Eat, learn, travel

Passport & Plate - For the love of carrots

Spain | Friday, February 28, 2014 | 5 photos

Ingredients
Cake:
grated carrot – 300 g
walnut – 100 g
flour – 260 g
soda – 1 teaspoon
baking powder – 1,5 teaspoon
salt – 0,5 teaspoon
cinnamon – 1,5 teaspoon
eggs – 4
sugar – 300 g
oil (sunflower, olive or corn one) – 1 glass (240 g)
vanilla extract – 2 teaspoon

Icing:
butter (room temperature) – 60 g
cream cheese – 1 pack

 

How to prepare this recipe
How to make the cake:

1) Heat the oven till 180°. Grease the form with oil and sprinkle with flour. Whisk 4 eggs. Then add sugar by parts and whisk it again thoroughly with a mixer for 4-5 min. The mass will become bigger and whiter.
2) Add some oil and whisk it.
3) Sift flour and mix it with baking powder, soda, salt and cinnamon powder. Add it to the dough and mix again.
4) Finally add grated carrot and walnuts. Mix everything and spread the pastry out to the form. Put it in the heated oven and wait for 40-50 min.
5) Let the cake cool and then glaze it with this icing.

How to make the icing:

1) Whisk the butter in the mixer.
2) Add cream cheese and whisk it with a low speed.
3) Little by little add some sugar powder. Let it mix well.
4) Voila! The icing is ready.

 

The story behind this recipe
What is the taste of love? One will say ‘chocolate’, the others will mention champagne, strawberry and cream as passionate as love itself and bearing the colours of it: ardent crimson and innocent white. Or are they world-famous macarons with elegant and soft aftertaste? All in all, it is always something sweet and petit.

I love to act differently and I would say that the real taste of love has a succulent stake accompanied by fresh salad and beautifully round potatoes. Unfortunately, after this delicious meal I’m in favour of sleeping or relaxing on the sofa. Nothing about love.
The question is when one can taste love? The answer is simple when one is already in love. And this is my story.

Two last happy days in Barcelona. A traveller and food lover can indulge himself there with typical Spanish food: tapas, paella, tortilla or a thin piece of salty jamon on bread rubbed with olive oil and a tomato.

Surprisingly they are not the protagonists of my story. I was lucky enough to pick through the variety of food it – the carrotcake. I always thought that it was something disgusting. Can you imagine carrots in the sweet cake? As I forever try something new I dared to put this into my mouth. And then a real flash. You know these are carrots but you can never understand how it can work so nicely together. The cake that almost tastes as chocolate and a sweetish cream smelling vanilla.

At home I tried several recepies and found the same one. You can try it too. Oh yes. Why is it the taste of love? Because I want this kind of love for me maybe simple, not so elegant or exquisite but the one I can feel everyday. And while as was trying that carrotcake, I knew I had already had it. It was sitting in front of me.