mmmm mock thanksgiving

[verbicide]

As ever, Ellen and Judy's Mock Thanksgiving party was a blast. Too much glorious food and the love and warmth of a lot of friends I don't see often enough.

I was pleased with the carrot cake cheesecake. I didn't pipe an edge on top (even though Jeff bought me some more cream cheese), but I decided to sparkle sugar a carrot on top. See?

From Food

I was pleased with it!

I'm trying to have my cake decorating be a more organic process. Instead of trying to pipe a decorative border onto this uneven-edged cake, I just let the whorls of frosting droop over the sides and did the abstract-y carrot on top. I wish I had darker green sanding sugar on hand for the top, but it was fine as it was.

It was really well received at the party, which was very satisfying. The most flattering thing was, Ellen almost didn't let me bring a piece home for myself. (There was like half the cheesecake left!) I finally convinced her to let me have some since I didn't eat any at the party! The marbling of cake and cheesecake turned out nicely, but I'm too lazy and tired at this point to snap another picture.

I'm starting to feel a bit like a baking peacock. I like to fan myself and flutter my eyelashes while people praise me. It's come to this, people.

In other weekend fun, Jeff and I walked around Greenlake and snapped beautiful pictures of trees and then we came home and I snapped beautiful pictures of Jeff and Brutus sunning on the balcony. It was a gorgeous PNW day and we enjoyed it thoroughly. (I'll share some pictures of that soon.)

And soon, we're going to go see The Secret Life of Bees. I know the movie can't compare to the book, because I really just loved the book. But I hope it's sweet and charming. And that I don't fall asleep during it, because it's not until 9:50PM! Eek!

Comments

[rolypolypony.livejournal.com]

Recipe? I usually hate cheesecake, but would kill small children for carrot cake...

[verbicide.livejournal.com]

Absolutely! It's like carrot cake with really thick cream cheese frosting! :)

Carrot Cake Cheesecake with Pineapple Frosting

Cheesecake:
16 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 tablespoon flour
3 eggs

Carrot Cake:
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
8 1/2 ounces can crushed pineapple, packed in juice, drained well, reserve juice
1 cup grated carrots
1/2 cup coconut
1/2 cup chopped walnuts [I omit the nuts cause bleh!]

Pineapple Cream Cheese Frosting:
2 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 tablespoon butter, softened
1 3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon reserved pineapple juice

Directions:
In large bowl, with electric mixer, beat cream cheese, sugar and
vanilla until smooth. Beat in flour, eggs and vanilla extract until
smooth. Set aside. Now prepare Carrot Cake.

Carrot Cake:
In large bowl, combine oil, sugar, eggs and vanilla extract; mix well. Stir in dry ingredients; mixing well. Stir in drained pineapple, carrots, coconut and walnuts.

Spread 1 1/2 c. carrot cake batter over bottom of greased 9- or 9 1/2" springform pan. Drop half of cream cheese batter over carrot cake batter by spoonfuls; top with large spoonfuls of remaining carrot cake batter. Repeat with remaining cream cheese batter, spreading evenly with a knife. Do not marble with a knife. Bake in preheated 350ºF oven for 50 to 65 minutes or until cake is set and cooked through. Cool to room temperature, then refrigerate. When cake is cold, frost with Pineapple Cream Cheese Frosting.

Pineapple Cream Cheese Frosting:
In a bowl with electric mixer, combine cream cheese, butter,
confectioners' sugar, vanilla extract and reserved pineapple juice.
Beat until smooth and of spreading consistency. Frost top of
cheesecake. Refrigerate 3 to 4 hours before serving.

[makena-smiles.livejournal.com]

The cake looks wonderful!! I always get hungry reading these posts.

Did you like "The Secret Life of Bees" movie? I loved the book, too. And didn't even know they made a movie (I know, I live in a cave).

[verbicide.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

And I did like the movie, but the book is so, so, so much better. It was just nice to watch some of the scenes come to life. The character portrayals were great, but I thought he pacing and direction could have been vastly improved.

It just makes me want to re-read the book!