More root vegetables coming at you. This is a recipe I have wanted to make for awhile, one I printed back in Michigan what feels like an eternity and another lifetime ago. I did do a lot of baking even right before I moved, but this didn’t make the cut at the time.
Instead I made it at the rental home we stayed at for about two months waiting for our home to be completed.
I am not a big fan of traveling or staying in hotels in general, so to stay at someone else’s house for an extended period of time, to basically live there, to try to feel at home and not meltdown when things weren’t as clean or well kept as I hoped, that isn’t typically my jam.
At all.
So far from my jam.
But I wanted to move to Florida and I wanted to leave before winter and I searched and searched for houses and settled on this one.
It was not at all perfect. I am still actually a little shocked at how far from perfect it was given pictures, location, pricing, but I made it work. I exercised and cooked and baked and showered and slept. I watched TV and I made it work. I mostly stepped up to the plate and didn’t cry or complain to much. I put my head down, got the job done, and pushed through.
I pretended like it was Survivor.
With a view of a golf course.
I understood then and continue to understand now that I am blessed to have gotten to do all this nonsense, especially given the currently circumstances (I’m looking at you coronavirus). But it was not easy to live in a house that’s not mine and try to make it mine and feel comfortable even when we may or may not have found a dead lizard in a kitchen drawer.
Yeah, you read that right.
I don’t think I’ll ever do it again. Right now, I’m not sure how I feel about staying in a hotel for a night again, but I don’t have to make that decision right now, and the past few years of life have seriously taught me that whole never say never thing FOR REAL.
Rituals like baking and watching The Amazing Race and getting in a daily sweat session helped me through. It was one day at a time, and sometimes it was one minute at a time.
I did it, though. As minutes and hours and days passed. As eggs were cracked and packages were delivered. I adjusted and calmed down and mostly kept my chill. Laura of five or ten years ago couldn’t have done that. So I’m kinda proud of myself. It’s times like that I can literally see my personal growth. There’s always room for more, but that’s life. And sometimes you take a moment to enjoy the victory.
Especially with a slice of Carob Carrot Crumb Loaf that also happens to be paleo. But that’s not what you should concern yourself with. You should focus on the fact that it is so freaking tasty. Carob (okay, or chocolate – y’all know that drill by now) is the dominant flavor, but that doesn’t mean you don’t get hints of warm spice and earthy carrot. You totally do. And don’t even get me started on those crumbs on top. They are THE BOMB. And I definitely snuck a few off pieces that weren’t mine. They are just too good to resist.
This loaf tells a serious story for me, maybe it will for you too. If not, I’m sure there are other recipes in your life that give a glimpse into your past and present and maybe even the future too.
Carob Carrot Crumb Loaf
Ingredients
Crumb topping
1 cup paleo flour blend (2 cups almond flour, 1 ¼ cups tapioca starch, ¾ cup coconut flour)
¾ cup almond flour
1/3 cup coconut sugar
¼ cup carob (or cocoa) powder
½ cup olive oil
Cake
3 cups paleo flour blend
½ cup carob (or cocoa) powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground cardamom
1 teaspoon vanilla bean powder
¾ cup maple sugar
3 large eggs
1 ½ cups olive oil
1/3 cup unsweetened almond milk
2 ½ cups shredded carrots
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Oil two loaf pans.
Make the crumble. In a medium bowl, stir together the flours, sugar, and carob powder until combined. Stir in the oil until clumps form. Set aside.
Make the cake. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, eggs, and oil. Whisk in the flour, carob, baking soda and powder, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, and vanilla. Finally stir in the milk and carrots. If the batter is a little dry (this depends on the carrots), add up to 1/3 cup additional milk.
Divide the batter between the pans and then top with the crumble. Bake one hour to one hour 15 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the cake, not only the crumble, comes out clean or with a few crumbs. Slice and serve warm or cool completely in the pan.
Loaf may be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days or frozen, wrapped in parchment and foil and placed in a zipper bag for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature about an hour.
Notes
Recipe adapted from Food and Wine
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