World's Best Carrot Cake and Apple-Almond Wreath

I'm probably the worst blogger in the world--it's been almost 2 months since my last post. But I do have some stories saved up, so I'll deliver them one by one even if they are now ancient in internet terms of time. 

For our housewarming party in October I decided to try some new recipes from Leila Lindholm's cookbook A Piece of Cake. My sister first found the book about a year ago and was raving about the recipes ever since she made the hazelnut cookies for Christmas last year. I was lucky enough to receive the cookbook for my birthday this year. With one exception I've loved everything I've made from it so far. 

I decided on making carrot cake since I love carrot cake and hadn't made it in a long time. The apple wreath took a little longer to decide on because I still greatly respect yeast doughs with their being so temperature sensitive. Turns out the carrot cake definitely could be the world's best carrot cake. The lime cream cheese icing is the cherry on top with its fresh and tangy flavor beautifully complementing the carrot and spice flavor of the cake. It's a perfect recipe for those who hate raisins and nuts as this recipe contains neither.

The World's Best Carrot Cake

3 eggs

240 g sugar

180 g flour

1 teasp. vanilla sugar (I use vanilla extract)

3 teasp. baking powder

1 1/2 teasp. cinnamon

1 teasp. ground cardamom

1/2 teasp. powdered ginger

Pinch of salt

150 ml sunflower oil

270 g grated carrot

Lime-cream cheese icing

60 g butter at room temp.

240 g powdered sugar

1 teasp. vanilla sugar (or vanilla extract)

zest from 1 lime

100 g cream cheese

1. Preheat oven to 150°C (300°F).

2. Beat eggs and sugar till light and frothy.

3. Mix all dry ingredients and stir into egg and sugar mixture.

4. Add sunflower oil and grated carrots.

5. Pour into a buttered 24 cm (9.5 inch) spring form pan (I didn't have the right sized pan, so I used a loaf tin).

6. Bake on rack in middle of oven for about 55 min until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool.

7. For icing mix all ingredients until smooth.

8. Pour icing onto cooled cake. 

I was really surprised how well the apple-almond wreaths turned out. And in retrospect the recipe wasn't hard at all. I will definitely try some of the other variations for yeast pastries that Leila has in her book. For the apple-almond wreath first prepare the basic yeast dough recipe. 

Basic yeast dough 

Makes 2 wreaths

1 tablesp. cardomom seeds (she calls for black, but I used green seeds)

300 ml milk

50 g fresh yeast

120 g sugar

1/2 teasp. salt

150 g butter at room temp.

1 egg

660-720 g flour type 550

1. Crush cardomom seeds with a mortar and pestle and heat with milk until lukewarm.

2. Dissolve crumbled yeast in a bowl with the milk, sugar, salt, butter and egg.

3. Add flour in several portions and work into dough until smooth.

4. Cover with a kitchen towel and let rise to double its size for 45-60 min.

Apple-Almond Wreath

1 recipe of basic yeast dough

1 whisked egg 

1 handful of sliced almonds

Filling

200 g butter at room temp.

80 g brown sugar

1 tablesp. cinnamon

200 g grated marzipan

2 ripe, grated apples

1. Prepare basic yeast dough according to recipe.

2. Mix butter, sugar, cinnamon and marzipan until creamy.

3. Divide the dough in half and roll one half into a rectangle 30 x 20 cm (12 x 8 inches) and 1/2 cm (1/5 inch) thick.

4. Spread half of marzipan over dough and cover with half of the apples.

5. Roll the dough lengthwise. Prepare other half of dough the same way.

6. Place the wreaths into 24 cm (9.5 inch) buttered spring forms or just place onto trays covered with parchment paper. 

7. Make diagonal cuts into the wreaths 1 cm (1/3 inch) apart and pull every other cut slightly apart. Cover with a kitchen towel and let rise for about 1 hour.

8. Preheat oven to 175°C (350°F).

9. Brush whisked egg onto wreaths and cover with sliced almonds.

10. Bake on racks in the middle of the oven for about 20 min.