Carrot cake with mint and lime

Ingredients for 1 servings:

• 400 g carrot(s)
• 5 g egg(s)
• 200 g sugar
• 100 ml oil, neutral
• 250 g wheat flour type 405 or 550
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 200 g hazelnuts, ground
• 400 g cream cheese
• 200 ml cream
• 4 mint sprigs
• 60 g cane sugar
• 4 tbsp lime zest, organic
• possibly salt or lemon juice

Instructions

Working time approx. 35 minutes; Rest time approx. 2 hours; Cooking/baking time approx. 40 minutes; Total time approx. 3 hours 15 minutes

Simple, fast, for the whole family

Preheat oven to 180°C (top and bottom heat) or 160°C (fan oven). Peel and finely grate the carrots (either by hand or in a food processor). Separate the eggs and beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. If the egg whites aren’t stiff peaks, add a pinch of salt or a squeeze of lemon juice. Refrigerate the egg whites until ready to use. The egg whites should be stiff enough that you can turn the bowl upside down without any of it running out. Beat the egg yolks, sugar, and oil until frothy. Combine and sift the flour and baking powder. Mix with the ground hazelnuts and carrots. Fold in the egg whites. Spread the batter evenly onto a deep baking sheet (30 x 40 cm) lined with baking paper and bake for about 40 minutes until golden brown. Test with a skewer. Bake for 5 minutes longer if necessary. Let the cake cool thoroughly. For the frosting, combine 1-2 tablespoons of liquid cream with the cream cheese until smooth. Whisk the remaining cream with a mixer until stiff peaks form (only very briefly; it should only be foamy). Combine with the cream cheese using a whisk. Spread the mixture on the cake. Rinse the mint with cold water and shake dry thoroughly. If necessary, wrap in a tea towel and dry. Pluck the leaves from the branches and set aside a few for garnishing. Chop the remaining leaves very finely. If the limes are not yet zested, wash them with very hot water and zest until the zest is white. Mix the zest with the brown sugar. Sprinkle over the cream cheese mixture. Garnish with the remaining mint leaves. Tip for those who are on the lookout for calories. Note: In this case, the cream cheese can be replaced with low-fat cream cheese, and the whipped cream with whipped cream substitute. This saves a total of around 1,000 calories. For 20 pieces, that’s around 50 calories. Whether that’s worth it is up to you to decide. I prefer the full-fat version.