this weekend we threw a party that doubled as a birthday and housewarming celebration.
it was so wonderful to get people from all different aspects of our lives into one room to eat and drink together.
now there was quite an array of food to snack on, but i want to talk about my birthday cake. while i’m sure other people disagree, i see absolutely nothing wrong with baking your own birthday cake. in fact, it kind of made me happy.
because the result was the best carrot cake i’ve ever had. topped with a ricotta cream sauce that outdoes the heavy frosting carrot cakes are typically topped with. so happy birthday to me. and thank you for the presents.
Carrot Almond Cake with Ricotta Cream
Recipe type: Dessert
Serves: 8-12
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1½ cup almonds, ground
- zest of 3 medium sized lemons, divided
- ¾ cup + 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1¼ cup unbleached cake flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 4 large eggs
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract
- 2 cups grated carrots
- 1 cup ricotta cheese
- 1 cup sour cream
- 2 tablespoons honey
- confectioners' sugar for dusting
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375.
- Melt butter and set aside to cool.
- In a food processor, pulse almonds with zest of 2 lemons and 2 tablespoons of sugar. Butter the bottom and sides of a 9 inch springform pan and dust with a bit of the almond mixture. Set rest of almond mixture aside.
- In a medium sized bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Using a electric mixer, beat together eggs and the remainder of the sugar on high speed until the mixture is foamy and thick, about 5 minutes. Reduce the speed to low and add in the almond mixture, the flour mixture, and almond extract. Mix on low just until well integrated.
- Pour in the cooled butter and carrots and fold in until well mixed.
- Scrape the batter into the buttered pan and put into the center of the oven. Reduce the temperature to 350 and bake for 40-45 minutes, until cake is springy and lightly browned.
- Let the cake cool completely before removing the springform.
- While cooling, make the ricotta cream. Mix together ricotta, sour cream, honey, and remaining lemon zest in a medium sized bowl.
- Before serving, dust the cake with confectioners' sugar and serve with sauce.
recipe from vegetable literacy.
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