I was sent a recipe for carrot cake by a colleague of my husband’s. She is a skilled baker, knows I spend a good bit of time in the kitchen (by choice) and was kind enough to share her creation.
Under the current circumstances, however, I did not have easy access to certain items, such as pecans and cream cheese, so I tweaked and improvised her recipe, and the results were quite good.
Instead of a three-layer loaf filled with pecan cream and topped with cream cheese frosting, we had a two-layer loaf that was both filled and topped with almond cream and garnished with a dollop of fresh whipped cream. No complaints from any of my fellow quarantinees.
Carrot Cake with Almond Cream
Makes 1 loaf, about 8 servings
Heat an oven to 325 degrees, then grease and flour a standard loaf pan.
- ⅔ cup oil (vegetable/canola/corn)
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs
- ½ pound carrots, grated (4-5 carrots)
- ½ cup slivered almonds
- ½ cup raisins
In a bowl, beat the oil with the sugar until creamy.
In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda and salt.
Mix half of the dry ingredients into the sugar mixture, then add 1 egg. Blend, then add the remaining dry ingredients, blend again, add 1 egg and blend again.
Add the carrots, nuts and raisins, then blend.
Pour the batter into the pan and bake for about 60 minutes until done, which is when the toothpick comes out clean and the center of the cake is risen. Cool completely.
While the cake cools, make the almond filling.
- ½ cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons flour
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons butter
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup slivered almonds
- 1 teaspoon vanilla or ½ teaspoon almond extract
In a small saucepan, combine the sugar and flour; gradually stir in the cream.
Add the butter and salt and cook over very low heat until the mixture melts and begins to simmer. (This may take up to 30 minutes.)
Simmer 2-3 minutes, remove from the heat and cool to room temperature.
Add the extract and nuts, stir and cool completely.
Assemble the cake:
When the carrot cake is cool, remove it from the pan and slice it horizontally into two layers. Frost the bottom layer with the almond filling, and place the top of the cake over the filling. Cover the top of the cake with the remaining filling. Garnish with whipped cream if desired, and serve.
