Spiced Carrot Pistachio Almond Cake Food

CARROT ALMOND CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Put the almonds and sugar in a food processor and chop as finely as possible. Transfer to a large mixing bowl. Break up the ladyfingers into pieces, about an inch long, place them in the food processor and grind to a powder. Add to the almonds and sugar in the mixing bowl. Cut the carrots into pieces about an inch long, and chop in the food processor as finely as possible. Add to the bowl, mixing them well with the other ingredients.
• Add the baking powder, salt, and the Amaretto liqueur and mix well. Add the egg yolks, mixing them in until they are well distributed with the other ingredients.
• Whip the egg whites with an electric mixer or by hand until they form stiff peaks. Take a couple of tablespoons of the beaten egg whites and mix them with the ingredients in the bowl to soften the mixture a bit. Pour the rest of the egg whites onto the mixture and carefully fold them in with a rubber spatula.
• Grease the bottom and sides of a 10 inch springform pan with the butter and dust it with flour. Pour the batter into the pan, then shake the pan a bit until the batter is evenly distributed.
• Place the pan in the upper level of the preheated oven and bake for 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out dry when inserted into the cake.
• When the cake is cool, cut it into 8 to 12 pieces and serve with a dollop of whipped cream.

SPICED CARROT CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. Line bottoms of 2 greased 9-in. round baking pans with parchment paper; grease paper., Beat first 5 ingredients until well blended. In another bowl, whisk together flour, pie spice, baking soda and salt; stir into egg mixture. Fold in carrots., Transfer to prepared pans. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 20-25 minutes. Cool in pans 10 minutes before removing to wire racks; remove paper. Cool completely., For frosting, beat cream until soft peaks form. In another bowl, beat cream cheese and confectioners' sugar until smooth; gradually fold in whipped cream., If cakes are domed, trim tops with a serrated knife. Spread frosting between layers and over top of cake. Refrigerate leftovers.

SPICED CARROT, PISTACHIO & ALMOND CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 160C/fan 140C/gas mark 3 (320° F). Line a 23cm (9-inch) springform cake pan with enough parchment paper to cover the base and sides. The oils from the nuts and butter in the batter prevent the cake from sticking, so no need to butter or oil paper or pan. Beat the eggs, sugar and vanilla extract in a mixing bowl. Add the ground almonds, coconut and cinnamon and stir, then add the butter and mix the ingredients thoroughly. Add the grated carrots and pistachios and mix again until the ingredients are evenly blended, then gently pour or spoon the batter into your prepared cake pan and bake for 1 hour, or until it feels firm to touch and a crust forms on top. Check at 40 minutes to ensure it is cooking evenly. Once cooked, allow to cool in the pan before serving. The cake keeps well for a few days. Serves 10ish. (Because this cake is mostly nuts and coconut, it is a bit heavy—you’ll want to serve small slices.)

ALMOND CAKE WITH CARDAMOM AND PISTACHIO

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Oil a 9-inch round or square pan and set aside. Using a stand mixer, whisk egg whites until stiff but not dry, and set aside.
• In a medium bowl, combine egg yolks and sugar, and whisk to blend. Whisk in almond extract and oil. Add almond flour and cardamom. Gently stir a third of the whites into the batter, then gently fold in the rest until just incorporated.
• Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Allow to cool for 10 minutes, then remove from pan and finish cooling on a rack. To decorate, dust with confectioners' sugar and chopped pistachios.