Carrot Cake Balls

Somehow Labour Day has snuck up on us.

For many kids (and teens and adults, myself and my Vice Principle mom included) tomorrow means back to school.

I have managed to snag the rest of this week off (except for 3 hours on Friday) as the school is still having trouble getting all of our placement information to us.

Luckily I've been able to pick up a few shifts this week so I won't go broke waiting for fall work to start up again (which isn't until the 24th).

To celebrate the end of summer, John and I went down to The Ex to catch the air show.

About 20 minutes after waking up this morning I got my pre-migraine blind spot so I wasn't sure I would be able to suck it up and go with John (who was very excited).

Luckily the meds kicked in and by the time we got down to the CNE my head was fine.

It also helped that it was pretty chilly outside - like a nice big cold compress on my head.

That cold did get a bit too cold though, as we had to snuggle into each other to stay warm right by the lake.

All in all a romantic afternoon spent watching some really cool air shows.

You can check out all the planes we saw at the CNE website but as I indicated in the picture, we saw some awesome formation flying, the Osprey's first show in Canada, a Lancaster from the War Plane Heritage Museum in Hamilton (John particularly enjoyed that one), and lots of aerobatics.

We also made time for some overpriced CNE food, including the largest hot dog I've ever eaten.

To be fair I shared it with John (my half is the one hidden under the pickles). And I made John try to deep fried oreos.

He liked them.

Yesterday I was craving cake and I really wanted to do some baking.

I decided that to stop myself from eating entire slabs of cake I would individualize them and try something I've wanted to try since this time last year: Cake Balls!

Step One: Bake the Carrot Cake

(Martha Stewart recipe - pecans swapped for raisins)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch round cake pans. Line bottoms with parchment paper, and butter parchment. Dust with flour, tapping out excess. Whisk together 1 1/4 cups flour, 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp ginger, and 1/8 tsp nutmeg.
2. Beat 1 1/2 sticks butter and 1/2 cup brown sugar and 1/4 cup granulated sugar with a mixer on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Add 2 eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat 3 minutes. Add 1 tsp vanilla, 1/4 cup water, and 4-5 peeled and grated carrots. Beat until well combined, about 2 minutes. Reduce speed to low, and add flour mixture, then 2 cups raisins.
3. Scrape batter into prepared pans, dividing evenly. Bake, rotating pans halfway through, until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into centers comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Let cool in pans on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Run a knife around edges of cakes to loosen, and turn out cakes onto rack. Turn right side up, and let cool completely.

Step Two: Make the Icing

In a bowl mix together 2 pkgs of cream cheese (softened) with 2 cups of icing sugar.

Step Three: Make the Cake Balls

1. Once the carrot cake has cooled, crumble the cake into a large bowl. Use your hands to ensure the cake crumbles into small peices.

2. Mix the icing into the crumbled cake and mix together to form a sort of batter.

3. Grab about a tablespoon of cake and shape it into a ball by rolling it using your palms.

4. Let the cake balls set in the fridge.

Step Four: Decorate

I sort of messed up this step but you can choose to dunk the cake balls in chocolate (I used white chocolate which I coloured orange) to coat them completely, or you can drizzle them with the chocolate. You could also make more cream cheese icing to coat them with.

Or dunk them in an icing sugar and milk (you'll need about 1 tbsp of milk for 2 cups of sugar so add the milk in very small additions) mixture them roll them in chopped pecans or walnuts. The choice is up to you!

This labour day has been sort of bittersweet. It's my last year of going back to school and as much as I am ready to be done with school, I'm going to miss that excitement.

There's quite a bit to be excited about this year though.

Happy Labour Day!