Broil briefly until sizzling.

Serve short ribs with some of the sauce spooned over.

We enjoyed this recipe with Aloo Gobi, a spicy Indian cauliflower and potato dish flavored with green chilies, cilantro, and turmeric which was also fabulous.

Notes:

• This fabulous recipe can be found in the April 2010 issue of Food & Wine and is one created by last season’s winner of Top Chef.  He and his brother Bryan have a great food forum at Voltaggio Brothers.
• The spice blend is a type of garam masala.  Ingredients for this blend vary from one recipe to another, and I’ve found it’s fun to try a variety.  This one is much different than others I’ve tried as it contains both cinnamon and cardamom.  The cloves are also an addition I’m not used to.  For the spice in my blend, I chopped up half of a red serrano chili, seeds and all.
• I rarely make a recipe as written but was fairly close with this one because it is so much different than any short rib recipes I’ve tried. I was intrigued from the start.  When I make short ribs, they’re always smaller than what is described in recipes of this nature and a couple make a nice individual serving.  There’s no way to slice anything off of the bone and arrange it as I might another cut of meat that’s been braised.
• This was almost a one-pot recipe.  I used my Mario Batalli orange enameled cast iron lasagna pan for this.  (And no, I’m not selling them.)  It works great on the stove top when I want a high brown that will be deglazed, then the whole recipe popped into the oven.
• I used hot-house tomatoes because I had them on hand.  A jammy Rosenblum Cellars California Zinfandel was used in the braise– about $12.
• This is truly an excellent recipe that seems like a lot of work, but isn’t.  Many parts can be made ahead if need be — like the garam masala.  This recipe makes enough for the short ribs and leaves a scant 3 T left over for other recipes.
• We liked this so much that I’m going to try it with a larger cut of meat just to see how the incredible flavor holds up.  I’m thinking that finishing it on the barbeque would be great.

I can’t remember the first time I had carrot cake, but I’m sure it wasn’t until I was well into my adult years.  It’s strange now that I think about it because my mother used to make a mean carrot salad.  The basic ingredients aren’t all that different except for the mayonnaise she’d dollop in the huge bowl of grated carrots and raisins before stirring in some sugar, and I’ll bet I can find more than one recipe for carrot cake that calls for mayo, too.  Mind you, this would be much to the complete horror of my husband who steers clear of anything that suggests mayo is an ingredient.

Other than cheesecake or an occasional pineapple upside down cake made in a skillet, my mother’s cakes came from a box, as did mine for years.  Can carrot cake actually be made from a box mix?  Perhaps that’s why I don’t remember ever tasting one.  I could blame it on family members more inclined to request chocolate cake:  chocolate peanut butter, German chocolate, and even a chocolate mint cake that unfortunately reminded more than one of us of toothpaste.  Sadly, there were no requests for carrot cake.

In the years since, I’ve learned that everyone seems to have made carrot cake but me and relies upon a favorite recipe.  I, on the other hand, have only made it twice:  the first time, I used a good friend’s recipe (sans the crushed pineapple she says she never adds) which was delicious;  the second time, I decided to look for a recipe that was made with olive oil.  Most of the recipes I’ve considered use from 3/4 to 1-1/2 cups of oil, so if  oil is going into a cake, why not make it monosaturated?

Perhaps it might soothe concerns about butter, mascarpone and sugar as one bites into this fabulously luscious cake.

Olive Oil Carrot Cake

For the cake batter…

250ml/8-3/4 fl. oz. olive oil
500g/1 lb. + 1 oz. sugar
4 eggs, beaten
250g/8-3/4 oz. all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground allspice
1 tsp. ground cardamom
1 tsp. salt
125g/4-1/2oz. walnuts, coarsely chopped
250 g./8-3/4 oz. raisins
500g/1 lb.+1 oz. carrots, peeled and grated

For the icing…

125 g./4-1/2 oz. unsalted butter, softened
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
250 g./8-3/4 oz. mascarpone
250g/8-3/4 oz. powdered sugar

Preheat the oven to 325 F.

Pour olive oil, sugar and eggs in a medium bowl and blend well. Sift flour and remaining dry ingredients into a separate bowl. Add egg and oil mixture and stir until the mixture is uniformly moist. Add the walnuts, carrots, and raisins, stirring until incorporated.

Line two 8-in. cake pans with removable bottoms with baking parchment.  Spray with oil, then lightly dust with flour. Divide cake batter evenly between the two prepared pans and set on a baking sheet. Bake for about 1 hour and 10 minutes, or until a wooden skewer inserted into the center is removed clean.  Allow to cool at least 15 minutes in the pans on a baking rack before removing the layers from the pans to cool completely.
For the icing, mix the softened butter and mascarpone with the vanilla in the bowl of a standing mixer until smooth.  Add powdered sugar gradually, beating on medium speed until smooth and creamy.  Spread each layer with half the icing before stacking layers. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Notes:

• This is a very dense, moist cake with lots and lots of yummy texture.  A little slice will go a very long way in satisfying a sweet tooth.
• This recipe was adapted from one I found at BBC — Food and it forced me to use my kitchen scale.
• With a bit more than a cup of oil, this recipe’s quantity is average compared to others I looked at.   Make sure to use a good quality olive oil.
• The center of the cake will sink as it cools.
• Check out the link if you’d like a larger, single layer cake.
• Now, I’m off to find a version that uses applesauce.  I’ve heard that creates a nice, moist carrot cake as well.