Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Icing

That sweet potato cake that Alice made looked so good. I love cakes and breads made with vegetables such as zucchini bread, pumpkin pie or carrot cake. It’s that interesting mix of the vegetables you are used to eating as a savory dish, but mixed with sugar, butter and flour they become a delicious sweet treat.

Carrot cake is my specialty. I make it quite often and as a three-layer cake, it’s quite a special and sophisticated treat with the great spices and the tender crumb.

Last weekend, I had my friend Brittany and her two girls, Cambria and June come by for a fun sleepover at my house. After a raucous time in the pool, then a good night’s sleep, the girls helped me make a carrot cake. Let me tell you, if you ever need some great entertainment, have two little girls help you bake.

We trimmed and shredded the carrots. I don’t ever bother peeling the carrots I use for carrot cake. I just wash them, trim the ends off and shred them in my trusty old (emphasis on the old) food processor.

We carefully measured our ingredients into the mixer

…paying special attention to the sugar.

After all the cake ingredients were added, we scooped the shredded carrots into the mixer. As you can see, we were quite hands on with our baking.

I neglected to get a photo of the baking pans that Brittany very carefully greased and lined with rounds of parchment paper for me, but here’s what they looked like filled with the cake batter.

While the cakes were in the oven, we mixed up everyone’s favorite part of the cake – the cream cheese icing! It’s hard to go wrong with a beautifully creamy sweet filling and topping for this moist layer cake. It’s made up of four ingredients that you cream together in a mixer.

We just tossed all the ingredients into the mixing bowl and started mixing. As you can see below, we had quite the poof of powdered sugar that got all over the counter. If you aren’t interested in having your entire kitchen covered in a very fine layer of sugar, you may want to mix up the cream cheese, butter and vanilla FIRST, then add the powdered sugar very slowly.

The next step, of course, is to taste the icing. Which my helpers were VERY happy to take care of for me.

In the meantime, the cakes were finished. They made my house smelled SO GOOD!!

After they cooled in the pans for about fifteen minutes, I turned them out onto a cooling rack until they were completely cool. Then began assembling the cake.

As easily as…

one…

…two…

…three…

…and voila!

Of course cake is always best shared with a friend. On the patio. On a nice day.

You can serve it immediately or put it together a day ahead of time and let it sit in the refrigerator overnight for maximum moistness.

It won’t stick around for long.

Alice?

TRIPLE-LAYER CARROT CAKE WITH CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
From Bon Apetit

Cake
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
4 large eggs
2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3 cups finely grated peeled carrots (about 1 pound)
(optional) 1/2 cup chopped pecans (about 1/2 ounce)
(optional) 1/2 cup raisins

Frosting
4 cups powdered sugar
2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
4 teaspoons vanilla extract

For cake:
Preheat oven to 325°F. Lightly grease three 9-inch-diameter cake pans with 1 1/2-inch-high sides. Line bottom of pans with waxed or parchment paper. Lightly grease waxed paper. Using electric mixer, beat sugar and vegetable oil in bowl until combined. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg into sugar and oil mixture. Stir in carrots, chopped pecans and raisins, if using.

Pour batter into prepared pans, dividing equally. Bake until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and cakes begin to pull away from sides of pans, about 45 minutes. Cool in pans on racks 10-15 minutes. Turn out cakes onto racks and cool completely. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Wrap tightly in plastic and store at room temperature.)

For frosting:
Using electric mixer, beat all ingredients in medium bowl until smooth and creamy.

Place 1 cake layer on platter. Spread with 3/4 cup frosting. Top with another cake layer. Spread with 3/4 cup frosting. Top with remaining cake layer. Using icing spatula, spread remaining frosting in decorative swirls over sides and top of cake. (Can be prepared 2 days ahead. Cover with cake dome and refrigerate.) Serve cake cold or at room temperature.

Sweet Potato and Nutmeg Cake

What a delicious looking breakfast that was B! I am getting into variations of your hash these days. This morning I had some sweet potato, left over roast pumpkin, rocket, and an egg. So good.

Sweet potatoes have been getting a good wrap recently. I realise that making them in to a cake is not exactly the healthiest way to use them, but I was intrigued as to how it would taste.

The result was very dense, cake-like version of pumpkin pie – a little odd. It was great still warm and I can imagine a scoop of vanilla ice cream would have been perfect with it. We had a simple orange icing, running down the sides, instead.

It was simple to make, here are the ingredients.

You’ll need mashed sweet potato… I steamed them, I would love to know how it would work if they had been roasted instead… dark brown sugar, yoghurt, butter, flour, egg, nutmeg, baking powder, a vanilla bean (if you feel like a splurge), and then icing sugar and lemon juice to make the runny icing.

If you have a KitchenAid, I am sure it would be best made in that, but I used a lowly food processor. It was simply a matter of adding the ingredients in the order listed below, then baking in a medium oven until golden.

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SWEET POTATO AND NUTMEG CAKE

ingredients – cake
225g mashed cooked sweet potato
150g plain flour

100g softened butter
100g dark brown sugar
2.5 Tbs yoghurt
1 egg, lightly beaten
Seeds scraped from 1 vanilla pod
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp baking powder
1 pinch of salt

ingredients – icing
100g icing sugar
2.5 Tbsp fresh orange juice

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Preheat oven to 180c/350f

Cream the butter with the sugar, then add the vanilla seeds, nutmeg and salt. Then add in the egg and mix well. Add the yoghurt and sweet potato, and then mix in the flour and baking powder. When well combined, pour in to a small cake tin, sides buttered. I used baking paper in the base to make sure it would not stick.

Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Leave to cool a little, and pour over the icing.

To make the icing mix the orange juice in to the icing sugar slowly. You can grate a little orange or lemon zest over the top too for a little prettiness.

I think a scoop of vanilla ice cream would go perfectly too.

Not my favourite on this cooking journey, but interesting nonetheless. Whatcha think B?

Sweet Potato Hash

I was fortunate enough to be at Alice’s house for the last post – that quinoa and sweet potato combination was really quite tasty. It was so fun to be cooking in Alice’s kitchen on the other side of the world from my house, working together on a dish for the blog that we usually co-author from so far away.

I enjoyed her sweet potato dish so much that I decided to make a sweet potato  hash

Hash is one of my favorite weekend dishes, I usually use leftover potatoes, vegetables and whatever meat I may have left over (see the Carnitas Hash). Topped with a poached egg, it makes for a delicious meal and is never the same dish twice. This time, I used some baked sweet potatoes that I had in my fridge, poached a chicken breast and topped with avocado, as well as the all important poached egg.

First I started by bringing a pot of water to a boil and poached the chicken.

I chopped up some onions and sauteed them in butter in a large skillet

…and promptly forgot to keep an eye on them, so they got a bit brown – but those bits taste really good!

Then I peeled and chopped up the sweet potatoes and tossed them into the skillet to brown as well

After the chicken was done, I chopped that up and added it to the skillet

After everything was appropriately heated and crisped, then it was time to serve it up. I topped it with a poached egg for a special treat and because I love poached eggs. (see here how to easily poach an egg)

The slices of avocado added a creaminess that was a good balance to this hash.

If you make the egg soft, then the delicious runny yolk will create a sort of sauce for the rest of the dish.

Add a latte made with Australian coffee beans and voila! You have a delicious breakfast that’s good enough for company, but is just as good served on your coffee table while you and two cats watch the snow fall outdoors.

Sweet Potato Hash

1/2 onion, chopped
2 tablespoons butter
2 small sweet potatoes, baked, peeled and chopped
1 chicken breast, poached (see this easy method)

Heat a large skillet over medium heat and melt the butter in the pan. When the butter is all melted, add the onions and saute, stirring regularly until they are softened and lightly browned. Then add the chopped baked sweet potato and toss while allowing to brown. Add the chicken at the end, just long enough to combine and heat through. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Top with avocado slices and a poached egg.

This is just a general starting point for hash. The beauty of this dish is you can add whatever you like or have in your fridge at that moment. I’ve made it with leftover baked potatoes, mushrooms, garlic, onions, spinach, bell peppers, cauliflower – the sky’s the limit. I like to add meat for an extra protein punch – steak, corned beef, pork, carnitas, roasted chicken, chorizo, roast beef…the list goes on and on. You can just as easily make it vegetarian by leaving out the meat and adding broad beans, cannellini, garbanzo beans, lentils or whatever your favorite bean might be. It’s great for using up leftovers without it tasting like you’re using up leftovers.

Try it, you’ll like it!

Alice, where can you go with this??

Quinoa, Sweet Potato and Rocket Cakes

Well, well, well… B has had her annual trip down to Melbourne, and it was great to see her.

We ate many meals at restaurants… and in fact I think I am STILL full from going to The Abyssinian, but we did cook ourselves a few healthy meals. After seeing B’s quinoa stuffed squash, I was inspired to try some more quinoa recipes.

This recipe is a ripper if you want a healthy go-to meal for the week, to take as lunches, and to fill in busy night dinners. As it makes loads. It would also work well as a vegetarian option for a BBQ.

What you will need…

Sweet potato, quinoa, celery, carrot, onion, garlic, olive oil, rocket (arugula), egg, breadcrumbs, paprika, and lots of salt and pepper for seasoning.

We started by chopping up the sweet potato, you want the equivalent of two medium sized potatoes. They were steamed them until they were soft and then mashed in a large bowl, mixing in some chopped rocket at the end.

Then we chopped put the onions, celery, carrot and garlic and sautéed them until softened. We added in the garlic, quinoa, paprika and some water, and cooked it down. It reminded me of making a risotto, I may even try this recipe using stock instead of water next time. We cooked it until the quinoa was tender and the liquid was absorbed.

We whisked up egg with some salt and pepper… don’t hold back… it was great with a few good pinches of sea salt.

We mixed it all together along with the bread crumbs we made by roughly blitzing a couple of slices of rye bread in the blender.

After letting the the mix cool down a little and forming some patties, they went in to a hot oven and let them bake for around 35 minutes. They were a little crisped on the outside, and still soft on the inside.

Served on a bed of rocket, with some plain yoghurt and mint atop, delicious!

Our ingredients made about 18 patties, perfect for left overs.

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QUINOA, SWEET POTATO AND ROCKET CAKES

ingredients
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion or equivalent, finely chopped
2 stalks of celery, diced
2 medium carrots, diced
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 3/4 cups quinoa
2 1/2 cups of water
2 Tbs sweet paprika
2 medium sized sweet potatoes, diced and steamed
1 1/2 cups rocket (arugula), chopped roughly
2 eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 cup rye or wholemeal bread crumbs (around two slices)
generous sea salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 200C/400F.

Sauté the onions with the carrot and celery until soft, then add the garlic, quinoa, water and paprika and cook until quinoa is tender, and the liquid is well absorbed.Mash the steamed sweet potato with the rocket, and then add the quinoa mixture and all remaining ingredients.When cool enough to handle, make patties around the size of the palm of your hand, and place on a baking paper lined baking tray.Bake until the outside of the patty is a little crisped or browned, around 35-40 minutes.Serve with a dollop of plain yoghurt, a little mint, and a salad made of rocket.

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Pork Roast with Winter Fruits and Port Sauce (Dinner Party – part 2)

No dinner party is complete without a showcase dish. And this pork roast was just that dish. Pork roast with a fruit stuffing, wrapped in bacon and drizzled with a port wine sauce.

Don’t be intimidated by this recipe, as it looks far more difficult than it actually is. It’s not a super speedy recipe, but I think any of my dinner party guests would agree with me in saying that it was well worth the wait.

First I made the filling. Chop dried apricots and prunes into small squares. Add them to a small saucepan with some of the port and cover. Let it simmer for five minutes and then sit off the heat for another 10 minutes to absorb the liquid, all the while covered.

In a large skillet or dutch oven, melt butter over medium heat. Add the chopped onion and shallot to the butter and saute until softened, about five minutes. Then add the chopped apple, along with some salt and pepper and let it cook for another five minutes, until the apple is tender.

Add the port and fruit mixture to the onion and apple mixture and mix thoroughly. Let this mixture cool before stuffing it into the pork roast.

I bought a very large boneless pork loin roast and cut it into three manageable chunks. Then cut a pocket through the middle of the roast – slicing a 1 1/2 inch slice through the center of the roast lengthwise, then cutting a slit up and down to make a cross shape which made the pocket expandable.

I salted and peppered the roast on all sides and once the stuffing was cool, I stuffed it into the pocket I had just made. I got in there with my spoon and got as much stuffing as I could fit into each of the pieces. Be aware that it is a little messy and the filling won’t all stay inside. Save the leftover stuffing for later to make a sauce to pour over the top.

Once the roast is stuffed, place it fat side down in the baking dish (do as I say, not as you can see I did in my photos) and lay a few slices of bacon across the roast. Bacon makes most things better! Especially pork.

Place the roast into a preheated oven. It starts off quite hot – up to 500° F/260° C for 20 minutes, before it’s turned down to 325° F/160° C. Make sure you place the pan into the center of the oven, or you too may have smoke billowing through your house.

Let it roast for about 1 1/2 hours before checking it with a meat thermometer.

After pulling it out of the oven, let it rest under a foil tent for 15 minutes before slicing it up. This allows the juices to redistribute themselves throughout the meat, so you can avoid having a dry roast.

While the roast is resting, you can proceed with the directions in the recipe for the sauce OR you can do as I did and just pour the rest of the bottle of port into the sauce pan with the leftover stuffing and let it cook down and thicken up a bit. It is wonderful poured over the slices of pork roast. I dished it up into a gravy boat and placed it on the table for people to add as desired.

Once the pork has rested for at least 15 minutes, you can carve the roast into thick slices and place on a large serving platter and serve to your very hungry dinner guests.

Kate, the master carver

Pork Roast with Winter Fruits and Port Sauce
(adapted from Gourmet | December 2008)
by Ruth Cousineau
Yield: Makes 8 servings

For stuffing:

1/4 pound California dried apricots, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/4 pound pitted prunes, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2/3 cup ruby Port
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 small shallot, finely chopped
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tart apple such as Granny Smith, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces

For roast:

1 (6-pound) pork loin roast, at room temperature 1 hour
9 or 10 bacon slices

For port sauce (optional):

1/2 cup ruby Port
1 small shallot, finely chopped
1 1/2 cups water, divided
2 teaspoons arrowroot

Make stuffing:

Simmer apricots, prunes, and Port in a small heavy saucepan, covered, 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand 10 minutes.

Cook onion and shallot in butter in a large heavy pot over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, 4 to 5 minutes. Add apple and 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until apple is just tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in apricot mixture and cool.

Stuff and roast pork:

Preheat oven to 500°F with rack in middle.

Make a pocket in center of roast by making a horizontal 1 1/2-inch-wide cut into 1 end of roast with a long thin knife, repeating from opposite end so pocket runs all the way through. Then make a vertical cut through center (forming a cross) to widen pocket. Push about 1 cup stuffing into pocket using a long-handled wooden spoon (you may need to stuff from both sides if roast is long). Reserve remaining stuffing for sauce.

Season roast with 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and put in a large flameproof roasting pan. Wrap with bacon,  tucking ends under roast. Roast pork 20 minutes, then reduce oven to 325°F and roast until an instant-read thermometer inserted 2 inches into center of roast registers 155°F, 1 1/2 hours total.

Transfer roast to a cutting board, reserving pan, and let stand, loosely covered with foil, 15 to 20 minutes. (Temperature of meat will rise to about 160°F; meat will be slightly pink.)

Make sauce (optional):

Skim fat from pan drippings and reserve 1 1/2 tablespoons fat. Straddle pan across 2 burners and add Port to drippings, then deglaze pan by boiling over high heat, stirring and scraping up brown bits, 1 minute. Strain pan juices through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl, discarding solids.

Cook shallot in reserved fat in a heavy medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 3 minutes. Stir in pan juices, 1 1/4 cups water, and reserved fruit stuffing and bring to a simmer. Whisk together arrowroot and remaining 1/4 cup water until smooth, then whisk into sauce with any juices from cutting board.

Simmer sauce, whisking occasionally, until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Carve roast into thick slices, serve with sauce.

Thanks again to Kyle Krohn for the great photos!!

Quinoa Stuffed Squash Rings (Dinner Party – part 1)

This past weekend I had a dinner party. It came about because my friend Christine just finished her kitchen remodel and currently has the best dinner party kitchen around with lots of work space, a beautiful long center island and quite a few places to set out food and drink! I wanted to cook in that nice kitchen and what better excuse for a dinner party than a lovely home, good food and great friends?

Terri, Jane, Christine, Jill/Gracie, B, Kate

Olive and Kevin

Christine, the hostess with the most-ess

I also had the pleasure of working with Kyle Krohn who took the photos that I’m using on these two dinner party posts. He’s quite talented and is a great instructor. I plan to keep improving my own photography with his help.

The menu was a good solid winter dinner:

Pork Roast with Winter Fruits and Port Sauce (recipe to be featured in my next post)
Quinoa Stuffed Acorn Squash Rings
Smashed Potatoes
Roasted Carrots
Chopped Salad
Tiny Pies

The squash rings were a new dish for me. I’ve been cooking with quinoa quite a bit recently and have found that it’s a tasty good-for-you grain that is so adaptable to many different flavors. I like the tri-color variety that I get at Trader Joe’s.

This time I decided to make a quinoa stuffing for squash. This would be a great holiday dish for one of the many US holidays that involve squash, such as Thanksgiving dinner or Christmas dinner or any random dinner really. Cutting the squash into rings allowed me to make these individual portion sizes for a larger group.

I cooked up the quinoa with chicken broth according to the package. It’s very similar to rice in that you use a 2:1 ratio of liquid to quinoa.

I rinsed one cup of quinoa first, then added it to a large stock pot with two cups of chicken broth and brought it to a boil.

At that point, I turned the heat down to low and covered the pan and let it cook for 15 minutes before removing it from the heat for another five minutes.

I chopped an onion, a red pepper and two tomatoes and sautéed them in a separate pan. When they were all softened, I added the cooked quinoa, some dried cranberries and slivered almonds and a splash of chicken broth, along with some salt, pepper and a pinch of dried sage.

Because I like stuffed squash but wanted individual servings, I cut the acorn squash into rings. Cut them, using a sharp knife and a lot of caution, as the last thing you want as part of your dinner party is a visit from the paramedics to stitch up your finger!

Cut the squash in one inch (2.5 cm) sized rings and remove the seeds.

Place the rings on a baking sheet covered in parchment paper and spoon the quinoa mixture in them.

Bake at 370 F/190 C for 30 minutes or until the squash is soft.

Remove carefully from baking sheet with a wide spatula and place directly on plates.

The side dishes were very simply done. I boiled baby potatoes until they could be easily pierced with a fork. After letting them cool, I smashed them with a glass, put them on a roasting sheet, drizzled them with a bit of melted butter and popped them in the hot oven until they were crispy – about 20 minutes.

For the carrots, I peeled them and cut them into 2-3 inch segments at an angle just to make them pretty. Then I tossed them with one tablespoon of olive oil in a large plastic bag to thoroughly cover them. Then they too went onto a baking sheet, were sprinkled with a large pinch of kosher salt and placed into the hot oven for about 20-25 minutes, until they had some caramelized bits on the bottoms. The carrots prepared this way were so good! They were like candy.

I’ll be back for my next post with part two of the dinner party to give you the delicious stuffed pork roast recipe.

Quinoa Stuffed Squash Rings
Serves 6-8

3 acorn squash (or any other squash that can be cut into rings)

1 cup quinoa
2 cups broth, chicken or vegetable
1/2 large onion, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
2 Roma tomatoes, chopped
1/2 cup dried cranberries or other dried fruit
2 tablespoons slivered almonds
1 teaspoon dried sage
salt & pepper

Rinse the quinoa. Add to a medium saucepan with two cups of broth and bring to a boil over high heat. When it comes to a rolling boil, reduce the heat to low, cover the pan, let it cook for 15 minutes then remove from the heat, still covered for another five minutes.

As the quinoa is cooking, cut the squash into rings or slices and remove the seeds. Use a sharp knife and use a solid cutting board, as your knife could slip and your fingers will be in danger.

Place the cleaned out squash rings or slices onto a baking sheet covered in parchment or baking paper to keep the stuffing from sticking to the pan.

In another pan, saute the chopped onion in a tablespoon of oil until it becomes translucent.  Add the red pepper and tomatoes and let them soften for a few minutes. Then combine with the cooked quinoa, dried fruit and nuts and season with salt, pepper and sage to taste. If the mixture seems a little dry, add some broth a half cup at a time until it has achieved the consistency you would like.

Fill the squash rings generously with the stuffing. Bake at 375 F/190 C for 30 minutes or until the squash is soft.

Spiced Zucchini Chips with Tahini Dipping Sauce

B’s roasted chickpeas are a hard act to follow. Healthy and delicious snacking.

I think zucchini chips, alongside a tangy and healthy sauce fits the bill. The kind of thing you could whip up when the zucchinis are taking over the back yard, or on a summers day when people are coming over for a drink. They are tasty, in a way you don’t think zucchini will be.

The tahini sauce I served them with, is something I love and a reminds me of a dressing I once had on a celery heart salad that I will never ever forget, from Rumi in Brunswick, Melbourne.

This is how I made them…

with zucchini, some spray oil, salt, pepper, sweet paprika and chili powder.

I used the food processor to slice the zucchini, but you could slice by hand. I then prepared all of the trays I have (two baking trays) with baking paper and a very brief spray of oil. I would use cookie sheets if you have them. One zucchini filled one tray.

I sprinkled sea salt sparingly over the slices, gave a grind of pepper, and then sieved the other spices over the top with a tea strainer. Be careful not to over spice, as they shrink so dramatically, the flavour is intensified.

Then I placed them in a very slow oven for one and a half hours. I turned the oven up a little after an hour to ensure they got crisp and browned nicely. Your oven may vary the times. I kept a close eye on them for the last 10 or so minutes, and pulled out those that cooked before others. They are perhaps a little time consuming to be an every day thing, but I enjoyed them so much I made another batch the next day. I only have the two trays, but I would make more if I had more trays!

The tahini sauce was just…

tahini, lemon, garlic, salt, pepper and a little warm water. I mashed the garlic to a paste with a little salt, using the back of a knife.

Then I mixed all of the ingredients together in a bowl. I sprinkled with a little sumac to serve, but you could also use paprika.

Yummo. Crispy.

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ZUCCHINI CHIPS

ingredients to suit two trays 

2 medium sized zucchini, sliced to the thickness of a quarter, or 20 cent piece here in Australia. A food processor slicer works well, as would a mandolin
1 tsp sweet paprika
1/2 tsp chili powder
Salt
Pepper
Olive oil spray

Preheat oven to 140C/285F

Cover two baking sheets or trays with baking paper and spray very lightly with the oil. Placed the sliced zucchini on the trays, with no overlaps, and spray very lightly with oil again. Season with the salt and pepper. Season also with the chili powder and sweet paprika. Using a tea strainer to apply lightly and evenly works well.

Bake in slow oven for around 1.5 hours, keeping an eye on them. I found I needed to turn the oven up toward the end, to around 155C get them crisp. They shrink dramatically, so please don’t get a shock at the final product. My suggestion is to make as many trays as you can fit in your oven/have on hand.

These chips soften up after a few hours, so make them just before devouring.

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SIMPLE TAHINI SAUCE

ingredients

1 Tbsp tahini
2 tsp garlic – mashed with a good pinch of salt
2 Tbsp lemon juice
Generous grind of black pepper
2 Tbsp warm water

Mix all of the ingredients together in a small bowl, and taste. Add more seasoning if needed. If the consistency is too thick, add a little more water.

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