Carrot Cake Recipe

The history of using carrots for sweetening cakes goes back hundreds of years. When sugar was hard to come by, grated carrot was used as a substitute as it contains more sugar than any other vegetable with the exception of sugar beet. When sugar was rationed in the Second World War, carrot cake came back into fashion and is still popular today, especially with cooks who want to avoid refined sugar and use more natural sweeteners.

Unlike many carrot cakes this recipe does not include a sweet sticky topping so you may really like this carrot cake recipe if you don't like your cakes too sweet.

Try it and see if it's a cake recipe you'll use time and again.

Carrot Cake Recipe

1 tsp butter or margarine
6 eggs, separated
8 oz....1 cup sugar
12 oz carrots, cooked and pureed
1 tbs grated orange rind
1 tbs brandy
12 oz...1 3/4 cups ground almonds

Prepare a round 9 inch, loose bottomed, cake tin (pan) by greasing it with the butter.

Use a wire whisk to beat the egg yolks in a bowl until they start to thicken. Slowly add the sugar while beating until the mixture eventually turns creamy and thick. Now add the carrot puree, orange rind, brandy and almonds and stir gently, but thoroughly, to mix the ingredients together well.

In another large bowl, beat the egg whites by hand, or with an electric mixer until the whites form stiff peaks. Use a metal spoon or rubber spatula to fold the egg white into the carrot mixture.

Finally, pour the mixture into the cake tin, and place in the centre of the oven for about 50 minutes, or until cooked. A skewer or stick pushed into the middle of the cake should come out with no more than a few dry crumbs attached.

When cooked, carefully remove the carrot cake from the oven and allow to cool for about 15 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.