Carrot Cake with Mascarpone and Orange Frosting

There are a lot of food writers who I never read their books before, I think it’s common for us to turn to the people who we are custom to ^^. And because most of the time I order my book from Amazon, actually reading it before buying is not possible.

But about 2 months ago, I had a chance to read the book from one of the legendary Britain food writer “Nigel Slater” when I went to the book store, well, at that day, it’s the only book that I never touched before, haha.
So, I picked it up and started reading, OMG, I thought that he’s one of the best food writer! His writing style is charming (OK. keep it mind that I talk about “writing style”, hehe, because I feel dizzy when watching his TV show), cunning and witty. I have a very good time reading his book. How could I never paid attention to his book before? My friend (Koy) said that it’s because the cover of his book, haha, that keep us away from his book.
The one that I always see on the Amazon webpage is the UK one, ^^”, and you can see that if you never read his book before, you will doubt about it. The one that I got is the US edition, the cover of the book is more inviting 😉
But for food writers only good in writing is not the only quality that you want from them, good recipe is very important too. So, I do what I really love to do, choose the recipe and make it.
The recipe that I choose is Carrot Cake with Mascarpone and Orange Frosting, it published in “The Observer” before, and he adds it in carrot section of the book. He said that it’s so delicious and he always get an e-mail asking for this recipe to replace the old one (that has fallen apart or stuck to the bottom of the pan, ^^). I had very high hope that it’s going to be great!!
The cake came out as good as he claimed, my sister love it, and she ate almost half of the cake by herself, hehe.

Tender – US and UK edition

The cake is very moist, and the frosting is soft and not too sweet. It’s a good impression. So if you never had his book before but want to try his recipe, you can start from here. And don’t forget to give his book a try, you might love him as I do.

Carrot cake with Mascarpone and orange frosting

Serves 8-10

Cake
3 …………………………………. Eggs, separated
250g …………………………… Cake flour
½tsp ………………………….. Baking soda
2tsp ……………………………. Baking powder
1tsp …………………………….. Cinnamon powder
…………………………………….. A pinch of salt
200ml …………………………. Vegetable oil (I use corn oil)
250g ……………………………. Brown sugar
150g ……………………………. Carrot, grated
…………………………………….. Juice of half a lemon
150g …………………………….. Walnut, coarsely chopped

Frosting
250g ……………………………. Mascarpone cheese
200g ……………………………. Cream cheese
150g ……………………………. Icing sugar
…………………………………….. Grated zest of a medium orange
…………………………………….. A handful of walnut halves

Preheat the oven to 180°C
Lightly butter two 9-inch (22cm) cake pans. Line each pan with a round of parchment paper.
Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.

Beat the oil and sugar until well beaten, then add the egg yolks one by one, then add the grated carrots. Add the lemon juice and walnut.
Fold the flour into the mixture.

Beat the egg whites until light and stiff, then fold gently into the mixture.
Divide the mixture between the two prepared cake pans, smooth the top gently and bake for 35-45 minutes. Test with a skewer for doneness.
Remove from the oven and let the cakes rest for 10 minutes before turning the cake out of the pans, let it cool on a wire rack.

Make the frosting:
Put the mascarpone, cream cheese and icing sugar into a bowl, and beat with hand mixer until smooth and creamy. Mix in the orange zest.

When the cake is cool, sandwich the halves together with about a third of the frosting. Using the rest to cover the top and sides of the cake and decorate the cake with walnut halves.

Introducing Nigel Slater:

Carrot Cake with Mascarpone and Orange Frosting