Fine carrot cake

Ingredients for 12 servings:

• 400 g carrot(s), peeled, finely grated
• 400 g ground almonds
• 50 g cornstarch
• 6 eggs, separated
• 300 g sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tbsp cherry brandy
• 100 g marzipan – raw mass
• 50 g powdered sugar
• Food coloring, red or orange
• Pistachios (sticks)
• 50 g almond(s) (flakes)
• 100 g marzipan – raw mass
• 50 g powdered sugar
• 4 tbsp apricot jam
• 200 g powdered sugar
• 2 tbsp cherry brandy
• 2 tbsp lemon juice

Instructions

Working time approx. 1 hour; Total time approx. 1 hour

Soak the carrots in kirsch. Beat the egg yolks with 150g of sugar until frothy. Mix the almonds, cornstarch, and cinnamon and fold into the egg yolk mixture. Fold in the carrots as well. Beat the egg whites with 150g of sugar until stiff peaks form and fold in loosely. Bake in a 26cm springform pan lined with baking paper at 190°C (top/bottom heat) for about 60 minutes. Remove from the pan and let cool. Wrap in aluminum foil and let rest for 1-2 days. Knead 100g of marzipan with 50g of powdered sugar and color orange with food coloring. Shape the marzipan into carrots and insert two pistachio sticks into each one as stems. Knead 100g of marzipan and 50g of powdered sugar and roll out between two freezer bags into a circle approximately 30cm (cake size plus height). Strain the apricot jam through a sieve and bring to a boil briefly. Spread it over the cake. Cover with the prepared marzipan. Make a glaze from powdered sugar, kirsch, and lemon juice and cover the cake with it. Toast the almond flakes without fat in a non-stick pan and arrange them around the edge of the cake. Decorate with the marzipan carrots. For a lower-calorie alternative, omit the kirsch, apricot jam, marzipan, and glaze and simply dust the cake with powdered sugar after the two-day resting period. It will still be light and moist.