Freezing carrots

krishna

GIRLPOWER wrote:

carrot cake that you can freeze???? Is it on this site...????

The best carrot cake recipe ever. And yes you can freeze it.

[All credit goes to Edna Staebler, "Food that really schmecks: mennonite country cooking". ISBN 07-077392-0. Amazingly good recipes, especially for sweet treats]. It's an American publication.

2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
3 cups finely shredded carrots
2 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
4 whole eggs
2 tsp cinnamon (personally I put two to three times that in and add 2tsp ginger)
2 tsp vanilla

Mix dry ingredients together. Blend in oil, add eggs and carrots, then vanilla. Blend well and bake in 8" layer pans at 350F for 35 minutes.

NB: When I made it it was a bit wet so I added a little more flour, but still leaving a very runny cake batter. I guess it all depends on your carrots, the size of your eggs and even the flour you used. Anyway it came out perfectly. I have never been able to make a carrot cake well before, they were always crumbly and a bit heavy. Not this one!

flis21

Hi,

Have been reading through the threads and just went and assessed what I have in my kitchen. i have a huge bag of potatos that are starting to go soft, so I will spend this afternoon making mash and roast potatos and freezing them. Was wondering about carrots though, as I also have a big bag of carrots. Can you freeze them? If so is it best to freeze cooked or raw? If raw should I cut them up first?

Thanks,
Flis

Philippa36

You need to slice them up and blanch (stick them in boiling water!) them for a couple of minutes and then you can freeze them. We have ours frozen in 3 portion sized bags to make it easier than freezing them altogether.

Dora_the_Explorer_5

I was just going to post the same answer as Philippa as I've been doing that for decades - b****y allotment !
Then I read the OP comment about freezing potato mash. I've never even thought of doing that but would like to give it a try now I'm on my own and can't be faffed with making one portion of mashed spuds but it would be worthwhile making a 6 portion batch and freezing 5. Any tips on how to freeze mash?

elvis_bloggs

I freeze my carrots too and I prepare them first in the same way as described by Philippa, I have them frozen in all shapes and sizes, sliced, cubed ..etc... I also have been freezing mashed potatoes for years. How good am I then.

comping_cat

Ive frozen carrots blanched, and fully cooked in various disguises!!!! Mashed potato i freeze ready prepared!!!! Once defrosted i often add a little more butter as it does take on a little water, but always tastes lovely!!!!

Esmerelda

I've frozen diced raw carrot - is that wrong? Is there a particular reason it should be blanched or whatever first?

squeaky

Dora_the_Explorer wrote:

Any tips on how to freeze mash?

Yep.

Let it get cold and then bag it in portions sizes.

The REAL tip comes for when it's time to defrost. Tip it into a bowl (or a pan) and defrost covered. (using the microwave?) There will be moisture on the outside of your mash, and providing you kept it covered, all that water belongs back in the mash - so once defrosted and you are heating it up - give it a going over with the potato masher half way through the reheat and again at the end.

You won't be able to tell the difference.

Rebob

Thanks for the tips. I decided to do a similar thing the other day when I cooked, potioned and froze red kidney beans and chickpeas to make sure that I use them and dont be put off by the cooking times.

Off now to buy and prep some more veg!

thriftmonster

The mashed potatoes can also be frozen as Duchesse potatoes - a little faffy but great for visitors in the future. Make the mash and beat in an egg per 1.5lbs spuds. Let it cool and then stick in a piping bag with a fat nozzle and pipe swirly pyramids onto baking sheets. Open freeze and then prise them off the sheets - not too difficult - and put them in a bag in the freezer. They cook from frozen in the oven at about 180c in about 20-25 mins and go with most things.

You could probably do carrot and potato mixed in these as well