Recipe for 8-10
250gr unsalted butter, softened
250gr light brown soft sugar
5 large eggs, separated
zest and juice of 1 orange
170gr self-raising flour, sifted
1 teaspoon baking powder
100g ground almonds
100g shelled walnuts, chopped
1 heaped teaspoon ground cinnamon
a pinch of ground cloves
a pinch of ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
250g carrots, peeled and coarsely grated
sea salt
Icing:
100gr mascarpone cheese
200gr full-fat cream cheese
85gr icing sugar, sifted
zest and juice of 2 limes
Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 180oC.
Grease and line a 22cm square or circular cake pan greaseproof paper.
Place the butter and sugar in an electric mixer and beat until softened. Add and beat in the egg yolks one by one, and add the orange zest and juice. Stir in the sifted flour and baking powder, and add the ground almonds, walnuts, cinnamon, cloves, ginger and grated carrot and combine together.
In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites with a pinch of sea salt until thick and stiff. Gently fold them into the cake mix. Pour the mixture into the prepared cake pan.
Bake in the preheated oven for about 50 minutes until golden and risen. You may check if the cake is done by poking a toothpick into it. Remove it and it if comes out clean the cake is cooked. If slightly sticky you should leave it in the oven a bit longer. Let the cake to cool in the pan for a while (at least 10 minutes). Remove it from the pan onto a rack and let to cool completely for at least one hour.
To prepare the icing mix all the icing ingredients together until smooth. Spread a generous quantity over the top of the cake.
Serve your carrot cake with coffee. Enjoy!
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