A light, moist, flavourful carrot cake from the Swiss canton of Aargau, which contains no oil or butter, and no flour. Low fat, dairy free, gluten free.

It’s practically health food!

Makes a 24cm (10″) cake – serves 12
Preparation: about 30 minutes
Baking: 50 minutes
Plus: cooling, and time for the icing to set

Ingredients

250g (1 1/4 cups) granulated white sugar
5 eggs, separated
2 Tbsp warm water
1 organic lemon, zest and juice
80g (5/8 cup) cornstarch
2 tsp baking powder
250g (2 1/2 cups) ground almonds
250g (9oz) very finely grated carrots
pinch salt

300g (2 1/3 cups) icing sugar
2 – 3 Tbsp lemon juice (or water, if you don’t want it so lemony)

marzipan carrots for decoration

Directions

Preheat oven to 180°C / 360°F / Gas mark 4 and place a rack in the lower third. Line, spray or grease a 24cm (10″) round, springform cake tin.

Whisk the sugar, egg yolks and warm water in a large bowl until light and fluffy.

Add the lemon zest and juice, cornstarch, baking powder, ground almonds and grated carrots. Mix well with a wooden spoon or spatula.

In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt to firm peaks. Fold into the carrot mixture with a spatula until you have a smooth, light batter.

Pour mixture into prepared cake tin.

Bake for 50 minutes, until golden and a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.

Remove from oven, run a fine knife or plastic spatula around the edge to loosen the cake and allow to cool for a few minutes. Remove from tin and allow to cool completely on a wire rack.

Mix enough lemon juice or water into the icing sugar as needed to create a thick but pourable icing. Pour over cake and spread with a spatula.

Decorate the cake with marzipan carrots before the icing sets.