Recipe Remix: Granola topped Carrot Cakes

Granola topped Carrot Cake

I thought for this recipe remix that I would combine two of my loves; carrot cake and granola!  It also turned out that I had some granola that I made during the week left over so it worked out perfectly.  These little cakes are moist, crunchy on top and super delicious!

The original carrot cake recipe can be found here.  However for this recipe, I swapped the olive oil for macadamia oil.  It has given it a lovely nutty flavour and I would highly recommend it.  Just to recap, here are the ingredients that you will need!

Ingredients for carrot cake:

3 good sized carrots grated (you want about a cup of carrot)

1/2 cup of olive oil - I used macadamia oil

3/4 cup of light brown sugar

1 cup of self raising flour

1/4 cup of chopped walnuts (you can add extra if you like the crunch!)

2 eggs

1/2 teaspoon of allspice or to taste

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Mix the sugar, eggs and oil together (I did this on a low setting in the kitchenaid mixer)

Add carrot and flour and mix again.

Stir through walnuts.

Add mixture to 12 muffin tin, that has been prepared with paper cases.

Sprinkle granola on top.

Cook at about 170-180 degrees celsius for approx 20 minutes.

Here they are just before going in the oven!

For the granola recipe, you can find one of my basic granola recipes here.  If you are anything like me, you generally make granola each week and have it on hand!  You could also use a bought granola too. These didn't last long in our house!  They are moist and not too sweet - they definitely hit the spot if you are craving cake.

Enjoy!!!

Gnocchi in Creamy Carrot Sauce...

Gnocchi in creamy carrot sauce.

I have a confession to make, I loved gnocchi.  You know, I even love the packaged gnocchi that you get at the deli.  It's so quick to make and it's often my fall back dinner dish because it's quick, tasty and filling.

The carrot stash in my vegetable crisper has been getting bigger and bigger and I've been trying to think what to cook that would use up a bunch of them.  I often make a gnocchi with a pumpkin sauce and I thought "Why not try it with carrots?"  This recipe is super simple and tasty.  You can also play around with the flavours and seasoning to your own taste too.

Gnocchi with Creamy Carrot Sauce.
Ingredients:

• 1 packet of potato gnocchi
• about 6 medium carrots
• 1 small onion finely chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic finely chopped
• 2 large rashes of bacon chopped
• A good handful of rocket for each dish
• white wine
• 1/2 cup of milk.
• olive oil

1. Peel and chop carrots into about 2cm sections, simmer in water until softened.
2. Once cooked, drain carrots and add a little milk.  Using a stick blender, blend until smooth.  Continue to add the milk until it is at a thick sauce consistency.  Season with salt and pepper and set aside on a low heat to cook milk and also to keep warm.
3. Cook gnocchi to the packet instructions.  (Usually while I wait for the water to boil, I start cooking the bacon, onion and garlic!)
4. Cook bacon, onion and garlic in a frying pan with a small amount of olive oil until onion is soft.  De-glaze the pan with a splash of white wine.
5. Add the carrot mixture to the bacon and onion mixture.  Drain gnocchi and add to sauce.  Toss gnocchi to coat in sauce.
6. Serve with a good amount of grated parmesan cheese, top with fresh rocket.  Add a little sprinkle of olive oil to the rocket and season to taste with salt and pepper.

This dish is quite pretty, the combination of the orange from the carrots with the bright green of the rocket is lovely.  Enjoy your creamy carrot gnocchi, you may need a spoon to get the last of the sauce out of your bowl!