Christmas cake
- 300 g coarse flour
- a pinch of salt
- 1 spoon cocoa powder
- 3 tsp baking powder
- 4 tsp gingerbread spice blend
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 4 eggs
- 150 g brown Demerara sugar
- 200 ml vegetable or olive oil
- juice and ground zest of 1 orange (untreated)
- 1 dl cold milk
- 100 g ground toasted almonds
- 300 g carrot, fine ground
- 5 tbsp apricot jam
- 250 g mascarpone
- 250 g cream cheese (Philadelphia)
- 170 g butter
- ground zest and a little bit of juice of 1 orange
- 120 g powdered sugar
- white cake sprinkles
- gold cake sprinkles
- for decoration: dried orange slice
- Heat the oven to 180°C. Prepare a cake mold with a diameter of 24 cm: grease it with butter and line it with baking paper
- Toast the almonds in a dry pan until they release their aroma. Cool them and grind them finely.
- Peel the carrot and grate it on the finest grater.
- In a bowl, mix the dry ingredients: flour, salt, cocoa, baking powder and gingerbread spice.
- In another bowl, mix the eggs and sugar until the mixture becomes frothy and creamy. Slowly, with constant mixing, add the oil and continue mixing for another minute.
- Add the juice and grated orange peel to the bowl with the eggs, then add the flour with spices and milk at the lowest speed of the mixer, then mix in the ground almonds and carrots by hand.
- Bake the mixture in two batches (or if you have two identical molds, distribute half of it in each and bake at the same time.). Pour half of the mixture into the mold and put it in the heated oven. Bake for about 30 minutes at 180°C.
- Leave the baked sponges to cool, remove them from the mold and cut each into two parts. In the end, you should get four equally thick cake sponges.
- For the cream, mix room-temperature butter with powdered sugar until it becomes foamy. Add the mascarpone and cream cheese, then the orange peel and a spoonful of orange juice.
- Place the first sponge on the serving plate, spread it with apricot jam, and then apply some of the cream. Then repeat the process with the second and third sponge. At the end, cover the whole cake from the outside with a thin layer of cream, sprinkle with powdered sugar and decorate the sides with dried orange slices and cinnamon sticks.
This is a real winter cake that contains the essence of the holiday. Scented with cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, nutmeg, vanilla and orange, it will evoke the most beautiful memories from childhood when we lived more slowly and enjoyed the moment. This is exactly what we wish you this holiday season. This cake will not tire you out and will cause complete delight when you bring it to the table. Added bonus: your house will smell like gingerbread all day!
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