Carrot Cake

Carrot Cake ( one 9-inch/23-cm cake)

Eggs - 6
Sugar - 180 g
Salt - 2.5 g (a pinch)
Lemon juice - 25 g
Rum - 25 g (or more)
Vanilla - 2.5 g
Ground carrots - 375 g
Bread flour - 50 g
Baking powder - 7.5 g
Cinnamon - 5 g
Bread crumbs - 100 g
Ground almonds - 150 g

- Place the eggs, sugar, and salt into a mixing bowl and heat over a water bath to blood temperature until the sugar is dissolved. Stir constantly, so that eggs won't curdle.
- Whip the eggs on high speed for about 10 minutes until firm peeks.
- Add the lemon juice, run, and vanilla to the egg mixture and mix just until blended.
- Fold in the ground carrots to the above mix by hand
- Sift the flour, baking powder, and cinnamon together. Add the bread crumbs and ground almonds. Mix.
- Gently fold the dry ingredients to the egg mixture just until blended.
- Butter and line a baking pan with a parchment paper.
- Pour the batter into a baking pan.
- Bake at 350F for about 45-60 (depending on the oven) minutes until the cake springs back when touched.
- Let the cake cool slightly then remove from the pan

Icing

Cream cheese at room temperature - 250 g
Icing sugar - 100 g
Lemon juice - 25 g
Whipping cream 35% - 250 ml
- Whip the cream to medium-hard peaks.
- Place the cream cheese in a separate bowl and mix it for a few minutes on medium speed until there are no lumps.
- Sift the icing sugar and add it to the cream cheese. Mix just until blended. Scrape the bowl.
- Add the lemon juice to the cream cheese and mix until incorporated.
- Add 1/3 of the whipped cream to the cream cheese mixture and mix until incorporated.
- Continue adding the rest of the whipped cream in stages and mix after each addition just until blended.

Cake Assembly

- Cut a completely cooled cake horizontally into 2 or 3 layers.
- Place the bottom one on a cake board and cover the top with a thin layer of icing.
- Place the second layer on top of the icing and cover it with more icing. (Repeat with the third layer if cake is cut into three)
- Mask the cake with cream cheese Icing and decorate with Marzipan carrots (lightly dusted in cocoa powder to simulate dirt)

Comments:
- This cake has no oil or butter, but the bread crumbs come from my Brioche bread with some butter in it.
- The taste is very well balanced and it's one of the best cakes I've ever tasted!

Amaretti Cookies

Egg whites - 2
Sugar - 1/3 + 1/3 cup less a couple of teaspoons
Almond extract - 2 teaspoons
Flour - 1 tablespoon
Cornstarch - 1 tablespoon
Ground almonds - 1 cup (90g)

- Preheat the oven to 160C, line a baking tray with parchment paper.
- Whip the egg whites to hard peaks slowly adding 1/3 cup of sugar.
- Sift the flour and cornstarch, add the other 1/3 cup of sugar and ground almonds, mix.
- Add almond extract to the whipped egg whites and fold it in.
- Add the dry ingredients to the egg whites and slowly fold them in with a rubber spatula. Do not overmix.
- Put the egg whites into a piping bag fitted with a round nozle.
- Pipe small rounds onto a baking tray.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes. Turn off the oven and let the cookies cool in the oven.

Comments:
- I usually put a little bit less sugar, only a few teaspoons less.
- I whip the egg whites with a dash of cream of tartar.
- If you leave the cookies to cool in the oven, they'll be very crisp, but if you take the cookies out, then they'll be nice and chewy. I like them both ways!!!

L'Orange

Adapted from "Pure Chocolate" by Fran Bigelow


Semisweet chocolate, finely chopped - 170 g
Oranges - 2, preferably large navels with dark, rough-textured skin
Unsalted butter, room temperature - 1 1/2 sticks ( 12 tablespoons, 170 g)
Sugar - 1 cup
Eggs, room temperature - 4 large
Ground almonds - 1 2/3 cups

- Preheat the oven to 300F (150C)
- Butter a 9-inch (23 cm) cake pan and line with parchment paper
- In a double boiler melt the chocolate over low heat
- Wash the oranges and zest them directly in the mixing bowl, so that all the fragrant orange oils are captured
- Add the butter and sugar to the orange zest. Beat with the paddle attachment on medium-high speed until light in colour, 3-5 minutes. Scrape.
- With the mixer on medium-high speed, begin adding the eggs slowly, one at a time. Continue beating until well mixed, about 3 minutes.
- Using a rubber spatula, fold in the ground almonds. Then fold in the melted chocolate. Evenly spread the batter in the prepared pan.
- Bake for 40-45 minutes, until puffed and domed in the center with a slight fracture 2-3 cm from the rim. A cake tester inserted in the center will have a few moist crumbs.

Comments
- As I mentioned, it might be my oven, but it was completely liquid after more than an hour. I had to increase the oven temperature to 180C and test the cake every 10 minutes until it reached the right texture.
- I also didn't use any orange zest, but I used Pure Orange Oil instead. I added about 2 tablespoons, which turned out too much, one would suffice.
- Other than that, it is a very easy and tasty cake!!