OMG is that a Carrot Cake?

Why, yes, yes it is a carrot cake! After leaving for a mini vacation after delivery I thought it was time I dig up the photos I took of Chris and Amy's cake...you know, the one with all those fabulous carrots in it! Their farm is amazing, fresh green everywhere - my husband is eager to get more info about their harvest sharing programs; you can get the info here.

So, out of the 14 or so pounds of carrots that Amy brought to me for her cake, we ended up with just under 13 after trimming the ends and used just over 10 of it for the cake. This cake consisted of 10 batches of cake, made with as many organic ingredients as possible - almost all of them! I am in love with cream cheese icing I made with organic cream cheese and fresh butter from Hillcrest Dairy in Moravia NY, made with cream from cows not treated with rBST; so salty and creamy. I was excited to see that Wegman's (the Dewitt location) carried it in their ever expanding organic and special diet section. With a little fresh lemon juice and organic sugar, and some vanilla bean...it was delicious!

I assembled the baked layers, I think 7 or 8 in all (I don't recall!) with the dreamy cream cheese icing in between each, then carved to my little heart's content. Somewhere, out there, was a very happy Bugs Bunny I'm sure. ;-) Then I finished it off with the fondant we make here in the studio - this was the one element that we did not attempt to create with organic ingredients. (is there organic gelatin or glycerin out there??) A little pleating, some creative folding, and hand painting resulted in a very satisfying carrot. At 39" long before the stem was added, and over 50lbs, this big guy made quite an impression on the few folks in the tent when we delivered. The "dirt" was crumbs of organic cookies and graham style crackers (Paul Newman's Own brand). The leafy green was celery stalk if you can believe that?! We needed something fresh and green and big enough and low and behold my husband ran down to Dawn Hotaling's fresh produce stand (Plantation Farms I believe is the name) on State Hwy 26 and Route 42 just at the edge of South Otselic and picked up the perfect size bunch!

One last look for you...I hope you enjoyed the suspense of these cake photos. I'm glad you hung in there with me until I could blog them. Our busy summer is finally starting to come to an end and with school just around the corner we were blessed to squeeze in an unexpected trip to St. Clair Shores MI to see some family that lives there and more that were visiting from AZ. Couldn't pass that up! We've had our fill of the great New York State Fair as well, and are now anxiously awaiting the first day of school next week! With that first day with a new teacher right around the corner as well, we'll be moving on from carrots to apples soon I'm sure. Mom always said to eat your fruits and veggies...

Thanks again Amy and Chris for finding me and asking me to do your cake, definitely a favorite for the year! See you soon!