With the perfect blend of fresh carrots, zesty oranges, and crunchy nuts, this cake is a true crowd-pleaser. Plus, the luscious cream topping adds a heavenly touch to every bite.
Ingredients:
- 1 medium orange
- 3 eggs
- 500 grams (18 ounces) carrots
- 150 grams (5.3 ounces) refined vegetable oil
- 320 grams (11.3 ounces) wheat flour
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 200 grams (7 ounces) cane sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 150 grams (5.3 ounces) assorted nuts
For the Cream:
- 50 grams (1.8 ounces) honey
- 500 grams (17.6 ounces) classic sour cream (25% fat)
- 100 grams (3.5 ounces) sugar
Instructions:
Grate two large, three medium, or a heap of tiny carrots, as well as the zest from one orange. Finely chop the nuts.
In a bowl, mix sugar and eggs and beat with a mixer for about 3 minutes. The mixture will significantly increase in volume and become lighter. Then add oil and mix well again.
Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, combine flour and dry ingredients using a whisk for about a minute. Make sure the cinnamon doesn’t settle at the bottom – it often happens.
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the dough, mixing carefully. At this point, the dough may form into balls, and it may seem too dry.
Add carrots and nuts. Here you can only mix with a spatula. As a result, the dough should be thick. Add a couple of tablespoons of orange juice. Don’t overdo it! The mixture should be very thick.
Prepare the cake layers. From this amount of dough, you can make three layers with a diameter of 16 cm (6.3 inches) or two with a diameter of 18 cm (7.09 inches). Grease the mold with butter (a very thin layer), sprinkle with a pinch of flour, and shake. The entire mold will be covered with dust. Shake off the excess. This technique is called “French shirt” and is very convenient – the layers come out of the mold by themselves after baking.
Bake at 180°C (356°F): 16 cm layers are ready in 22-25 minutes. A large layer may take 35-50 minutes. Determine readiness with a dry toothpick. If you want the cake to be really tasty, bake it a little longer: when the toothpick comes out dry, bake for another 3-5 minutes. Remove the finished layers from the mold, flip, and cool on a wire rack.
Prepare the cream. If you’re unsure about the thickness of the sour cream, strain off the excess moisture through cheesecloth for a couple of hours. Beat the sour cream, honey, and sugar and refrigerate until ready to use. When all three layers are cooled, spread the cream on each, assemble the cake. If you plan to serve it to guests later, spread the sides with cream to prevent them from drying out.
