One of our lovely forum members put me onto this
blog a day or two ago and I have already made this cake. Actually, it is called Flourless Carrot Cake with Hazelnuts, Lemon and Rosemary but I think my name is more expressive! Took it in to work today and there is hardly any left. I had some frozen bananas so used one of them and didn’t have sultanas or raisins so I used cranberries. When you go to look at the blog, scroll down to this recipe and admire the stunning photograph ... yum!
1 1/2 cups dates - soaked in warm water for 10 mins then drained and chopped
100 grams room temperature butter - cubed
1 very ripe banana - mashed
zest of one lemon, chopped
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
5 free range eggs
2 cups grated carrot
1 tsp finely chopped rosemary leaves (optional)
3/4 cup sultanas, raisins
1/2 cup walnuts - roughly chopped
1/2 cup desiccated coconut
2 cups (c. 160 g whole almonds) almond meal
1 cup (c. 70 g whole hazelnuts) hazelnut meal
Cream Cheese frosting
250 grams cream cheese
50 grams butter - room temperature seeds from a vanilla pod or 1 tsp vanilla extract
1 heaped Tbsp honey - softened or very slightly melted.
Preheat your oven to 160 degrees celsius.
Turbo the hazelnuts and almonds to make nut meal, set aside.
Peel and chop the carrots then turbo to grate, set aside. No need to wash the TMX jug.
Place the dates and butter into TMX and blitz until you have a rough puree – you may have to scrape the sides a couple of times. I left my dates fairly chunky.
Add the banana, lemon zest, spices and baking powder. Process until well combined.
Add the eggs and vanilla and sp 4 until just combined. Do not over mix.
Pour the wet mixture into a large bowl. Stir through the carrot, walnuts, sultanas, rosemary and coconut then add the almond and hazelnut meal into the bowl and gently fold through until just combined.
Pour into a greased and lined cake tin. Bake for 60-80 minutes until the cake is golden and a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the centre.
Leave the cake to cool for a couple for hours before putting in the fridge to chill for 1 hour prior to applying the cream cheese.
To make the icing, mix together the cream cheese, honey and vanilla.
Pile the cream cheese up on top of the cake. Use a knife to ensure it's evenly distributed. Leave as is or decorate with chopped pistachios, walnuts or toasted coconut.
Will keep in the fridge for 5 days. Ideally bring to room temperature before eating.
Apparently this cake is at its best after 3 days – as I said above, mine didn’t last beyond 1 day so I cannot confirm that but I am sure it is true!
Also, I didn't do the icing as I thought it was sweet enough.
