I've tried numerous recipes trying to duplicate restaurant-quality carrot cake -- ALL to no avail until I discovered his recipe. This is fairly time-consuming and expensive to make, and it tastes like it! LOVE this cake.
"A rather pleasing carrot cake with lime mascarpone icing" (serves 8-10)
Cake ingredients:
1 1/4 cups softened unsalted butter 4 oz. chopped walnuts
2 cups light brown sugar 1 heaping tsp cinnamon
5 large organic eggs pinch of cloves
Juice and zest of one orange pinch of nutmeg
1 1/2 cups self-rising flour 1/2 tsp ground ginger
10 oz carrots, coarsely grated sea salt
1 slight heaping tsp baking powder
1 cup ground almonds
Icing ingredients:
4 oz mascarpone cheese
8 oz cream cheese (I actually used 12 oz of cream cheese)
1 cup powdered sugar
zest and juice of two limes (I only use one lime...two is a bit too "citrusy")
Preheat oven to 350 deg. Grease and line a 9 inch square cake pan or a round equivalent with wax paper. Beat the butter and sugar together by hand until fluffy. Beat in egg yolks one by one, and add orange zest and juice. Stir in flour and baking powder, add ground almonds, walnuts, spices and grated carrot and mix well.
In separate bowl, whisk egg whites with salt until stiff, then fold into cake mix. Scoop batter into prepared cake pan and cook in preheated oven for about 50 minutes until golden. Remove it after 5 seconds and if it comes out clean the cake is cooked; if slightly sticky it needs a bit longer in the oven. Leave to cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn onto a rack to cool for a hour before icing.
Ice and sprinkle with chopped walnuts if desired.
