Banana bread and carrot cake are two desserts I remember from my childhood in America. They are so good that I decided to make both of them yesterday. Clearly, we do not follow Lent. Don’t worry. I’ve kept up my pseudo-Catholic façade by frying up a big batch of cod- nice and stinky for the whole klatka to smell. C’mon, I had to prepare provisions for the weekend ‘cause my vampire books finally came in at Empik. Yeah!
Anyhow, back to the cake. 
If you’d like a taste of America, here are my recipes:
Carrot Cake
Ingredients
1 1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ginger
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
2 cups of grated carrots
1 grated apple
1/2 cup raisins (optional)
3/4 cup finely chopped walnuts
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup sugar
4 eggs
1 tablespoon of vanilla extract (not vanilla oil) or replace some of the sugar with vanilla sugar.
Instructions
1. Heat oven to 180° C. Butter baking pan(s) and lightly dust with flour. You can line the bottom with baking paper.
2. Mix all dry ingredients (except sugar) in a bowl (flour, soda, powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg)
3. With an electric mixer, mix sugar, eggs, oil and vanilla.
4. Combine the dry and wet mixtures and then add the carrots, apple and nuts and raisins (optional).
5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan(s) and bake for 20 minutes for a shallow cake to up to 60 minutes for a loaf.
Banana Bread
Ingredients
1 1/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar (can be white or brown or 1/2 each)
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup chopped walnuts
1 tablespoon vanilla extract (not vanilla oil) – optional
1 tablespoon honey – optional
3 ripe bananas, mashed (a little more than a cup)
Instructions
1. Heat oven to 180° C. Butter baking pan(s) and lightly dust with flour. You can line the bottom with baking paper.
2. Mix together dry ingredients except sugar (flour, soda, cinnamon, salt)
3. Beat together sugar, eggs and oil (and optional honey and vanilla)
4. Add bananas and nuts.
5. Mix the wet and dry mixtures together.
6. Pour the batter into the prepared pan(s) and bake for 20 minutes for a shallow cake to up to 60 minutes for a loaf.
Frosting
2 packages of Philadelphia cream cheese or any other serek śmietankowy (one package in Poland is 125 grams)
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup vanilla sugar (homemade) or 1/2 cup sugar including 1/2 package vanilla sugar
1/2 cup or more powdered sugar
1/3 cup whipping cream
Beat all the ingredients together. If too thin, add more sugar. This frosting and the frosted cake will need to be refrigerated.
True to form, Lizzie after receiving her piece of cake and a fork switched to a spoon, scraped off all the frosting and left the cake.
Happy Baking!
12 comments:
Looks yummy. I love both the carrot cake and the banana bread. There is no baking in my house, though.
It took me 5 years to get the guts to even taste a carrot cake:)) In my (polish) book, I considered carrot a vegetable and as such didn't belong to desserts:)) But when I finally tasted, I had to say that, it was very tasty. But still, after all this years I never baked carrot cake myself. Maybe one of these days I'll use your recipes. First I have to loose some weight;))
I had the same problem with carrot cake as Stardust, but now I love it! I even saw a recipe for a cake with courgette, I didn't try to make it though, maybe one day...
But what your cakes have to do with Lent? Veges are healthy and not forbidden yet?;):)
I've also heard of a chocolate cake with beets. Anyone heard of that one?
Miss - Exactly, carrots are a vegetable and bananas are a fruit. Nothing sinful about that!
Chris, the chocolate w/beets, isn't it the red velvet cake?
Chris, please come to my blog and get the price for a creative blogger:))
Stardust - It isn't red velvet although that is good too. I will look for the recipe when I get a minute but now I am on the way to your blog for something interesting???
Correct me if I'm wrong, but even if one observes Lent, it doesn't start until Ash Wednesday next week.
I will use your recipe for carrot cake, when I finally make it. It looks yummy. Banana bread is already a regular on my table and in my oven and is one of my favorite everyday cakes because you can fix it in a matter of minutes, tastes good even when you get zakalec and it's not expensive.
Aneta-You are right about Lent starting next week. See how much you can forget when you don't go to church.
Bee-Carrot cake is pretty much the same-yummy and cheap.
Misiu says that I should put a warning that for people used to American cakes, these cakes can seem bland. If so, experiment by adding more sugar and more spices until you get a cake that you like.
I love carrot cake. Carrot cake is one of the american cakes I really like. My husband has a good recipe for a 'healthy' carrot cake.
Thank you for sharing the recipes. Like many other Polish people I had thought it strange to add a vegetable to cake but found out it was sweet and delicious. I must make one myself.
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