Sugared Walnuts

These sugared walnuts enhanced with ginger and maple are so tasty and quick to make. The secret to making these extra delicious is toasting the walnuts in an oven before sugaring them. Believe me, toasting is pure magic when it comes to nuts.

I like to make a big batch of these and keep them sealed in a plastic bag in my freezer. I then use them to top salads - spinach, pear and gorgonzola is my favorite. They are also a great addition to a cheese platter when you need something easy for entertaining.

Here's the recipe:

Sugared Walnuts
2 1/2  cups walnut halves
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 tablespoon water
2 teaspoons unsalted butter
1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. And,  lay a sheet of parchment paper on a cooling rack.

Put the walnuts on a sheet pan and toast them in the oven for 6 to 10 minutes. Watch them closely because you don't want them to burn. Once you begin to smell the walnuts, get them out of the oven.

Put the remaining ingredients except the butter and salt into a large heavy bottomed saucepan and give it a good stir to combine. Heat the mixture over medium heat until the sugar mixture is melted and bubbling. This takes about 5 minutes.

Quickly, add the butter and salt and cook for another 30 seconds. Add the toasted walnuts and cook for another minute or so, stirring constantly.

Transfer the walnuts to the parchment paper and use a spoon to break them apart. Be careful because they are very hot. Let them cool completely and store in a sealed container.

Let the sugared walnuts cool completely before packaging.

Classic Carrot Cake

One of the simplest cakes to whip up is a classic carrot cake with cream cheese frosting.

For the cake, all the ingredients can be mixed by hand in less than 5 minutes.

Really, the hardest part of the recipe is grating the carrots. After that, it's smooth sailing.

Grating the carrots can be made easier by using large carrots — they're easier to grip and you'll get the required amount in less time. I also prefer a box grater to a food processor — Fewer parts to clean up!

My carrot cake recipe comes from "Seasoned with Love," my trusty German Baptist Cookbook. The cake is baked at a low temperature (300 degrees)  which I think is the secret to its moist texture.

The original recipe calls for vegetable oil but I usually use canola or olive oil. It's your pick — the results are always delicious.

 I also usually add an additional cup of carrots. I made notes of these changes in the recipe below.

Carrot Cake

2 cups sugar

1 cup vegetable (I have also used canola or olive oil)

4 eggs

2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

2 tsp. cinnamon

3 cups raw grated carrots (I usually add an additional cup to bring the total to 4)

1/2 cups chopped walnuts

1 (8 oz.) can crushed pineapple

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. With a whisk, cream together sugar and oil. Add eggs; cream well. Add flour, soda, salt and cinnamon. Mix well. Add carrots, nuts and pineapple. Mix well and pour into two 9-inch cake pans that are greased and floured. Bake at 300 degrees for approximately 50 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. When cool, frost with Cream Cheese Frosting.

Two carrot cake layers waiting to be stacked and iced.

Adding the second layer.

Icing the cake.

Cream Cheese Frosting

2 cups powdered sugar

12 oz. (1 1/2 pkg.) cream cheese 

1/4 cup softened butter

2 teaspoons vanilla

Whip cream cheese and butter thoroughly. Add vanilla. Add sugar, a little at a time and whip until smooth.