Can you believe that Easter is only two and a half weeks away? I'm still finding it hard to believe, especially with the current cold and miserable weather outside. This time last year, I was sitting in the garden with a friend in glorious warm sunshine. I was just talking to her about it a moment ago.
Well, I'm praying to the weather gods that we'll be able to sit outside and eat again by Easter at the latest. After all, this holiday isn't much fun if the weather isn't cooperating.
But whatever the weather, one thing is certain: there will be lots of good things to eat! And one thing is always part of it, and that is a juicy carrot cake.
Carrots in a cake? Seriously?
Yes, anyone who has never tried carrot cake before may quickly have their doubts. I completely understand that, because I felt the same way before I tried courgette cake for the first time. Afterwards, however, I was convinced. The great thing about carrot cake is that carrots naturally have a certain sweetness. This means you can use much less sugar in the batter and still achieve a delicate and subtle sweetness. Incidentally, the classic carrot flavour is lost during baking. So if you don't like carrots, there's no need to worry – the cake still tastes great!
As mentioned, there really isn't much sugar in my recipe. Those of you with a sweet tooth are welcome to increase the amount of sugar, of course. But you'll see that it's really not necessary. After all, the cake is topped with a sugar glaze.
The most work involved in making this carrot cake is grating the vegetables. Finely grating half a kilogram of carrots on a stand grater is really hard work, and (for the ladies) it also ruins your fingernails. It's quicker to use a mandoline or, really quick, the vegetable slicer attachments for your food processor. I have a Bosch Mum, and I love it more than anything. It's not as chic as the KitchenAid, but it's much cheaper and comes with a huge range of accessories.
Once the carrots have been grated, making the cake is a piece of cake. Simply mix the ingredients together and bake in a springform pan. It's that easy.
The lemon glaze is a must
It's simply part of the flavour. For me, carrot cake just isn't the same without icing. Plus, you need something to stick the marzipan carrots to! 😊 If you like a bit of Easter kitsch, you can go wild with the decorations. Add marzipan bunnies and chocolate eggs – the more the better! 🐰
Oh yes, of course you can also decorate the carrot cake with chocolate icing. But I tell you, the lemon flavour of the lemon icing is simply irreplaceable...
Of course, carrot cake is also delicious outside of Easter. Why not try making muffins with half the amount of batter? They are always a hit with children!
Carrot Cake
Ingredients
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180°C top/bottom heat.
- Grease a springform pan with butter and sprinkle with breadcrumbs or flour.
- Grate the carrots very finely. This can be done with a grater, but it takes a long time. It is much quicker to use a food processor with cutting blades.
- Beat the eggs and sugar with vanilla paste, a pinch of salt, Cointreau, cinnamon and orange zest until fluffy.
- Add the carrots and stir in, slowly pouring in the vegetable oil while stirring constantly.
- Mix the flour with the baking powder and ground walnuts and fold into the dough mixture together with the chopped nuts.
- Pour the batter into the springform pan and bake in the oven for 60 minutes. Halfway through baking, cover with aluminium foil to prevent it from becoming too dark.Stäbchenprobe machen!
- Remove the cake from the oven. Open the springform pan after 10 minutes. Then leave to cool completely.
- For the glaze, mix the icing sugar with lemon juice. Caution: Do not add all the lemon juice at once, but only a few drops at a time until a thick glaze forms.
- Spread the glaze over the cake as desired.
- Mark the pieces of cake with marzipan carrots.
