Carrot Cake

Hi guys!

As I've told you a few times, I live in Switzerland. And although I don't normally cook a lot of typical Swiss dishes, I have a soft spot for carrot cake and it happens to be very popular here in Switzerland. It is not the same as the American version, but I hope you will fall in love with it as quickly as I did years ago. The recipe is from a Swiss cookbook called "Aus Schweizer Küchen" which translates as "From Swiss kitchens". Here's the recipe:

1 organic lemon
300g (10 oz) carrots
5 eggs
300g (10 oz; 1 + 1/3 cups) granulated sugar
300g (10 oz; 2 + 3/4 cups) almond meal
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
pinch of cloves
1 teaspoon baking powder

1 eggwhite
3 tablespoons apricot jam
150g (5 oz; 1 cup) confectioner's sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice

1) Preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F). Wash the lemon and grate 1 tablespoon of zest. Press two tablespoons of juice for the glaze. Peel the carrots and grate them finely. 

2) Split the eggs. Combine the yolks with sugar and lemon zest for about 5 minutes until a thick creme forms. Mix the almond meal and grated carrots through the egg-sugar-creme. 

3) Beat the eggwhites until very stiff and fold them in. I like to roughly fold in 1/3 of the eggwhites at first as it will losen the dough and then carefully fold in the remaining eggwhites. 

4) Grease a 24cm (9.4 inches) round spring tin. Fill with the dough and bake at 160°C (320°F) (the temperature is lower than the one you've preheated your oven to!) for 60 minutes. Let the cake cool until it is about lukewarm.

5) When the cake has reached hand temperature, spread the entire cake with the apricot jam. You might need a little more than 3 tablespoons. Let the cake cool completely.

6) For the glaze, seperate one egg. Mix the eggwhite with confectioner's sugar and lemon juice, then beat with a handheld mixer until a thick, glossy creme develops. Cover the entire cake with the glazing.

Active preparation time: about 40 minutes
Total preparation time: about 1 hour and 40 minutes
© Copyright: Marianne Kaltenbach, "Aus Schweizer Küchen", p. 28

Here's how my cake looks:

The glazed cake in its entirety:

And the inside:

 I know I have said this a lot lately, but I just adore this cake. The almond and sugar turns into an almost marzipan-like texture and wonderfully matches the juicy carrot. If you like your cake not as much on the sweet, but a little more on the savoury side, try substituting hazelnut meal for almond meal. Carrot cake will take some time to bake and to glaze, but the result is worth the time. 

Have fun trying and enjoy your weekend!