By Karen England, for Let’s Talk Plants! February 2025.
Horticulturist of the Year Party - Carrot Cake and Lavender Lemonade Recipes
For the wonderful 2025 Horticulturist of the Year party in Poway at honoree Dennis Mudd’s house and garden recently, SD Hort president Karen England made her classic carrot party cake and famous herbal lemonade. For those who asked for them, here are the recipes but first some scenes from the grand day...
Don't forget to contact Pam Mudd regarding beta testing Easyscape for the Mudds.
Karen’s version of Sally Thompson’s Carrot Cake recipe found in The King Arthur Flour 200th Anniversary Cookbook ©1990.
Ingredients:
1½ cups canola oil
4 eggs
2 teaspoons *vanilla extract (see note below for Karen’s DIY vanilla extract recipe)
1½ cups granulated sugar
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon plus 1/2 teaspoon **Edgehill Herb Farm Mixed Spice (see note below for recipe) (or use 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon and ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg)
2 teaspoons baking soda
1½ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon sea salt
2½ cups grated carrots
1 cup shredded or flaked coconut
1 can (8 ounces) crushed pineapple, well drained
½ cup chopped pecans
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350˚F.
Beat together, for at least two minutes, the oil, eggs, vanilla and sugar in a bowl. In another bowl, blend the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices.
Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir just enough to blend them. Gently fold in the grated carrots, coconut, pineapple and nuts.
Pour this batter into a lightly greased, 9x13-inch cake pan and bake 45–55 minutes. After the cake is done, cool it completely before frosting.
Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients:
½ cup/1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract plus the guts of one vanilla bean
3 1/2 cups (1-pound box) confectioners’ sugar
Pinch of sea salt
Heavy cream, to make the frosting spreadable
For the garnish: 1/4 -1/2 cup minced candied ginger and a handful of whole pecans
Directions:
Combine the butter, cream cheese, salt, vanilla extract and vanilla bean guts and beat until light and fluffy. Add the sugar gradually, beating well. Add the cream, a very little at a time, until the frosting is a spreadable consistency. Use to frost one 9x13-inch cake.
Once the cake is frosted, decorate the top with candied ginger and pecans.
*Homemade Vanilla Extract the Karen England Method
Ingredients:
1-750 ml bottle of Vodka (80, or even better, 100 proof)
7 whole vanilla beans (or more [cookbook author Ina Garten uses 12])
Equipment:
Clean wide mouth quart jar with non-metal lid (some metals can react with alcohol)
Instructions:
Put the vanilla beans in the jar and pour the vodka over all. Seal and put in cool, dark place for one month before using. (Ina Garten says “Add more vodka or beans, as needed. The extract can sit at room temperature indefinitely.”)
** Edgehill Herb Farm’s Sweet Mixed Spice Blend
“From the 17th century onwards, cookery books began to list spices separately with each individual recipe, rather than as basic mixtures … but a few popular blends are still in use. The traditional English blend of spices, also called pudding spice, is used in desserts of all kinds. Like all mixtures, the proportions and ingredients vary according to personal taste.” – The Encyclopaedia of Herbs, Spices and Flavourings’ by Elizabeth Lambert Ortiz
Makes ~1/2 cup
If grinding, grating, or working with whole spices, coriander through cloves, to make this mix, grind the spices one at a time first and then measure. For example: 1 tablespoon of coriander seed does not equate to 1 tablespoon of ground coriander seed.
Ingredients:
6 tablespoons ground coriander
5 tablespoons ground cinnamon
4 tablespoons ground allspice
3 tablespoons ground nutmeg
2 tablespoons ground ginger
2 tablespoons ground lavender
1 tablespoon ground cloves
For every ~1/2 cup of Mixed Spice blend -
ADD 1 split vanilla bean, and 1 crushed bay leaf to a glass storage jar.
Directions:
Use measure for measure instead of Apple Pie Spice or Pumpkin Pie Spice in baked goods; pies, cakes, fruits, cookies, breads…
Store in a cool, dark place for maximum shelf life.
Karen’s Famous Herbal Lemonade Recipe (for the HOY party Karen made lavender lemonade)
– For every 5 lemons (Meyer, Pink Lemonade or Eureka . . .) juiced, add the juice of 1 orange (Valencia, Navel or Blood . . .); enough to get 1 quart of combined juice.
– Make 1 quart of Herbal Simple Syrup using equal parts organic sugar and water plus lots of the fresh or dried herb of your choice, by heating everything together in a saucepan to dissolve the sugar and infuse the herbs into the syrup. Cool the syrup before straining away and discarding the herbs. I generally use lavender and scented geraniums but mints, roses, and lemon herbs like lemon verbena and lemongrass or kaffir lime leaves all make delicious herbal simple syrups. Other herbs, fresh or dried, can be used, such as basil, pineapple sage, etc... However, please note that the amount of herbs used in the syrup differs from herb to herb. For example: if using dried lavender use 1/8 cup per cup of sugar or 1/4 cup fresh lavender florets per cup of sugar, which is quite different from the 1 cup firmly packed rose geranium leaves that are needed per cup of sugar if using scented pelargoniums.
– 1 quart filtered water. (Why filtered water? Tap water has additives, chlorine, etc., and naturally occurring salts and minerals all of which can and do affect flavors. Did you know that Starbucks triple filters the water at all their locations the world over? This is so as to have a consistent product at every store, which is unaffected by the local water, good or bad. Be like Starbucks, use filtered water when dealing with herbs so that the herbal flavors shine through and do so consistently.)
– Lots of ice. And, I mean lots! (If you don’t use lots and lots of ice that melts and dilutes the lemonade further, then add another quart of filtered water.)
– Large jug with ladle.
– Garnish the jug with lots of lemon and orange slices, more of the fresh herb/flowers used to make the syrup and fresh or frozen berries (optional).
– Combine the 1 quart juice, 1 quart simple syrup and 1 – 2 quarts water in the jug with the all the garnish and lots and lots of ice.
– Serve with abandon (. . . and, when applicable, gin!)
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