Carrot Cake Cream Cheese Patties

 DISCLAIMER: This is actually my idea, no one elses, but my camera's broken (waaah!) and I still wanted to have a picture for the post. This beautiful photo is from the lovely Annie who blogs over at Annie's Eats). She made some Pumpkin Spice Truffles, looks to die for yum! Go check out her blog! I edited her photos and made them more orange and added words, but they're technically still hers. Go check out the original photo, it's amazing!

Spring is coming.

The groundhog was right (for once)
 
 I love spring.

I mean, what's not to love?

Spring means that:

the end of school is coming. soon.
you can finally say goodbye to the dreary days of winter
you can have friends over
you can play outside
you can splash in puddles

Spring is just good overall. I love how now when I walk home, there isn't snow all over the ground. I can feel the sun on my shoulders. I don't have to wear a coat.

When spring starts coming, I get all whimsical.

One day . . .

The grass was vibrant, so green. It looked so soft. I peered cautiously around. Upon seeing no one there to mock, I tentatively removed my ballet flats. Ah, the grass was as soft as it looked. I held my flats and started walking, sunlight streaming into my hair making it glimmer with red highlights. I softly started singing to myself, the noise bubbling out like laughter. Wisps of the noise went through the trees. Like magic. The grass started to rise, reaching the top of the hill. Entering civilization. I stopped singing. I glanced around again, hoping no one heard or saw the naive behavior. But was it really naive? I slip my shoes back on, entering the sidewalk. Going back home.
 
 (this photo looks nothing like me. I'm not that big yet, I don't have white dresses, and the gully on my way home does not look this nice. and my hair is definitely not that red)

Another thing . . .

I love the smell after it rains. I know lots of people don't think there is a smell, but trust me, there definitely is. It smells so good, deep and earthy, kind of like water (well duh) and grass.

If only you could put that smell into a bottle. Then I'd be rich enough to buy as many cake mixes as I wanted.

Anyways, with spring, there is all the springy holidays. Like Easter.

Um, hello, can we talk for a minute? Easter should NOT be in March. It's really bad. It could basically reverse the poles of gravity and make the earth fall down.

Or end, if you prefer it Mayan style.

But, because I am a food blogger, I am (VERY) reluctantly accepting it. Because, obviously, I do not want to be left behind in the dust while everyone else is eating Peeps and carrot cake.

So, I decided I re-vamp my red velvet peppermint patties. 

Oh yeah, these are every bit as good as the first version. Maybe even, dare I say it, better?

Yeah, yeah, I dare say it.

Carrot Cake Cream Cheese Peppermint Patties
A thin cream cheese candy middle covered with a thick layer of carrot cake "bark"
Ingredients:

•  12 oz white chocolate candy coating or white chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup dry carrot cake mix (carrots partially hydrated)
• 1/8 cup butter (1/4 stick)
• 1lb powdered sugar
• 1/2 package cream cheese
• 2 tablespoons cup butter
• 1 lb powdered sugar

Directions:  Combine Cream cheese and Butter in heavy bottom sauce pan. Stir over low heat till both are soft. Add Powdered sugar. Stir until well combined. Shape into small balls and flatten them down. Try to make them as thin as possible. Put onto wax paper and let dry till set. While you are waiting for it to dry, melt the white chocolate candy coating or white chocolate chips in the microwave in 30-second increments, stirring after every 30 seconds to prevent overheating. Stir until the chocolate is smooth and completely free of lumps. Separate out about a quarter of the white chocolate into a small bowl, and set aside temporarily. Sift the carrot cake mix on top of the large bowl of white chocolate. Stir everything together. Scrape the candy out onto the baking sheet and put it on top of the cream cheese candies.
 

I used to not like carrot cake, I mean, cake should not include vegetables. 

But, carrot cake does not taste like carrots! The carrots are more of a moistening agent to make it soft and very moist. 

So now, yeah, I'm a carrot cake lover. 

These are just like peppermint patties in texture, except for . . . 

They are not mint. At all. 

Peppermint patties have almost a marshmallow like consistency. These melt in your mouth more.

They have a cream cheese filling with a carrot cake "bark" poured over the top. Since I want more carrot cake flavor than cream cheese, I recommend trying to make the cream cheese candies thin, and making the "bark" a lot thicker than usual. This might require double dipping, but it's not that hard. 

These pictures come from Annie's Eats, when she made Pumpkin Spice Truffles.