So that was where that bit of broken plastic came from....

[curiouswombat]

Aaargh....! I've just realised exactly which bit of my food processor broke off last time I used it - the small bit of the lid that has to slot into place before it will switch on...

So there is a bowl of carrot cake mix, sans carrots, in the fridge, as I bought some ready sliced carrot for half-price at the supermarket and it is impossible to grate sliced carrot by hand. I hope the mix will still be OK tomorrow morning, after I dash down to Shoprite and get a new food processor!

Comments

[framefolly.livejournal.com]

That's too bad :(

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

Fortunately I will have no problem replacing it - but even so... aaargh!

[brutti-ma-buoni.livejournal.com]

But of course. It is always that bit. Even if you never knew there was such a bit, it is *always* that one that breaks off.

I *do* believe in gremlins.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

It stuck a bit when I went to do the last lot of carrots for the industrial amounts of carrot-cake I am making for church this week - and I heard a bit snap off. I just hadn't identified exactly which bit - and you are right, if there is any small piece that is indispensable it is the bit that breaks!

I broke a piece about 2mm square in a camera a couple of years ago - it was the bit that kept the memory card in place...

[inzilbeth-liz.livejournal.com]

Oh how frustrating! I'm sure the cake will turn out just fine though.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

I'm hoping that if I get the carrot into it tomorrow morning it should be fine - as it was enough to make 24 squares of cake.

Fortunately the local shop sells small electrical stuff, and not only is it only a small, cheap, food processor, but I have enough spare cash not to be worried about replacing the whole thing, rather than getting a replacement lid which might be possible, but would take for ages.

[makd.livejournal.com]

EEP!

Good thing there aren't any bits o'plastic in the batter. ;-)

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

Fortunately when it snapped it landed on the floor - but one bit of clear plastic looks very like another, and the relevance didn't really hit me at the time...

[vilajunkie.livejournal.com]

This may sound like a stupid question, but, I thought grating carrots was (while not as easy as grating cheese) still fairly easy, just time-consuming? Maybe the potato/carrot graters we have here are easier to use then the ones you have...

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

It would be easy if time-consuming, if the carrots hadn't been bought ready chopped because they were half price, and so cheaper than the unpeeled, whole ones... grating half-inch thick circles of carrot would probably end up with me grating my fingers!

I do have a small mouli (http://www.kitchenkapersdirect.co.uk/images/pP000008245.jpg) somewhere - which would cope well with pre-chopped carrot, now I come to think of it, but by the time I'd done enough raw carrot with that for a cake 15x9 inches I'd probably have blisters - whereas the processor grates a pound of carrots in about three minutes...

[vilajunkie.livejournal.com]

Ah... Ok! That makes much more sense now! Here I was thinking you had whole, unpeeled carrots. Guess it's a misunderstanding on both our parts--you for not saying they were chopped carrots, and me for not thinking of chopped carrots. :D

Good luck with the cake-making! Here's a video to get you in the mood: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lqfQi7146U

[me-already.livejournal.com]

Eek! My brain cells are trying to think of something til you get your new food processor (I nearly said word processor, but I don't suppose that'd do carrots) Er... could you freeze the chopped carrot and use a mortar and pestle on it then quickly unfreeze it?

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

I stuck the mixture in the fridge overnight, and then went in search of a replacement processor this morning - fortunately a successful search, and the cake is now in the oven.

The new one is tougher than the old one...

[cairistiona7.livejournal.com]

Oh goodness, that's frustrating, not having the right equipment, or finding the equipment broken as in your case, mid-preparation! I hope it all comes out all right.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

The cake is now in the oven - I'll report later how it did!

[weird-cowgirl.livejournal.com]

You might need to add a little more leavening to your cake mix, especially if the mix has baking soda rather than double-acting baking powder.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

Thank A. - I was thinking the same thing myself - it is really useful that you agree as I know you, too, are a baker.

It was actually made with self-raising flour which has got built in cream of tartar and bicarbonate of soda, but I've just put an extra level teaspoonful of baking powder in with the carrots - there being large amounts of mix - 500gm (about 18 oz) of flour to start with.

It is now in the oven - it went in about 13 hours after I got to the carrot point the first time... now I'll wait and see.

[zanthinegirl.livejournal.com]

Gah-- how frustrating!

And I don't know how anyone could grate sliced carrots. You'd end up with little bits of finger in the carrot cake...

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

I have been and purchased a bigger, stronger, food processor - and will be more careful when unlocking the lid in future :~(

If I'd just bought whole carrots I could have sat and grated it by hand - so being both lazy and cheap (the chopped stuff was half-price) meant that instead of being able to replace the other one at my leisure, I had to go out straight after breakfast. Good job I'm off work this week or the mixture would have been in the fridge for even longer!

[nutmeg3.livejournal.com]

Gaaaaah! How frustrating.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

I was just... I felt so silly - that I hadn't realised that it was that, essential, bit that I'd broken.

The new processor is very shiny...

[momflower.livejournal.com]

It's always something, isn't it?

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

It is, fortunately, a fairly small problem in the grand scheme of things - but it was just one of those 'Why THAT bit of all bits?' moments.

[ningloreth.livejournal.com]

Your icon is perfect for this post! Let's hope your cake comes out :-/

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

It's now in the oven - I'll post later as to whether it comes out OK...

And I have replaced my small Moulinex with a bigger, more robust, (and more importantly, available!) Kenwood.

[spikereader.livejournal.com]

Ooops. Hope you're waiting outside that shop to buy a replacement processor right this minute. :D

*fingers crossed* for the finished article.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

I was a bit less enthusiastic than that - I was having breakfast. However the processor is now replaced with a, more robust looking, Kenwood one and the cake is in the oven. We'll see how it comes out, in a few minutes.

[ozma914.livejournal.com]

Bad way to find out!

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

It was a real 'Gaaagh!' moment.

Fortunately I could afford to go and buy a new one - which is, almost co-incidentally as it was the only one in the shop, a bigger, more robust one.

And the cake smells good - I'm just hoping it's rising all right - we shall see...

[ozma914.livejournal.com]

A bigger one? The shopkeeper probably saw you coming! :->

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

You might be right! However, the electrical section of the supermarket didn't have any in stock - they order them in. But the lady in our local independent retailer, where we have bought a lot of our things over the years, was very apologetic that she only had a medium sized one, not a small one - she thought I'd say 'no thanks' and go into town to somewhere bigger to get a small one.

I'm actually quite happy, as I think it may well be a lot more robust - and it was only about $20 -$30 more than another small one would have been.

If I'd driven further, paid to park in town, and so on, I might have got another small one - but I might still be looking...

[ozma914.livejournal.com]

I think you made the wise decision on that one ...

[ayinhara.livejournal.com]

I will be making a carrot cake on Thursday as my contribution for the annual picnic of the San Juan Basin Archaelogical Society. It must be carrot cake time.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

It is, somehow, a more summery cake than a winter one. Gingerbread is the winter equivalent, I think - or possibly rich fruit cake.

Mine turned out fine, despite being on hold for about 13 hours or so.

[bojojoti.livejournal.com]

At the most inopportune time! All's well that ends well, though. I'd love to have a piece of that carrot cake. The homemade stuff is so good. I can't be bothered to eat the box mixes--nasty stuff.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

It is fine - I'll know for future that the mixture keeps fine in the fridge, in case I ever need to know. In fact I think the spiciness actually improved with it standing.

I do like carrot cake - but I probably won't be able to face making any more for a while after this week...

I have seen packet mix for carrot cake, but never tried it - I'll know not to from what you say.