Carrot cake with cream cheese frosting

Ingredients

For the sponge cake

• 250 g soft butter
• 250 g brown sugar
• 5 eggs
• 1 orange
• 170 g plain wheat flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 100 g chopped nuts, optional (walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds, or cashews)
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground cloves
• a pinch of grated nutmeg
• a pinch of vanilla sugar
• a pinch of salt
• 3 medium carrots, peeled and grated
• round 24–26 cm baking pan with a removable side (ring)

For decoration

• 200 ml double cream (35% fat)
• 100 g cream cheese
• 1 tbsp vanilla sugar
• edible flowers (e.g., pansies, violets, cherry or plum blossoms)
• berries, optional
• chopped nuts, optional

Method

1. Grease a cake tin with butter and dust it with flour. Preheat the oven to 180 °C.
2. Separate the egg whites from the yolks, taking care not to break them or mix them together.
3. Grate the zest of the orange and squeeze out the juice.
4. Cream the butter with the sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg yolks one at a time, then stir in the grated orange zest and juice.
5. Sift the flour into a bowl and mix with the chopped nuts, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, and all the spices, except the salt.
6. Fold the butter mixture into the flour mixture, then add the grated carrots.
7. Whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff peaks form, and gently fold them into the batter until smooth and well combined.
8. Pour the batter into the prepared tin and smooth the surface. Bake in the preheated oven for about 50 minutes. Test the sponge with a wooden skewer – it should come out clean and dry. If the sponge is not fully cooked, continue baking for a few more minutes.
9. Once baked, allow the cake to cool slightly in the tin, then remove the sides and leave the sponge to cool completely.
10. Whip the double cream with the vanilla sugar. Beat the cream cheese separately until smooth and creamy, then gradually fold in the whipped cream.
11. Spread the frosting over the cake and decorate with edible flowers, berries, and/or chopped nuts as desired.