There's nothing like a birthday, especially a pet birthday, to inspire me to bake! @lex-zaiya's fur baby turned 3 the other day and I've been trying to get ingredients and my ass in gear to attempt to experiment with this new and foreign appliance. I have also had a ridiculous craving for carrot cake for months now, so I suppose I didn't need too much of a push! Teehee!
As some of you will know, my oven broke before Christmas. It can only grill, so baking is not an option.
@merenludick was super helpful this morning as my baking assistant and helped me reach things I couldn't! There are so many ingredients to remember.
I am always super careful with this recipe because it's very high sugar content leads to extreme stickiness - which means I use spray and cook AND baking paper or bake-proof cupcake holders. I also have to watch the cupcakes like a hawk and place them in the exact center of the oven. Otherwise, either the tops or the bottoms blacken very easily. You can sort of fix the tops, depending... like if it's burnt it's burnt. That tastes horrible no matter what you do, but if they're like a bit darker than you hoped, don't stress! I usually find they settle by the next day, and once they're covered in cream cheese icing, no one will notice.
I could only bake one tray at a time. That, actually worked out to be for the best so that I could play around with baking temperatures and times. It's not the same in every oven. It's like learning where the clutch takes when you're driving a different car for the 1st time.
Even mittens popped in to give us a hand!
All in all, I think we were successful!
YAY!
It's definitely nap time now. I will ice them later when they and I have cooled down. I am glad they're downstairs and I am upstairs though, otherwise, I'd be stuffing them in my face, as is!
I will do a decorating and taste test post a bit later, but if you'd like to head on over to my fabulous carrot cake recipe, have a look here! It is The Best carrot cake I have ever had and is extremely versatile. It yields around 36 cupcakes, or 4 loaves, or one giant cake. Take note because baking times do vary depending on what you are doing.
Claire's Crazy Cakes, Bakes and Kitchen Hacks: Chapter 12 - Carrot Cake - My Best Kept Secret!
Cheers for now!
UPDATE
I am sorry, I made this post yesterday before my PC went on strike in the 35-degree heat. Like it froze. I tried restarting several times, but it said nope, and I decided we should both nap. Fantastic idea in my upstairs, West-facing bedroom. heatstroke Needless to say, I have not yet iced the cupcakes.
In other news, I was unfortunately too late. @lex-zaiya's baby, Cupcake, crossed the rainbow bridge yesterday after a long illness. Also, reaching 3 is very impressive for a rat. Especially a wild one who was hand-reared. Lex, our hearts are all with you 💔
