This cake must be very healthy, because of carrots top of it:
;D
Carrot cake
100 ml turnip rape, sunflower or corn oil
100 ml sugar
50 ml soft brown sugar (firmly packed)
1½ egg
200 ml very finely grated carrot (about 1½ - 2 large carrots)
50 g chopped walnuts
175 ml flour
¾ tsp baking powder
½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp vanilla sugar
icing:
75 g unsalted butter
95 g smooth cream cheese (eg "Philadelphia")
95 g icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla sugar
(almond paste carrots for garnish*)
Beat the oil and sugars until well combined. Add the egg and continue beating until the mixture is smooth and somewhat fluffy. Mix in the grated carrots and the walnuts. Combine the rest of the dry ingredients and gently fold in the batter.
Butter the sides and the bottom of a small, round springform pan (Ø less than 16 centimetres). In addition, you may line the bottom of the pan with a circle of lightly buttered parchment paper. Pour the batter in the pan, smoothing out the surface.
Bake the cake at 175 °C in the lower part of the oven for about 40 - 55 minutes, or until a cake tester/toothpick inserted in the middle of it comes out clean. Remove the cake from the pan and place on a wire rack to cool. Meanwhile, prepare the icing.
Bring the butter to room temperature. Soften the cream cheese and mix with the butter until smooth. Add the vanilla sugar and beat the mixture, adding the icing sugar a little at a time. Beat the mixture until light and fluffy. Spread it evenly on top of the cake.
If you like, garnish the cake with miniature carrots made of almond paste dyed with orange and green food colouring.
Note: this recipe results in a rather small cake. If you like, you can easily double the recipe. Then use a slightly larger cake pan and double the amount of icing as well.
Recipe source: adapted from "Porkkanakakku", Helsingin Sanomat/Ruoka & Juoma, 2004, and "Classic carrot cake frosting" by food writer Nigel Slater/Observer Food Monthly, April/2005.
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Marzipan Carrots
Marzipan carrots are easy to make, and look adorable on top of carrot cake or cupcakes! You can modify the recipe and vary the size of the carrots to suit your needs.
You can make your own marzipan, or purchase it from most large grocery stores. Marzipan most commonly comes in 7-ounce tubes (the quantity called for here) but you can use more or less depending on what you have available.
Ingredients:
•7 ounces (1 roll) marzipan
•Red and yellow food coloring
•Powdered sugar for dusting
•Edible sprigs of herbs for decoration (optional)
Preparation:
1. Coat your hands with powdered sugar, or wear plastic gloves.
2. Knead the marzipan until it has softened slightly. Flatten the marzipan into a disc, and add a few drops of red and yellow food coloring to the middle, using a ratio of 1 drop red to 2 drops yellow. Fold the marzipan into a ball and begin to knead the color throughout the dough, adding more food coloring if desired, working until the marzipan is one uniform color.
3. Roll the dough into small balls the size of a quarter. Roll the balls between your palms, elongating them into thin tubes and tapering one end, so that they are shaped like carrots.
4. Take a toothpick and, holding it perpendicular to the carrots, make horizontal indentations all along the length of the toothpick to create slight creases.
5. If desired, poke holes in the tops of the carrots, and insert the sprigs of herbs to be the carrot leaves.
6. Store marzipan carrots in an airtight container for up to two weeks, or freeze well-wrapped marzipan carrots for up to three months.
Need to go shopping tomorrow...
some hav only black Pepper and zeera