almond flour carrot cake with dried cherries, apricot filling, and brown butter cinnamon whipped cream frosting

a cake for passover

this cake, based on a recipe from bon appetit, is gluten free, kosher for passover, and is the best carrot cake i’ve ever had. i’ve made it twice now, once with the coconut flakes and once without and it turned out fine both ways, so feel free to leave out if you don’t like coconut. and because i’m a cream cheese frosting hater and think whoever decided carrot cakes must be covered in cream cheese is dumb, i went with a deliciously rich yet simultaneously light brown butter and cinnamon whipped cream.

when decorating this cake i was inspired by this image:

it turned out well, but if you want it to look more tree stump-like you’re probably going to have to double the cake layers.

the decorations are made out of marzipan and food coloring, but feel free to experiment with real or fake flowers or whatever else strikes your fancy.

unrelatedly, recently i’ve been experiementing w animating my art! i’m still trying to figure out how i can share the animations on here so for now, check them out on my instagram

almond flour carrot cake with dried cherries, apricot filling, and brown butter cinnamon whipped cream frosting

ingredients:

for the cake (adapted from bon appetit):

1/2 cup coconut oil, melted or canola oil. plus more for pans

3 cups almond flour

1 and 1/2 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp ground cardamom

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp baking soda

5 large eggs

1 and 1/4 cups (packed) brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

10 oz carrots, peeled, coarsely shredded, squezzed to remove excess water

¾ cup shredded unsweetened coconut (optional)

3/4 cup pecans, finely chopped

1/2 cup dried sour cherries

for the frosting:

2 tbsp unsalted butter

1 cup heavy cream

6 tbsp powdered sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla extract

to assemble:

apricot preserves

marzipan flowers formed out of marzipan and red and green (or whatever colors) food coloring OR fake or real flowers OR whatever decorations you like

instructions:

to make the cake:

preheat oven to 350 degrees f. grease two 8 inch round cake pans with oil or butter, then line each with two strips of parchement, intersecting in the middle of the pans.

whisk salt, baking powder, cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, baking soda, and almond flour in a medium bowl.

beat eggs and brown sugar in a large bowl with an electric hand mixer, or in a stand mixer, until more than tripled in volume and mixture holds a ribbon for several seconds with drizzled over itself, 5-7 mins. beat in vanilla.

in another medium bowl, combine carrots, coconut, nuts, cherries, and the 1/2 cup oil.

reduce mixer speed to low. to the egg mixture, add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with the carrot mixture in 3 additions. beat well after each addition.

divide batter between prepared pans. bake cake until lightly brown on top and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 33-36 minutes. let cool 10 minutes then remove cakes from pans and let cool completely on a wire rack.

to make the frosting:

first brown the butter. melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. continue to cook without stirring as it begins to foam and crackle. once the foaming dies down, remove from heat, transfer to another bowl, and let cool completely. store in fridge until read to use.

once butter is cool (it will have solidified if kept in the fridge, but that’s ok), combine it along with all other ingredients in a medium bowl or bowl of a stand mixer. using the mixer or an electric hand mixer, beat on low for 1 minute, then on high until stiff peaks form. refrigerate until ready to use.

to assembly:

arrange one cake domed side down on a large platter. cover the top with a layer of apricot preserves, then top with the remaining cake layer. cover top and sides with frosting. top with decorations if using.