Novel Food: Brasilian Carrot Cake
December 21, 2008 | Filed Under Baking, Books, Brazil Cuisine, Cakes, Food Blogging Events, Novel Food | 16 Comments
This is an my unofficial entry to the literary/culinary blogging event called Novel Food, where we can prepare and blog about a dish that has a connection to a published literary work. The wonderful Simone (of Briciole) and Lisa (of Champaign Taste) co-host this event, which is in its sixth season. I say that it’s an unofficial entry since I’m a bit late in submitting my entry. However it was a recipe I’d planned on posting for quite some time. Thanks, Simone for including my late entry. 
I’d seen this cake recipe about a year ago on Tapioca Flour (obrigada/thanks Valentina!) and saved it with the intention of making it immediately. I never got the chance.
This Brasilian Carrot Cake post was inspired by one of my favorite romance stories, Crush by Crystal Hubbard. It’s about a heart throb rock star who rescues a headstrong girl from a near fatal accident at his concert and they fall in love. The heroine is half Brazilian and she mentions her Brazilian grandmother’s cooking and several Brazilian dishes throught the book.
In a previous Novel Food event, I prepared a dish (Leftovers with Dendi Oil) mentioned in the book. The Brasilian Carrot Cake is not mentioned in the book. However, it is something I see the heroine enjoying, something that perhaps her grandmother made for her. Or, something that she may have unsuccessfully tried to make for her rock star boyfriend and then ended up ordering a dessert from a Brazilian restaurant to make up for her baking blunders. LOL!
I also wanted to make this cake in celebration of some good news I received about author Crystal Hubbard. She recently completed a very tough but successful round of chemotherapy treatment. Yay! So, I celebrate the good news with two of my favorite romance characters and a slice of Brasilian Carrot Cake. Congrats Crystal!
Paz
Ed. Note: Something interesting about the Brasilian Carrot Cake is that Valentina pointed out that it’s a ‘national passion’, a national institution. In the comments section, she also mentions that the taste of this particular carrot cake is very diiferent from European-style carrot cakes. After tasting it, I can also add that it tastes much different from American carrot cake, too.
The chocolate icing might sound unusual but it actually tastes perfect with this cake. Absolutely perfect.
Also, I forgot to mention that I’m still looking for my own rock star. As before, interested parties can apply here (on this blog).
The roundup of Novel Food entries have been posted. They are in two parts and you can find them at Briciole and Champaign Taste. Check them out, there’s nothing better than finding a good read and recipe!
Lastly, in addition to Valentina’s site, you can also find the original recipe and lovely photo of the cake on Ana’s blog (Kitchen Space). The recipe for this cake comes from her grandmother, Anna. Thanks, Ana for sharing the recipe with us, all.
Crush by Crystal Hubbard
Brasilian Carrot Cake
Main Ingredients
4 medium carrots, peeled and grated
3 medium eggs
2 cups of sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 cups plain flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
Chocolate Icing
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
2 tablespoons butter
5 tablespoons milk
8 tablespoons sugar
Grease a bundt pan and reserve. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C (Paz note: That’s about 350°F)
Take the grated carrot, the eggs, the vegetable oil and sugar and put it all in the blender.
Whiz it long enough to blend it all together but being careful not to over do it otherwise it might alter the consistency or even the colour of the cake. Pour the mixture in a mixing bowl and add the dry ingredients, stirring well. Transfer the mixture to the prepared bundt pan and bake for approximately 40 minutes. Leave it to cool on a rack.
Meanwhile put all the icing ingredients in a saucepan and stir it until the butter has melted and the mixture has thickened. Pour it over the cake whilst still hot. **Please note that the cup measurement used is 250ml.
Novel Food #3: Leftovers with Dendi Oil (Palm Oil)
March 23, 2008 | Filed Under Books, Food Blogging Events, Novel Food | 11 Comments
Miranda withdrew from the fridge clutching a small bowl of day-old rice, a grilled chicken breast, half a Vidalia onion, a green net bag holding a few grape tomatoes and a tiny tin of sliced black olives. She set the items on the counterop next to the stove. "I could order in Chinese. There’s a place near here that stays open until three on the weekends, or I could throw something together. I think."
"Bernard said you didn’t cook," Lucas smiled.
"Chopping and re-heating is not cooking."
"What can I do to help?"
[...] He leaned in close to her to scrape his garlic into a skillet where Miranda had started the rice dancing in hot vegetable oil with a dash of dendi, the bright orange oil extracted from the African palm of northern Brazil.
"My Avó Marie Estrella used dendi the way Italian cooks use olive oil, " Miranda told Lucas, who had begun slicing the chicken breast into strips. "She was a very good cook. That gene bypassed me and went to my sister, Calista. I got my other grandmother’s cooking ability. Grandma Ilene’s food was just awful. She thought she was the best cook in the world, though."
[...] Lucas ate heartily. This was truly the best meal he’d ever had, and it was only leftovers.
This entry is for the literary/culinary blogging event, Novel Food, which is hosted by Simona of Briciole and Lisa of Champaign Taste. Participants are asked to post their literary-inspired culinary creations.
The above excerpt comes from one of my favorite stories, CRUSH by Crystal Hubbard. It’s about a rock star, Lucas, who rescues a girl, Miranda, from being crushed when she attends his concert. Since the book is a romance, you can imagine what happens afterwards — they fall in love, of course. 
Miranda is half Brazilian and in the book, she mentions her Brazilian grandmother’s cooking skills and she attempts to cook Brazilian cuisine. A familiar ingredient she uses is palm oil, a vegetable cooking oil used in Brazil and many other tropical countries. High in beta-carotene, it gives off a reddish color. It is very tasty and can be used as a preservative. However it is high in cholesterol, so it’s a good idea to use it sparingly.
The heroine’s use of palm oil reminded me of when I grew up in Africa as a young girl. We had different trees in the back yard, mango trees, guava trees and a great big, tall palm tree. I remember palm oil being used a lot in the kitchen.
Like Miranda, I also had leftovers in my fridge — rice, eggs instead of chicken, mixed vegetables, tomato paste instead of fresh tomatoes and Spanish olives instead of black olives. I also had onions and garlic. And what do you know, I had palm oil, too. So, I decided to make my own leftovers concoction with the special ingredient — palm oil — to tie it all together. I heated everything together in a skillet, added salt and pepper and served immediately. Mmmm… Not bad at all. Now I’m going look for a hungry, hot, fine-looking rock star to feed. Let’s see, who can I find?
Oh, and Happy Easter!
Paz
Ed Note: Interested rock stars may apply here (on this blog).
Novel Food #2: Green Pea Soup
December 19, 2007 | Filed Under Novel Food, Soups/Chowders/Gumbos | 26 Comments
Lisa of Champaign Taste and Simona of Briciole are co-hosting their second literary/culinary event — Novel Food #2. I had fun participating in the first event and couldn’t resist the opportunity to participate again.
This time, I decided to try out one of the dishes prepared in the thriller, TOTE TANZEN NICHT (The Dead Don’t Dance) written by my friend, author Olivia Kroth. The story is about a mental patient who goes in search of vengeance against people she thinks are her enemies.
One of the characters in the story is 55 year old housekeeper, Hermine. She works for wealthy family in a villa in the Taunus mountains of Germany. Hermine has had a disturbing childhood but when she grows up one of the things that makes her happy is cooking. She loves to prepare meals for the family and uses recipes from a handwritten cookbook that she inherited from her deceased mother. One of the dishes she prepares is Green Pea Soup. The story (and recipe in the book) is in German. Olivia was kind enough to translate the recipe for me. Thanks, Olivia! You can check out her blog here.
I’d never had Green Pea Soup before and looked forward to trying it. The recipe calls for fresh green peas but I could only find the frozen kind. Also it calls for bacon cubes. I couldn’t find thick bacon, so I bought the bacon slices. I should have cut them but I didn’t feel like it. I cooked the long strips as is. I didn’t have a problem with that. There’s no mention of how much water to use, so I used about 4 cups. Oh! Also the recipe calls for four carrots. I like baby carrots and used that instead. Also, I like celery. As a result, I added a bit more than the recipes asks.
As you can see, I followed the recipe but with a "Paz touch." I’m not sure what Hermine’s Green Pea soup is supposed to look like but this is what mine looked like.
I enjoyed the Green Pea soup very much. I think it’s especially perfect for a cold day and it was definitely a cold day in New York City when I prepared. It warmed my body from head to toe. I loved the taste – the bacon, vegetables, marjoram, and potatoes. So hearty and filling. I loved my soup so much that I took the leftovers to work. I’d bought a new lunch jug and my soup stayed nice and warm from the time that I’d packed it till the time that I was ready to eat it. I came home and had some more for dinner.
If you’re interested in reading more about the Novel Food event and participating, go here.
Paz
Ed. Note: Ahhh! I understand that the soup is supposed to be blended? Hehehe! I didn’t know that and as you see, all the veggies in my soup are whole. No matter — next time I prepare this, I’ll make it blended. In the meantime, I liked it the way you see it in the photos. I liked biting into all the foods. But next time, I’ll do it differently. See, this is what I mean by cooking adventure. I learn something new, each time I cook.
Another Note: You can look at the round up of recipes and books on Champaign Taste (the first half) and Briciole (the second half).
Green Pea Soup
Tote Tanzen Nicht (The Dead Do Not Dance) by Olivia Kroth
Ingredients (for 4 portions):
500 g fresh green peas
200 g potatoes
1 stem of leek
2 small onions
1 small celery
4 fresh carots
2 l consommé (bouillon)
100 g bacon cubes
1 sward (bacon crust)
1 spoonful of melted fat
salt and pepper
marjoram
1 laurel leaf
Heat the melted fat in a pot, stew the bacon cubes in it, fill up with consommé. Place the sward and green peas into it and let them boil for a few minutes. Cut the carots, leek, celery and potatoes into small pieces, put them into the pot with salt,pepper, marjoram and the laurel leaf. Let the soup simmer for about 90 minutes on low heat.
Novel Food: Peaches in Red Wine
September 21, 2007 | Filed Under Books, Food Blogging Events, Novel Food | 7 Comments
Simona of Briciole and Lisa of Champaign Taste are hosting the food blog event, Novel Food. That’s foods mentioned in a novel you’ve read. I didn’t get a chance to make anything new, so I’m reposting an old post about the food mentioned in one of my favorite novels, The Food of Love by Anthony Capella. Peaches in Red Wine. I also made Tiramisú, Coda alla Vaccinara (Oxtail soup), and Saltimbocca, which you can read about here, here, and here if you haven’t read them before (and are interested in reading them).
This was first posted August 20, 2005. In the story, the main character emails his girl friend suggestion of Peaches and Red Wine for dessert. It’s so simple to make that even the girlfriend, a non cook, can prepare it. And apparently, so can I.
Paz
* * * * * * * *
After my success with the tiramisù, I decide to try another dessert recipe from The Food of Love – Peaches in Red Wine. Fresh peaches, red wine, and sugar are all that the recipe calls for.
It was very simple and the only change that I made with the recipe is that I used Dole bottled peaches instead of fresh peaches.
I liked that it’s a light and simple dessert, not to mention nice to look at before eating.
Peaches in Red Wine
Just pour boiling water over the peaches to help you skin them, then slice them into bowls, sprinkle them with sugar, and pour red wine over them. They’re ready to eat after about 1 hour in the fridge.
Now, how easy is that!? If I can make this anyone, can! 
Paz
Announcement: Novel Food Event
September 9, 2007 | Filed Under Announcements, Books, Food Blogging Events, Novel Food | 6 Comments
Have you ever been curious about or tempted to replicate a food you’ve read about in a novel? I have. The very first recipe I recreated happened after reading The Food of Love by Anthony Capella. I enjoyed that book so much and stunned myself when I found out that I could actually prepare the food mentioned in it.
After discussing the foods mentioned in the Montalbano novels by Andrea Camilleri (books I’ve been meaning to read), Simona of Briciole and Lisa of Champaign Taste have come up with the idea to co-host a Novel Food event.
Here are the guidelines:
- Prepare a dish of your choosing that has a connection to a novel.
- Post it on your blog by midnight on September 21, 2007.
- Send an e-mail to either Lisa (webrina AT gmail DOT com) or myself (simosite AT mac DOT com) and include your name, blog name and blog address, and a link to your post.
To read more about the event, go here.
Sounds like fun, Simona and Lisa!
Paz
