Dispatch no. 11: sort-of spring
a carrot in the garden | sharing recipes (+ sometimes not) | a carrot in the kitchen
winter carrot harvest, spring carrot planting, general carrot love
stories + thoughts
This is the time of year in the Northeast when a fresh bunch of overwintered carrots can be as addicting as a bowl of jellybeans or a bag of potato chips. DO NOT EVER pass by a pile of carrots at a local farm stand in late winter/early spring — likely they are the result of careful calculation on the part of the farmer, were planted in late summer or early fall, grown to (almost) maturity, semi-hibernated in the soil during the Persephone Period (when daylight is shorter than 10 hours and growing virtually stops), then re-booted February 15 as a result of the days growing longer and temperatures creeping up, marking the end of the Persephone Period (here on the Island, that is). Carrots that have endured a cold winter (either under a thick layer of mulch in the field or in a hoop house) taste all the sweeter because the plant concentrates its sugars in order to help it survive the cold.
This is also the time of year when i would normally be getting ready to direct-sow carrot seeds in my own garden — a couple of weeks before the final frost (which in my current zone on the Island is April 22). to be perfectly honest, carrots are not the easiest thing to grow in the vegetable garden. for one thing, the seeds are tiny tiny tiny and fly out of your hand at the slightest breath of wind, scattering invisibly into the garden path and neighboring beds. the soil they are planted in wants to be loamy, light and friable, so that the roots are able to plunge down straight into the earth without encountering obstacles like rocks, dense impassable clay or stubborn weeds. the seeds take a very long time to germinate, sometimes up to three weeks, so long in fact that you begin to wonder where, and even IF, you actually planted the carrots. you can try Fruition Seeds’ radish “marking” system, i.e. planting a radish seed every foot or so in your carrot row, to indicate where your carrot seeds are planted — it’s genius! because when the carrot shoots do finally appear (way behind the quickie-growing radishes) they are maddeningly indistinguishable from microscopic blades of grass or emerging weeds. oh, and then you have to thin them for the plants to develop properly. AND succession planting is a good idea so your entire carrot harvest doesn’t mature all at once.
So why on earth, you might wonder, would anyone in their right mind bother to plant carrots?!
Well, because there is almost nothing as satisfying as pulling a happy carrot from one’s own rich garden soil, unless, of course, it is witnessing a delighted child pulling a happy carrot from the soil.
From that perspective, it is so very much worth all the “trouble”.
Heeding my own advice ;-), and sans my own veg garden (again !) this year, i have been purchasing carrots by the literal armload at my favorite farms on the Island since late February. and the carrots that we haven’t eaten on the spot — i find it practically impossible to resist overindulging — have inspired so many carrot-y creations, some of which i am sharing here.
I am going to get the carrot cake recipe — the one that i am NOT sharing ;-) — out of the way first. because, you see, the carrot cake that i have always made for my children, friends, husband(s) and siblings is/was my mom’s ( admittedly swoon-worthy) recipe. well, not actually hers but a recipe given to her by a friend who swore her to secrecy, or else! (not sure or else what but who really wants to find out?!)
My mother '“never broke a promise” as she told us time and time again, and while she made exception with her own offspring (and I with mine) under no uncertain terms would she share a recipe she’d promised not to. there was certainly no way i was going to upset that apple cart. i am not exaggerating when i say i’ve had people beg, cajole and threaten (well maybe not actually threaten) me for the few “secret” recipes i have under my belt, these being mostly from my mother, especially this carrot cake recipe. i understand why it is exasperating — it does feel like a pretty outdated concept in this era of oversharing to withhold a recipe and, trust me, it makes people want it WAY MORE. i’ve had people (people not just a person) say “but your mother will never know”. hah! as if.
So i have gone to the trouble (well, not that much trouble) to share some adjacent carrot cake recipes that i wholeheartedly approve of. i will say, without giving the actual recipe away, that my mom’s secret recipe does include pineapple and coconut, does not include raisins, and that notwithstanding the instruction in her recipe to finely grate the raw carrots that i prefer the loose piece-y texture of a heftier grate. see how much i’m sharing without actually sharing??! also, my mom’s is finished with a cream cheese frosting. ok, enough hints ;-).
In any case, i don’t think any of these recipes, my mother’s secret one included, insist that the cake-maker USE ONLY THE FRESHEST LOCAL AND SEASONAL CARROTS available and preferably purchased WITH THEIR TOPS, as well as only the best quality additional ingredients.
but I AM insisting, and YOU SHOULD !
a sweet winter carrot made sweeter in the kitchen
NOT My Mother’s “14-Carat Carrot Cake” Recipe! (but some other really excellent - adjacent - ones ! ;-)
The Silver Palate Cookbook and The New Basics Cookbook were like the updated versions of my mother’s original cooking bible The Joy of Cooking. Berta’s Carrot Cake recipe from The New Basics, like my mom’s, is hearty and generous but, interestingly (and deliciously) made with cooked carrot puree. make it with cooked seasonal overwintered carrots for that extra-sweet, earthy and singular carrot flavor.
→ Berta's Carrot Cake + Cream Cheese Frosting
This gluten-free carrot cake tastes earthy and nutty and a version of this one that we made for one of our barn suppers at DRF was a big hit with all of our guests! a denser, smoother crumb makes it feel a little more “grown-up” and i love that it includes orange zest and olive oil combined with some of the more traditional carrot cake ingredients. also, you can never go wrong with a recipe from Liz Prueitt.
→Tartine's (GF) Teff Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
anddddd she had me at MAPLE cream cheese frosting! scrumptious carrot cake cupcakes from the great Smitten Kitchen.
→Smitten Kitchen's Carrot Cake with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting
Candied! Carrot! Curls!
These i will share ;-).
My mom def did not make candied carrot curls to garnish her carrot cakes but they are a sweet lil addition and, besides, i’m allowed to tell you how to make them!
i also love the perfect delicate filigree of a fresh sprig of carrot-top tucked in among them.
p.s. if they come out more like carrot SQUIGGLES (as mine did heh heh) than carrot CURLS, well i think that’s just fine ;-). I threw in a few straight “ribbons” as well.
Candied Carrot Curls
Phoebe Cole-Smith
INGREDIENTS
6 large carrots (or equivalent-ish amount of smaller carrots)
2 cups pure cane sugar, plus more for sprinkling
2 cups water
PROCEDURE
peel the carrots into long strips or ribbons using a vegetable peeler or a mandolin (mind your fingers!!) — note: only use the “best” strips, saving the discards for another use (such as eating them on the spot ;-).
make a simple syrup by combining the sugar and the water and bringing the mixture to a boil. reduce the heat to a simmer and stir until all the sugar is dissolved. add the carrot strips to the syrup and continue simmering until the carrots are tender, about 15 minutes. turn off the heat and let the carrot strips cool in the syrup. drain, saving the syrup for another use.
preheat the oven to 225 degrees F. lay the carrot strips on a wire rack set over a sheet tray and place in the oven until still slightly sticky but no longer wet — about 40 minutes (but check after 30!).
remove from the oven and immediately twirl each strip, one by one, around your finger (or some prefer the handle of a wooden spoon but i find that more difficult). lay the curls on a wire rack, sprinkle with sugar, and let dry at room temp until crunchy, at least an hour.
arrange on top of the frosted carrot cake of your choice, with or without some carrot top sprigs!
DOWNLOADABLE + PRINTABLE PDF VERSION:
Caramelized Carrot, Blood Orange + Maple Ice Cream!
So, with those armloads of carrots, i decided i just had to have a carrot ice cream to go with the carrot cake — i mean, right? but - oh no! - i had used the last of the eggs i had on hand for the dang cake!
of course i had never made homemade ice cream without eggs — that is, until i made this one. lo and behold, it was just as rich and creamy as i’d hoped, even without the eggs.
you will see that these elements make for a most winning combination of flavors — the citrus enhances the earthy carrot-y goodness with the perfect sweet + sour tang, the maple adds that smoky caramel-y je ne sait quoi that maple does.
this is SO EASY to make, if you have an ice cream maker, because it does not require making a creme anglaise. you literally throw the prepared ingredients together, chill and process.