This is a recipe 40 years in the making.
You know those family legends that are told and re-told at every family gathering? Usually a source of embarrassment to the her.. er, culprit in the tale, who was too young to know any better but can't live it down? Well. my family has one they tell on me. And since it came up again recently in my foodie group, it made me laugh, first of all, to see my mother, grandmother, and father all telling their memories of the incident. I'm long past any embarrassment over it, and besides they were telling stories of cooking disasters on themselves, so it was gentle good fun.
It seems that when I was two, and Mom was pregnant with one of my sisters, she hadn't quite grasped that 'silence is golden, unless it's a toddler. Then silence is deeply suspicious.' So while she was resting, and I was playing quietly, she didn't think anything of it. Until my grandmother came over to visit, and saw what I'd been up to. Evidently, in a childlike imitation of Mom, I was trying to cook. Family lore has it that I was trying to make a cake, which I am not sure of my intent, other than... What they saw, and I have been told since I don't recall it one bit, was the small me, in only a diaper, in the comfy spot in the house trying to mix together eggs, flour, milk, sugar... and mustard. The comfy spot? my parents had just laid brand-new carpet in the living room. I know about the mustard because that never came out of the carpet!
I can laugh about it now, because like mother, like daughter. When the Junior Mad Scientist was about three, she was playing quietly. I was working in my office. I became aware that there was an odd noise, so I got up, stepped out of my office into the kitchen... and found my toddler sitting in front of the fridge, an egg carton next to her, and a pool of broken eggs widening around her. She saw me, her eyes got big, and she jumped up and tried to run. Only... eggs are slippery. You know the old Looney Tunes cartoon where the character spins their legs in a futile attempt to run? She did that. I broke down laughing.
But I digress. This post isn't entirely about cute family stories and messy life. It's also about cake. You see, when my grandmother posted the comment about my attempt at cake as a two-year-old, I looked at the First Reader and said 'I'm going to make a cake with mustard in it."
So I did. Only I used a bowl, this time. Take note, toddler me. Works better that way when you don't have to scrape it out of the carpet. Otherwise, your cooking skills weren't that far off! Only took me 40 years to learn that.
Carrot cake is my favorite. I don't know if carrots were involved in the toddler attempt, but I wanted them in this one.
Mustard Carrot Cake
preheat oven to 375F
Grease and flour 2 8" round cake pans
In mixing bowl (very important step, this) combine:
4 eggs
1 c brown sugar
1 1/2 tbsp ginger paste
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cardamom (ground)
1/2 tsp nutmeg
mix eggs and sugar until frothy, then add in the spices. Pour slowly in:
3/4 c melted butter
2 tbsp yellow mustard
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
Once beaten together, slowly add:
3/4 c coconut flour
2 c shredded carrot
zest of one lemon
juice of one lemon
1 c milk
3/4 c flour
Mix until just combined. Roughly divide batter into halves, putting each half in a pan and spreading evenly.
Bake for 28-30 minutes, until toothpick inserted in center comes out cleanly. Cool and frost: I used a cream cheese frosting base, sprinkled with shredded coconut and drizzled with melted chocolate.
The resulting cake is spicy! You can't really pick the mustard out of the flavor, but this is a complex cake. It's moist, dense, and very very crumbly. I think next time I'd try it without the coconut flour, just using all white flour. Or maybe do these as cupcakes or muffins. The ginger is a huge personality in this cake. (looks in mirror. That's not what I meant!)
Family stories are better with cake. And some coffee. And now, I've finally perfected my mustard cake. Sorry about the carpet, Mom!
This is such a dense cake. But it is just cram-packed with flavor.