Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Hello dear readers! This cake, that you discover now, was our Easter cake. I have only just had time to put together this post – better late than never, right? I hope this recipe will please you.

We are fond of this spicy, moist and creamy cake (the cheese cream topping adds that little something to it)…This is a great cake with a gorgeous topping for a special occasion, such as the upcoming Mothers’ Day here in Switzerland on Sunday 14th May.

I decorated mine with a DIY cardboard stick and wrote “Happy Easter”, then I added a white Alstroemeria (in English, a Peruvian Lily). Enjoy!

Ingredients (Serves 8)

5 eggs

200g finely-grated fresh carrots

200g sugar

200g almond powder

2 ml kirsch

1 grated lemon zest

50g of flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 tbsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp. ground cloves

Cake

Separate egg whites from yolks. Beat the egg yolks and 100g of sugar until the mixture is pale yellow and foamy.

Stir in the grated carrots, almond powder, grated lemon zest, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, flour, kirsch and mix well.

In another bowl, with an electric mixer, beat the egg whites with 100g of sugar until soft peaks form. Then, incorporate it gently into the batter.

Then butter and flour a mould of 22 cm in diameter and 5 cm in height and pour the mixture in.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes in a preheated oven at 190 degrees. Allow to cool before removing from the mould.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Whisk 100g of butter at room temperature until creamy.

Add 400 g Philadelphia cream cheese, and continue mixing.

Add 2 tsp of vanilla extract, and 150g icing sugar.

Whisk everything until obtaining the final texture: creamy, without lumps.

Assemble the cake

Using a sharp bread knife, cut the cooled cake into two layers.

Place your first layer on the plate followed by a big amount of frosting in the centre. Spread the frosting thickly and evenly across the layer.

Spread from the middle of the layer out to the edges and slightly down the side.  Add your second layer on top of the first. Repeat the frosting process by starting with a large dollop on the top and work your way down the sides, filling and smoothing with a spatula.

The frosting doesn’t need to be perfectly smooth. Actually it looks prettier when it is irregular.

You can store your cake in the fridge until time to serve.

Decorate

If you want to make your carrot cake a little sexier, you can put small carrots made of marzipan on top.