Italian-Inspired Carrot Cake; moist and fluffy spiced cake studded with toasted nuts and grated carrot, slathered with creamy mascarpone frosting.
No sweet treat seems to drag along the saccharine Keep Calm And Carry On attitude of the British Isles quite like the carrot cake.
Invented in times of hardship when sugar and other sweetening agents were scarce, the carrot cake is like a classy middle finger to rotten circumstances. Easy-to-grow carrots naturally replaced the sweetness and moisture provided by sugar in baking, while scant but essential use of spices such as cinnamon helped add a touch of extra flavour.
Living in Italy now, I’ve seen a few raised eyebrows at the concept of carrots in a dessert. Even when explaining its roots (no pun intended) and the fact you really can’t taste the carrot, it really doesn’t seem to appeal unless it’s sat temptingly on a plate before the sceptic’s eyes.
However, I can’t help but feel this war-time dessert fits in with the very common cucina povera (poor kitchen) concept of Italy’s culinary heritage. It’s an idea that draws from times of poverty and hardship in the country, when people had to make do with what they had. Incredibly, as with some of our ration-drawn meals in the UK, some dishes were not only delicious then but are still as enjoyable for our spoiled modern palates.
The Italian-Inspired Carrot Cake you see in today’s post contains everything loveable about a classic British carrot cake. The moist crumb, the toasted nuts, the creamy frosting. It also contains a few ingredient swaps to not only appease my new Mediterranean pals, but to fit the lighter flavours of spring time. Rich hazelnuts where the walnuts would be, olive oil in place of sunflower oil, and mascarpone swapped for the usual cream cheese.
Love carrot cake? You can try out my Vegan Carrot Cake here!
I find this Italian-Inspired Carrot Cake feels lighter to eat without cutting out any of the usual joy. The spice and sweetness have been toned down without taking away the true flavour. It’s a smaller cake overall too, but do feel free to double up the ingredients if making a 2-layer cake or 22cm cake instead!
An ever-so-slightly sweet frosting sits brightly on top of the cake, lusciously creamy thanks to milky mascarpone cheese. The gently spiced cake underneath offers a whisper of cinnamon, the soft crunch of toasted savoury nuts, and the sweetness of carrots and brown sugar. It’s a delight of taste and textures, and truly easy to put together.
No need to faff about with complicated equipment, or to worry about stacking and decorating an elaborate final product. This Italian-Inspired Carrot Cake is as wholesome, homemade, and rustic-looking as any British or Italian cake of its era would have been. A granny-style cake with instagrammable charm.
Oh, and don’t worry, there’s not a raisin or sultana in sight!
I hope you guys love this Italian-Inspired Carrot Cake as much as we have, and I hope April is treating you well so far.
(If you need to bookmark a good classic British carrot cake recipe for another time, I’ve always loved the Hairy Bikers’ one!)
Want to save this Italian-Inspired Carrot Cake for later? You can pin the image below:
To make this Italian-Inspired Carrot Cake, simply follow this recipe below!
Ingredients
For the Italian-inspired carrot cake:
- 100g (¾ cup) plain or ’00’ flour
- 20g (scant ¼ cup) walnuts, chopped
- 20g (scant ¼ cup) hazelnuts, chopped
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
- Pinch of salt
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
- 85g (⅓ cup) extra virgin olive oil
- 85g (⅓ cup) brown sugar
- 100g (roughly 1 medium-sized) grated carrot
For the mascarpone frosting:
- 75g (5 tbsp) soft salted butter (at room temperature)
- 100g (½ cup) icing sugar
- 75g (2 ½ oz) mascarpone or cream cheese (at room temperature)
- Zest of ½ an orange or 1 tsp vanilla extract, optional (for decoration)
- Handful of chopped walnuts and/or hazelnuts, optional (for decoration)
Instructions
For the Italian-inspired carrot cake:
- Preheat your oven – 180 C / 160 C fan / 350 F / gas mark 4 – and grease and line a 18cm (7 in) round cake tin.
- In a large bowl, weigh your flour, walnuts, hazelnuts, cinnamon, raising agents, and salt and briefly stir together.
- In a separate bowl or jug, whisk together the eggs, oil, sugar, and grated carrot until relatively smooth and combined.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and gently fold together until you have an even cake batter.
- Pour the mixture into your prepared cake tin and smooth over the top.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 25-35 minutes. By this time the cake should be risen and a skewer inserted into the centre should be clean when removed.
- Remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool in the tin for 15 minutes before removing from the tin and cooling completely on a wire rack.
- Meanwhile make your frosting!
For the mascarpone frosting:
- In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until light and creamy.
- Add the mascarpone (and zest/vanilla, if using) and beat again until just smooth. (If the frosting seems a bit too runny or looks slightly curdled, pop it in the fridge for 30 minutes and beat again, it should help firm it up!)
- Once the cake is cool, slather the frosting over the cake evenly. You may not need it all.
- Heat a small frying pan over a medium heat and pour in your chopped nuts. Gently toast, watching throughout, for 1-2 minutes or until lightly browned and fragrant. Allow the nuts to cool completely before generously scattering over the frosting.
- Enjoy!
BE A MAVERICK: why not add a handful of chopped dried figs to the batter before baking for even more Mediterranean flavour?
This Italian-Inspired Carrot Cake will keep well for up to 3 days, but is best enjoyed fresh!
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