How to Save A Baking Fail - The Invention of Carrot Cake Cookies

See this woopie pie looking creation? It was supposed to be a bog standard carrot cake. Honest. It was. 

The other week I got a bit carried away while doing the groceries and came home with three types of carrot - violet ones, yellow ones and the normal orange ones. The kids liked the look of them when I chopped them into sticks but weren't too impressed when they realised they taste the same as the regular raw carrots. 

Then we tried cooking them. Together in one pot. Let's just say big mistake. They, and the water we cooked them in, all turned dark bluey purple and looked less than appetising. 

So, what do you do with violet carrots that are getting older by the day and no one wants to eat? My solution was to make carrot cake using my tried and tested recipe. I have been using this recipe for seven years and it has ALWAYS worked. But for some reason on this particular day I suddenly had visions of beautiful carrot cupcakes with purple cream cheese frosting piled high upon them. I decided at the last minute to pour the cake mixture into silicon muffin cases instead of a cake tin. 

Then I set to work on the frosting. I had an idea that I could boil some of the carrots, reduce the water after boiling and create my own food colouring in deep purple. To my utter delight, it worked. I could barely wait to get the cupcakes out of the oven and start assembling them.

  

And then came the fail moment. The cupcakes were stuck like glue to the silicon. The tops came off as soon as I tried to ease them out. Just as I was about to call the boys and let them gobble the whole lot down, straight from the muffin cases, it struck me that the muffin tops looked quite like cookies. And filled cookies taste great, don't they? So I gave it a go, sanwiching two muffin tops together with cream cheese frosting. The Bavarian was allowed the first try, completely ignorant of the fact that he was acting as guinea pig. He wolfed it down enjoyed it thoroughly and asked for another. The boys were mad for them too, so much so that I think I am going to have to make them again. And so the carrot cake cookie was born! 

Keeping A Well Stocked Larder

Nowadays most of us don't have a larder. We have kitchen presses or cabinets or cupboards. Whatever you choose to call them, their main purpose is to stock food. The kind of food you choose to store in them is very important. If they are brimming over with tv dinners, Cuppa Soups and Pot Noodle, then you'll probably always have something to eat, but it won't be nutritious, tasty or varied. 

I like to keep the presses well stocked with products that can be thrown together in various combinations to cook or bake tasty, reasonably healthy and, above all, adaptable meals and snacks. 

If you happened to call to my house and have a root through the cupboards and the fridge, it is quite likely you'd find a selection of the following in there:

In The Press

Tinned tomatoes (for soups and sauces)

Tinned cannelini beans, lentils and chickpeas (for soups, casseroles and curries)
Tinned tuna
Dried herbs (e. g. oregano, bay leaf, thyme) and spices (cayenne pepper, curry powder, cinnamon, salt, black pepper, cloves)
White flour
Olive oil (for dressings, flavoursome marinades and for drizzling)
Sunflower oil (for frying and baking)
Pasta
Rice
Olives (for tapenades, savoury baking, adding to sauces, or for snacking on)
Tomato puree (gives solour as well as depth of flavour to dishes)
Nuts for crunch and flavour (e.g. pine nuts, almonds, walnuts)
Potatoes
Carrots

Onions

Garlic

In The Fridge

Bacon (rashers or lardons)

Cheeses 

Anchovies (for dressings, sauces and tapenades as well as pizzas)

Capers (ideal for fish dishes or sauces with anchovies and olives)

Butter (for baking and sometimes for frying) 

Eggs (a great all rounder - quiche, omlette, fried eggs, boiled eggs, for baking, for binding, for glazing...the list is endless)

Milk (for rice pudding, custard, bechemel sauce, hot chocolate)

On the windowsill or in the garden

Chives

Parsley

Basil

Rosemary

With a good selection of tins, jars, some herbs, spices and a few chilled basics in the fridge there's a huge range of dishes to cook. Throw in some fresh veg, meat or fish and there is no end to the meals you can make. 

How do you ike to stock your kitchen cupboards?

#ClearOutAndEat November 2015, Month 2

I'm a bit of a control freak. I always like to know where my children are, what my bank balance is and what food we have in the house. When I know the answers to these questions, I can plan. I like plans. 

But sometimes I am too busy to keep an overview of everything. So far I haven't lost the children, but I have found myself with no idea what my finances are like or what the state of the fridge is. And I don't like that feeling. 

So what do I do when that happens? I sit down with a pen and paper, check my bank balance and work out how I am fixed for the rest of the month. To be honest, I really enjoy fiddling about with numbers. 

As for the food situation, I take stock of what we have. In a best case scenario we haven't got much and I get to go a do a huge grocery shop. I love that - seeing what is in season, what looks good, what's on special offer and making meal plans in my head as I browse the aisles of the shop or market. In a worst case scenario, we have some too-old leftovers that have gone past eating and some tired-looking veg that can be made into soup. But generally speaking, I keep the cupboards well-stocked with useful ingredients so that even the most basic of fresh ingredients can be easily made into something tasty. 

After seeing all the great recipes and tips that were linked up in October, I'm really excited about this month's post on reducing food wastage, be it through clever cooking, shopping, preserving or composting. 

I've linked up two posts, one from My Kitchen Notebook and one from Three Sons Later to this month's Clear Out and Eat linky. I hope my cupboard essentials post and my green tomato relish recipe will inspire you to get creative and use what you have rather than throw away perfectly good food.
Have you, like me, been making jams and chutneys with the great Autumn produce available everywhere, whether foraged, home-grown or shop-bought? Or have you settled into Autumn by making deliciously comforting warm dishes like pies, stews and casseroles? 
So, whether you have been creating clever meal plans, cooking comforting casseroles or reviving leftovers, link up and let me know. Don't forget to tweet me @threesonslater to let me know what you're sharing. I'll retweet and pop along to read and comment too.

<div class="Three Sons Later-button" style="width: 200px; margin: 0 auto;"> <a href="http://www.threesonslater.blogspot.de/" rel="nofollow"> <img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcmZwqN6MT3QWRethjzaFwSz52Gt_x58xioFqskOrPbO4ex3X54PIu0hwEfZKP5nLgLhb1-6bU6-mUno5fVxHld928pylvKEjkceil8xe1Qqq4SSLd9fU3v3taW0YVrmmnKnCQwyFSFogh/s1600/%2523Clearoutandeat+200x200.png" alt="Three Sons Later" width="150" height="150" /> </a> </div>

 
You can link up anything food waste related, for example 
- tips on using up food 
- how not to buy too much 
- meal planning 
- recipes adaptable to what you have to hand 
- composting food waste 
- recipes for gluts of home grown produce
The rules:
You can link up up to two posts, old or new.
Add my badge to your post and link back to My Kitchen Notebook or Three Sons Later.
Please only link relevant posts. Others will be deleted. 
Please comment on at least two posts that others have entered.