Whenever I make a carrot cake, this is my go to recipe - a very nutty, carroty and juicy version bursting with orange and lemon flavours.
It is so moist and flavoursome, and is one of those cakes that just keeps getting better over a few days, if it lasts that long.
It’s adaptable too - just add in half hazelnuts or pistachios, throw in some spice, mix it up and you’ve got the whole carrot cake spectrum here.
Even better, and this is of course optional, I never tire of the chance to make some cute little carrots to place on top - it puts me in a creative and calm little carrot rolling space.
It is almost Easter, and although I make this all year round, it’s a perfect little Easter holiday treat.
I’ve use a small non stick Savarin ring tin from @bakemasterau to bake this cake, but you can also use a bundt tin or round cake tin - just make sure you up the quantity to fit as per my instructions at the bottom of the recipe.
It can be sticky so make sure you prepare the tin well and opt for non stick if you can.

Ingredients

For the cake

180g carrots, preferably organic
180g ground almonds
3 large organic eggs
180g raw caster sugar
1tablespoon of boiling water
60g plain flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
apinch of salt
zest of one small lemon
zest of half an orange
extra flour and butter or oil to prepare the tin

For the citrus icing:

1 cup or so of icing sugar
Juice of one lemon
Juice of 1/2 and orange juice - strained

To decorate:

2 tablespoons pistachio nuts, coarsely chopped
orange zest and edible fresh flowers (I used mint sprigs)
marzipan or modelling chocolate carrots (see instructions below)

To make the cake:

Preheat the oven to 170 degrees celsius, fan forced
Grease a savarin tin well with butter and then sprinkle with flour to prepare the tin, tapping off any excess flour.
I use a small 20cm savarin (ring) tin (from @bakemasterau)
Peel and grate the carrot finely
Weigh enough of the grated carrot to equal 150g
Sift together the flour and baking powder.
Separate the eggs and beat the yolks with the sugar and hot water until thick and pale using a whisk attachment. Beat in the zest of half an orange and 1 lemon.
Fold in the flour mixture using a spatula, followed by the ground almonds and grated carrot.
Beat the egg whites until soft peaks form and fold them into the nut mixture until there are no white streaks remaining. Be careful not to over mix.
Fill the mixture into the savarin tin, giving a gentle tap to level and remove any air pockets.
Bake for 25 minutes until risen and a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean with only a few crumbs sticking to it.
Allow the cake to cool in the tin for 15 minutes before inverting the cake gently onto a cooling rack.
When the cake has completely cooled down, drizzle with the citrus icing and decorate with marzipan or modelling chocolate carrots and chopped pistachio nuts.

For the icing

Sift the icing sugar into a bowl
Combine the orange and lemon juices, and add just enough to make a thick but still runny icing.
If it is too runny add more icing sugar.
Use shortly after mixing together to prevent the top from crusting in the bowl and give it a good stir from time to time.

Marzipan carrots

Ingredients:

150galmond meal

220gpure icing sugar

1 egg white or

4g egg white powder and 25ml water

¼ teaspoon orange flower water

orange food colour

moss petal dust (optional)

2 tablespoons pistachio nuts

To make the carrots:

In a food processor whiz together the almond meal and icing sugar
Add egg white and orange flower water.
Whiz until a smooth ball is formed.
Knead in orange food colour one drop at a time until you have the right shade for carrots
Make carrot shapes with indents using the back of a knife. Sliver pistachios and poke one in the top for the carrot ends. A little green moss petal dust can be used to add green shading to the tops of the carrots if you want to make them more realistic.

Alternatively the carrots can be made using white modelling chocolate (coloured with chocolate food colouring) or coloured fondant. I used modelling chocolate for the carrots in this picture, but for bigger versions of the cake have used marzipan carrots both of which are delicious.

As this recipe uses raw egg white, if you can, try and source pasteurised egg whites. Make sure the eggs are fresh and the carrots are eaten within a day.

To make a larger carrot cake to fit a regular 24 cm round cake tin, use the following quantities:

Make sure the tin is greased and lined with baking paper, or if using a bundt tin, grease well and sprinkle with fine breadcrumbs instead of flour.

250g carrots, peeled and finely grated
300g ground almonds
5 eggs
300g raw caster sugar
1 tablespoon boiling water
a good pinch of salt
zest of 1 lemon
zest of 1 orange
80g plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
extra butter for greasing