This Swiss carrot cake dates from the very early days of gerechtenweb.blog, the Dutch counterpart of surprising.recipes. It is a typical Sunday afternoon cake when the weather outside is too bad to go out. Maybe most important: it is very easy to bake! But let us start with the recipe. You can find some more details below the recipe card. And we will explain what is so Swiss about this cake! And we have a childhood joke about a carrot cake.
Swiss carrot cake
Ingredients
- 250 gram carrots
- 100 gram breadcrumbs
- 50 gram plain flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 200 gram sugar
- 200 gram ground hazelnuts
- 6 eggs
- 2 cl Kirsch
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon clove
- salt
- icing sugar
- butter to grease the mold
- almond powder for the mold
Instructions
Preparations
- Preheat the oven to 200°C.
- Grease the mold with butter. Sprinkle with almond powder or breadcrumbs.
- Peel the carrots and grate them.
Making the dough
- Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl: flour, breadcrumbs, baking powder, sugar, ground hazelnuts, cinnamon, cloves and a pinch of salt.
- Add the egg yolk and the Kirsch to the mixture. Mix well and then add the grated carrots. The dough will still be fairly dry. But no problem, the egg whites still have to be added.
- Beat the egg whites until they are completely stiff. Then fold them gently into the dough. Now it will have a nice fluffy consistency.
Baking
- Pour the dough into the pie mold.
- Place in the preheated oven and bake at 200°C for 35 minutes.
- Check if the carrot cake is done by piercing the center with a knitting needle, toothpick or knife. If there are no residues, the cake is ready.
- Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool. Preferably on a grid, so that the bottom also has cooling.
- Carefully remove the cake from the mold and finish with icing sugar.
Nutrition
How to make a Swiss carrot cake?
As mentioned in the beginning, the baking of a Swiss carrot cake is very easy. Start by mixing all the dry ingredients into a bowl. Then add the eggs yolks, the Kirsch and the grated carrots. At this point, your dough will be very dry. But no panic, the egg whites still have to come. But first you have to beat these egg whites until they are very stiff. then fold it gently into the dough with a spatula. Now you will see that you have a very nice and creamy consistency. Transfer the dough into a greased mold and place it into a preheated oven at 200°C for 30-35 minutes.
You can also use walnuts or almonds as an alternative to the hazelnuts. You may even roast them shortly after grounding, before adding them to the dough. The roast flavor will even make your cake taste better.
For an optimal taste experience, you may bake the cake one day in advance. Then all the flavors can settle and integrate. And you can spend your Sunday with your friends and family! As the cake preserves well in the fridge or in a cool place, you may even decide to bake an extra cake for the days to come.
You can finish with powdered sugar, glaze, cream cheese and/or decorative carrots from marzipan. By the way, the icing also prevents the cake from drying out. And thus it stays juicier and tasty for longer.
What is the origin of Swiss carrot cake?
Swiss carrot cake originates from Aargau, roughly halfway between Basel and Zurich. There it is called Rüeblitorte, in that incredibly beautiful Schwyzerdütsch. This is the Swiss dialect that outsiders cannot understand at all.
The basic ingredients for a "Rüeblitorte" are, of course, carrots, a biscuit dough and nuts. Hazelnuts are traditionally used, but you can of course also opt for almonds or walnuts.
And of course there is Kirsch in the ingredient list, which is the popular brandy from that region! It gives a lot of flavor to the batter. Somehow, I always end up adding a bit more to the recipe 🙂 If you have some leftovers of Kirsch, you can use it in Black Belgian waffles, Black Forest style. A Belgian waffle variation on the world famous "Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte" (Black Forest cake).
Back in the Middle Ages, carrots were used a lot in cakes. Sweeteners had to be imported and were therefore quite expensive. Common people could not afford it. Carrots are naturally sweet, and were of course easy to obtain as a native product. So common people would sweeten desserts with carrots and alike.
- Rüeblitorte (Wikipedia-DE)
- carrot cake (Wikipedia-EN)
- Aargauer Rüeblitorte (patrimoineculinaire.ch)
Carrot cake across the world
Of course, carrot cake is also very popular outside Switzerland. For example in Great Britain and the United States. Did you know that February 3rd is National Carrot Cake Day in the United States? Also with us, in the Dutch speaking area, carrot cake is very popular. Although it is rather made with walnuts, and often in combination with other fruits.
Childhood joke
I never remember a lot of jokes. But one of the few jokes I remember from my childhood is the carrot cake joke. So happy to share it here with you!
carrot cake joke
A rabbit comes to the bakery and asks "Do you have a carrot cake?"
“No, unfortunately not.”
"Okay too bad, thanks a lot"
The next day, the rabbit goes to the bakery again. "Do you have a carrot cake?"
“No, unfortunately not.”
"Okay too bad, thanks a lot"
The same on the third day. “Do you have a carrot cake?”
“No, unfortunately not.”
"Okay too bad, thanks a lot."
Then the baker thinks, now I'm going to make a carrot cake for that rabbit.
Fourth day: “Do you have a carrot cake?”
“Yes, just freshly baked. Do you want a piece?”
“Disgusting, isn't it?”
Of course the plot is wrong. I can absolutely assure that a Swiss carrot cake is deliciously delicious. So don't let this joke put you off! It is just a funny childhood joke 🙂
More surprising.cake
I love baking as well as cooking. So if you are looking for some surprising inspiration, you may have a look at the following recipes:
- Highstreet strawberry cake.
- Biscoff-pear pie.
- Pineapple-marzipan cake.
- Refreshing coconut polenta cake with lemon.
- Easy apple cake with almond flakes.
- Biscoff pumpkin pie.
If you speak Dutch, you can find the Dutch version of this recipe on gerechtenweb.blog.
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