[1] and [2] Mini carrot cupcakes are a lighter version of dense carrot cake. Here’s the recipe (photos © Kraft).

[2] These carrot cupcakes have a pinch of ginger and spiced cream cheese frosting. Here’s the recipe.

[3] Shred extra carrots and add them to a salad (photo © Stylepresso).

[4] Lactose intolerant? Use Green Valley Organics’ lactose-free cream cheese. You can also substitute ghee for butter, at a 1:1 ratio (photo © My Lilikoi Kitchen).

Yesterday we made carrot cupcakes. Mini ones. With a recipe from Kraft.

While we usually dig into a slice of dense loaf cake instead of airy cupcakes, we deemed these just right for Easter week.

We don’t add pineapple to our carrot cake, but the fruitiness was just perfect in these cupcakes.

Bring them to work, bring them to neighbors, or enjoy the entire batch at home.
 
 
A BRIEF HISTORY OF CARROT CAKE

According to the Carrot Museum in the U.K., food historians believe that modern carrot cake most likely descended from medieval carrot puddings.

During the Middle Ages, sugar and other sweeteners were expensive and difficult to come by, and carrots had long been used for their sweetness.

Printed recipes for carrot pudding have been found as far back as 1591, but no reference to carrot cake appears until the 19th century. Thus, we don’t know how cake got to here from there.

In the New York Cookbook (1992), Molly O’Neill says that in 1783, George Washington was served a carrot tea cake at Fraunces Tavern in lower Manhattan.

She notes that an adaptation of that early recipe, which was printed in The Thirteen Colonies Cookbook (1975), is quite close to the carrot cakes of today.

 
RECIPE: MINI CARROT CUPCAKES

Ingredients

For The Cake

 
For The Cream Cheese Frosting

1. PREHEAT the oven to 350°F. Combine and mix the eggs, egg white, sugar, oil and applesauce in a mixing bowl.

2. COMBINE all the dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Add the egg mixture to the dry ingredients and beat together. Add the carrots, pineapple, and pecans and mix again. Spoon into 24 lined muffin cups, filling about 2/3 full.

3. PLACE the pan on the middle oven rack and bake for 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes; then remove from the pan. Allow the cupcakes to cool completely on wire racks before frosting.

4. MAKE the frosting. In a large mixing bowl cream together the butter, cream cheese and vanilla extract. Gradually beat in the powdered sugar. Add milk to the desired consistency. (Don’t make it too thin or the frosting will slide off the cupcakes.)

5. FROST the cupcakes with a small spatula, or use a pastry and tip for a fancier presentation (you can use a plastic bag with no top, as shown in photo #2). Garnish with crushed pecans, if desired.
 
  

February 21st is National Sticky Bun Day. Sticky buns and cinnamon rolls were the biggest treat of our childhood breakfasts: Better than waffles or pancakes.

The Horn & Hardart Automat, Americas’s first fast food chain, had such popular items that customers clamored to take them home. They set up a retail arm to package and sell some of them in retail stores.

Our family devoured many boxes of the honey buns. Today, they’d be called pecan sticky buns.
 
 
CINNAMON BUNS VS. STICKY BUNS: THE DIFFERENCE

The terms are often used interchangeably, but there are two categories of sweet yeast buns: cinnamon buns and honey (now called sticky) buns. Other terms include cinnamon rolls, cinnamon swirls, honey buns, and sticky buns, among others (cinnamon pecan rolls, e.g.).

All are made with a cinnamon swirl inside; they may have raisins as well.

But a honey bun or sticky bun needs to have a sticky topping: caramel, honey, maple syrup, or sugar syrup. These typically have a garnish of nuts. Those topped with white icing fall into the cinnamon bun category.

And only the sticky bun has its own holiday.

Now: What if you could bake a pan of sticky buns or cinnamon buns with ease, and bring them to the table warm and fragrant?

If this sounds like your kind of good time, McCormick has created the easiest recipe, an “overnight” casserole. But below we have recipes for:

 
 
THE EASIEST WAY TO MAKE “CINNAMON BUNS”

Mix five ingredients together the night before—bread, milk, cinnamon, and vanilla—just 10 minutes of prep time.

The next morning, just bake the casserole for 25 minutes until golden brown. It then gets a drizzle of cream cheese frosting: 30 minutes total.

We served it yesterday, and a very good time was had by all—with some leftover for today.

While the recipe is a casserole, you slice it into square, bun-size pieces. The difference:

 
 
RECIPE #1: OVERNIGHT CINNAMON ROLLS CASSEROLE

Ingredients For 12 Servings

 
Preparation

1. WHISK the eggs, 1-1/2 cups of the milk, 1 tablespoon of the cinnamon, 3 teaspoons of the vanilla, and the baking powder in a large bowl until well blended. Add the bread cubes and toss to coat well.

2. GENTLY POUR into a 13″ x 9″ baking dish, sprayed with no-stick cooking spray. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.

3. PREHEAT the oven to 350°F. Remove casserole from the refrigerator. Mix the melted butter, brown sugar, and remaining 1 tablespoon of cinnamon in a small bowl until well blended. Drizzle the over casserole. Let stand 10 to 15 minutes.

4. BAKE for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Meanwhile…

5. MAKE the cream cheese topping. Mix the cream cheese, confectioners sugar, and remaining 2 teaspoons of vanilla in a small bowl until smooth. Slowly stir in the remaining 3 tablespoons of milk.

6. REMOVE the casserole from the oven and let stand for 5 minutes. Drizzle over the casserole before serving.

[1] and [2] Overnight Cinnamon Roll Casserole. See the process step by step, from Gimme Some Oven (photos #1 and #2 © Gimme Some Oven).

[2] You can also serve the casserole as a dessert, with vanilla or cinnamon ice cream. You can even add a sprinkle of Grand Marnier.

[3] Sticky buns have a honey or other sticky topping, with chopped nuts. You can get them from Wolferman’s (photo © Wolferman’s).

[4] Conventional: A pan of cinnamon buns with their conventional glaze. Here’s the recipe from The Baker Chick (photo © The Baker Chick).

There are many Standards Of Identity defined by the USDA and the FDA, but buns and rolls are not among them.

Thus, there is no official answer. According to the American Institute of Baking:

 
So the answer is, there is no answer. Historic, regional, and family traditions often determine what is a bun and what is a roll.

You may buy hot dog and hamburger rolls, for example; we buy buns.

[5] Lemon Blueberry Muffin Casserole (photo courtesy McCormick). [6] A conventional blueberry muffin (here’s the recipe from Unwritten Recipes).

RECIPE #2: OVERNIGHT LEMON BLUEBERRY MUFFIN CASSEROLE

If you prefer blueberry muffins to cinnamon buns, McCormick adapted the muffin concept as well.

Prep time is 15 minutes the night before, and cook time is 30 minutes.

Ingredients For 12 Servings

For The Streusel Topping

 
For The Casserole

________________

*You can substitute twice as much lemon zest (2 tablespoons) for the lemon extract. You can also make your own lemon extract by soaking lemon zest in vodka for two weeks, and then straining out the zest.
________________
 
Preparation

1. MAKE the streusel: Mix the brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Cover and set aside until ready to assemble in the morning.

3. POUR evenly into 13″ x 9″ baking dish sprayed with no-stick cooking spray.

4. MIX the cream cheese, the remaining 2 tablespoons each of milk and sugar, and the lemon extract in a medium bowl, until well blended. Gently stir in 1 cup of the blueberries. Spread evenly on top of bread cubes. Top with the remaining 1 cup of blueberries. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

5. PREHEAT the oven to 350°F. Remove the casserole from the refrigerator and let stand for 10 to 15 minutes. Meanwhile…

6. CUT the butter into the streusel mixture with a pastry blender or 2 knives, until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle over the casserole. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.
 
 

Steph of The Cupcake Project created a recipe called How to Make Cupcakes in Egg Shells.

But, if you decorate the eggs before serving, you have Easter Egg Surprise: an egg with cake inside.

It’s fun and memorable: Most people won’t have seen anything like it.

Here’s the recipe.

We took it one step further, using white eggs and decorating them.

This protects everyone from any bacteria on the egg, and protects the eggshells from any oils on hands that may prevent the dye from adhering.
 
 
HOW TO DECORATE CAKE EGGS AFTER THEY’RE COOKED

We used a wide paintbrush and took the advice of Incredible Egg to use water warmer than the eggs.

They also caution that hands should be washed in hot, soapy water before and after handling eggs—even if they’ve already been cooked or decorated.

Because a hole has been punched into the top of the shells to insert the cake batter (photo #1), you can’t fully dip cooked cake eggs in dye (well…maybe if you use dark chocolate cake, a bit of color won’t show).

Instead, you can try one of these three techniques.

 
You can practice the first two techniques with the raw eggs in your fridge (and return them for subsequent cooking).

Or, you can color whole eggs and then bake them in the oven to get hard boiled eggs.

The hard boiled eggs look and taste the same.
 

THE HISTORY OF EASTER EGGS

The tradition of painting hard-boiled eggs during springtime pre-dates Christianity. Fertility and rebirth are fundamental to life—not just for people but for the crops and animals that sustain them.

The most ancient known decorated eggs are 60,000 years old: engraved ostrich eggs found in Africa. Decorated eggs have also been found from prehistoric Egypt and the early cultures of Mesopotamia and Crete [source].

[3] Here’s how to get these beautiful colors, from Urban Comfort (photo © Urban Comfort).

The Christian custom of Easter eggs began among the early Christians of Mesopotamia, who stained eggs with red dye in memory of the blood of Christ (more).

The Easter holiday itself is named for the Germanic goddess Eostre (Eostra, Eostur, Ostara, Ostare, Ostern and other names), a fertility goddess. Her name derives from the ancient word for spring, eastre,

She was very popular with Anglo-Saxon pagans in Brittania as well, many of whom were descended from Germanic tribes who migrated to the island.

Eostre’s sacred animal is the rabbit, a symbol of fertility; and the egg is her symbol of fertile purity, both of which involve the spring and new birth.

In Old German, the month of April was called Ostar-manod: Easter month, or month of the Goddess Eostre. In Old English, it became Easter-monab (pronounced eh-AH-ster moh-NATH).

The English word April derives from the Latin aperire, to open (e.g. buds).

[1] Chopped chicken liver on matzoh: a classic. Here’s the recipe from Williams-Sonoma. [2] A deconstructed version from Chef Alex Guarnashelli at Butter restaurant. [3] Mr. Alpenglow created his recipe, inspired by Guarnashelli’s. Here’s the recipe.

When is a piece of matzoh with chopped chicken liver (photo #1) greater than the sum of its parts?

When creative chefs turn it into something spectacular.

Here, the first idea (photo #2) inspired the second (photo #3).

Chef Alex Guarnaschelli of Butter in New York City tops a board of matzoh with:

 
As an alternative to the grape jelly and the crispy shallots, we made these honey-balsamic roasted red onions from Chef Tyler Florence:

RECIPE: HONEY BALSAMIC ONIONS

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. PREHEAT the oven to 350°F.

2. COMBINE the butter, vinegar, honey, thyme, salt, and pepper in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil, turn down to simmer and cook for 1 minute to reduce slightly.

3. PLACE the onions, cut sides up, in a single layer on a baking pan. Drizzle with the honey butter mixture over and roast until soft and slightly caramelized, about 45 minutes.
 
THE SECOND RECIPE

Try this recipe (photo #3) from Mr. Alpenglow.
 
CREATE YOUR OWN

Schmaltz and gribenes, anyone? Or how about foie gras?

Here are reciped for the first two, and the history of chopped chicken liver.

How about an old-fashioned sponge candy recipe? It has that “honeycomb crunch” and can be made for Passover. A recipe is below, thanks to our colleague Hannah Kaminsky of Bittersweet Blog wondered about the old-fashioned confection variously known as:

 
….and, no doubt, other names in other places [source].

They all describe a confection that’s crunchy, crisp in the center, and melts in your mouth.

While there’s no molasses in it, the caramelization of the sugar gives it a bit of molasses flavor. You can have it covered in chocolate, or not.

Hannah wondered: “Where did all those names come from, and why did they keep renaming the exact same candy?” She set out on a mission to make her own.

“I cooked and caramelized, stirred and stewed, bubbled, boiled, and crystallized my very own sweet. If anything, what I created was even darker and more powerful than the old-fashioned candies you can purchase.

“I used cocoa and dark chocolate, of course, and cacao nibs for extra crunch. But the real secret ingredient here is the chocolate extract.”

The spongy airiness of the candy is based on the middle school volcano trick demonstrated in science class: Baking soda plus vinegar equals bubbles.

You’ll have a mini-volcano in your mixing bowl in Step 5, below. It’s fun, as long as you’re forewarned.

As with Chocolate Matzoh, a.k.a. Matza Toffee, a.k.a. Matzo Buttercrunch, a.k.a. whatever, sponge candy is a treat you can make for Passover.

But don’t make it in the summer heat and humidity and plan to serve it at a picnic or barbecue. If you need a fix, make it and eat it in the comfort of your air-conditioned home.

Ready to make some four-chocolate sponge candy (photos #3 and #4)?

September 21st is National Sponge Candy Day.

[2] If you don’t know what’s inside, you’ll be delighted by the honey crunch.

[3] You can find sponge candy worldwide, often under different names. This angel food candy is from Kitch Me in Australia.

[5] Bet you can’t eat just one piece!

[6] Hold the chocolate! This recipe for “honeycomb candy” is from The Pioneer Woman.

If you don’t want chocolate, you can make sponge candy without it. Here’s a recipe.

Ingredients

 
Plus

 
Preparation

1. LINE an 8 x 8-inch baking dish with parchment paper and lightly grease. The parchment doesn’t need to fit perfectly inside the pan, as long as it covers the bottom and sides without any holes for the liquid candy to escape through.

2. COMBINE the sugar, agave, 4 tablespoons of water, and vinegar in a medium saucepan. Stir just to moisten all of the sugar, and place over medium heat. Swirl the pan gently to mix the ingredients as the sugar slowly melts, but avoid stirring from this point forward to prevent premature crystallization. Meanwhile…

3. MIX together the remaining tablespoon of water, cocoa powder and chocolate extract in a small dish; set this cocoa paste aside.

4. COOK the sugar until the mixture is caramelized and reaches 300° to 310°F, also known in candy-making as the hard crack stage. Remove the pan from the heat. Things will move very quickly from here, so be on your toes.

5. VIGOROUSLY STIR in the cocoa paste along with the baking soda, allowing the mixture to froth and foam violently. Immediately transfer the liquid candy mixture to your prepared baking dish but do not spread or smooth it down. Allow it to settle naturally to maintain the structure of the fine bubbles trapped within.

6. COOL for at least 1 hour until fully set. To finish, melt the dark chocolate in a microwave-safe dish, heating at intervals of 30 seconds and stirring thoroughly between each one, until completely smooth. Pour over the top of the candy base and spread it evenly across the surface. Sprinkle with the cacao nibs and let rest until solidified.

If you’re bringing it as a gift: It’s fragile, so transport it carefully.

And may we suggest: crushed or sliced sponge candy makes an exquisite topping for vanilla ice cream, or layers in a parfait.
 
 
THE HISTORY OF SPONGE CANDY

Sponge candy is known by so many different names that it’s difficult to discern where it originated. The closest we can find in English is that sponge candy was produced as early as 1913 in Beamish, a village in northwestern England’s Durham County. It was made in copper pans over an open fire.

We do know that in the U.K., the Cadbury Sponge Candy Company first mass-produced sponge toffee in 1929, and created the Crunchie chocolate bar with a sponge candy center.

In the U.S., the product called sponge candy took root in Buffalo, New York, which is still the sponge candy capital of the country.
It is an airy variation of toffee with a light, sponge-like texture.

Different versions of sponge candy have come and gone, as you can read in this article from an octogenarian who remembers it from 1940s New England.

But look internationally, and you can find that the Turkish version, törökméz, dates back to ancient Turkish cuisine and was adopted in Hungary during the Ottoman Era* [source].

Did a candy maker from Hungary settle in Buffalo? Does sponge candy date to Anatolia (most of modern Turkey).

Neighboring Persia (the modern Islamic Republic of Iran) was cultivating sugar by the sixth century C.E. The ancient Sumerians in Babylonia were making vinegar from way, way back to 5000 B.C.E.

So, what we think of as 20th-century sponge candy may have been the continuation of an ancient recipe.

________________

*Ottoman Hungary was the territory of Medieval Hungary that was ruled by the Ottoman Empire from 1541 to 1699. More.