Venetian Carrot Cake Recipes

VENETIAN CARROT CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350°F Line the bottom of a 9" springform pan with a nonstick silicone liner or baking parchment. Grease the liner and sides of the pan with olive oil. Place the pine nuts in a small dry pan and toast them over low heat, shaking often.
• Wrap the grated carrot in a double layer of kitchen towels. Twist the towels around the carrots to remove liquid.
• Put the raisins in a small saucepan with the rum, and bring to a boil over medium heat. Lower the heat and simmer for 3 minutes.
• Whisk together the sugar and 1/2 cup of oil until creamy. Add vanilla and eggs and whisk until combined. Fold in the ground almonds, nutmeg, grated carrots, raisins and rum, and finally the finely grated lemon zest and lemon juice.
• Transfer batter into the prepared springform and smooth the surface with a rubber spatula. The cake will be fairly thin. Sprinkle the pine nuts over the top.
• Bake in preheated oven until the top is risen and golden and a cake tester comes out sticky but otherwise more or less clean, just one or two moist crumbs clinging to it, about 30 to 40 minutes.
• Remove the cake from the oven and let it sit on a rack for 10 minutes before removing the sides. Let cool until ready to serve. Transfer the cake to a serving platter.
• Beat together the mascarpone, confectioners' sugar and rum in a small bowl. Slice the cake and serve with the mascarpone cream.

VENETIAN CARROT CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line the base of the springform pan with a nonstick silicone liner or baking parchment. Grease the sides with olive oil. Add the pine nuts to a small dry pan and toast them over low heat.
• Grate the carrots in a food processor or with a coarse grater, and put them on a double layer of kitchen towels. Wrap the towels around the carrots to soak up the excess liquid.
• Put the sultanas in a small saucepan with the rum, and bring to the boil over medium heat. Lower the heat and simmer for 3 minutes.
• Whisk the sugar and 1/2 cup of oil in a stand mixer or by hand, until creamily and airily mixed together.
• Whisk in the vanilla and eggs in a large bowl. Fold in the almond meal/flour, nutmeg, grated carrots, golden sultanas (and any rum that clings to them) and finally the lemon zest and lemon juice.
• Scrape the mixture into the prepared cake tin and smooth the surface with a rubber spatula. The batter will be very shallow in the tin.
• Sprinkle with the pine nuts and bake until the top is risen and golden and a cake tester comes out sticky but otherwise more or less clean, about 30 to 40 minutes.
• Remove the cake from the oven and let it sit on a rack for 10 minutes before removing the sides. Let cool until ready to serve. Transfer the cake to a serving platter.
• Combine the mascarpone, confectioners' sugar and rum in a small bowl. Slice the cake and serve with the mascarpone cream.
• Make Ahead Note:
• The cake can be baked up to 3 days ahead. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and store in airtight container in a cool place. Will keep for a total of 5 to 6 days.
• Freeze Note:
• The cake can be frozen (still on base of the tin), carefully wrapped in double layer of plastic wrap and 1 layer of foil, for up to 3 months. Defrost overnight at room temperature.

VEGAN CARROT CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease two 9-inch round cake pans with coconut oil.
• For the cake layers: Place the walnuts on a small rimmed baking sheet and bake until golden brown, about 8 minutes. When the walnuts are completely cool, finely chop half and roughly chop the remaining half; keep separate.
• Meanwhile, whisk the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, ginger, nutmeg and salt in a medium bowl until combined and set aside. Whisk the 1/2 cup coconut oil, cane sugar, milk, applesauce and vanilla in a large bowl until smooth, then whisk in the carrots until thoroughly combined. Stir the dry mixture into the wet mixture until just combined; do not overmix. Fold in the finely chopped walnuts until just incorporated.
• Divide the batter between the prepared pans, then smooth the top into an even layer. Bake until golden brown, the edges start to pull away from the sides of the pans and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 25 to 28 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes, then turn the cakes out onto wire racks to completely cool, about 1 hour.
• For the cream cheese frosting: Beat the cream cheese and butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until smooth and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the vanilla and salt until combined. Reduce the speed to low, then gradually add the confectioners' sugar followed by the cornstarch until combined and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Refrigerate until you're ready to assemble the cake.
• When the cakes are completely cool, trim the domes of each round with a large serrated knife so the tops are flat. Place 1 round, cut-side down, on a platter or cake stand. Spread 3/4 cup of the frosting evenly over top. Place the remaining round, cut-side down, on top. Frost the top and sides of the cake with 1 cup of the frosting and smooth completely to make an even crumb coat. (It's okay if some of the cake shows through. This is just the base layer of frosting.) Refrigerate for 30 minutes to let the frosting set.
• Spread the remaining frosting over the top and sides of the cake, swirling decoratively, if desired. Sprinkle the top edge of the cake with the roughly chopped walnuts. Refrigerate until the frosting is set, about 30 minutes.