Carrot Cider Cake

I really liked my wedding anniversary carrot cake, but also wanted to try this because apple cider in a cake just sounds lovely.

Notes:

• I used the large holes on my box grater to grate the carrots.
  

Verdict: This was delightful, especially with some leftover cream cheese icing spread over the top. The coworkers I shared it with also really liked it. I would absolutely make it again, and maybe add some raisins and pecans or walnuts because I love the kitchen-sink type carrot cake with all the things in it. I still dream about one my mom's friend brought us one time when I was a kid, and want to try to recreate it if I can. This might not be it but it's getting closer.

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RECIPE: Carrot Cake with Cider and Olive Oil (Smitten Kitchen)

Plum Almond Cake

Another try on my quest for the perfect plum cake for me. My first attempt had nice flavors but was maybe a bit too dry and needed just a little more sweetness. I have generally had good luck with Leite's Culinaria recipes before and plum + almond is a fantastic combination so I decided to give this a try.

Verdict: I think I messed this up because it seemed underdone/a little raw in the middle. The almond topping just melted and baked into the rest of the cake, which was disappointing. It was just almonds, butter, and sugar though and I think it needed some kind of flour to soak up the butter and keep its shape as crumbles. Maybe the butter from the topping melting into the cake is why it seemed underdone (especially since I used 1.5 times the recipe for topping). I might try it again because I really liked the flavors, but I might also just keep looking elsewhere for my forever plum cake.

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RECIPE: Plum Almond Cake (Leite's Culinaria)