Italian almond and carrot cake. #StephanieAlexander.

Love almonds. Always have carrots. This almost flourless, lovely cake recipe is adulterated from Stephanie Alexander in Kitchen Garden companion who says it’s closely based on a recipe for carrot cake in Jane Grigson’s Vegetable Book.

You need for one cake for 36 models:
20g butter, for greasing ( and baking paper !)
¾ cup raw almonds
125g (1 or 2 depending on their size) carrots, peeled
2 tbsp self-raising flour
Finely grated zest of ½ lemon
2 free-range eggs, separated
125g castor sugar
2 tbsp pine nuts

• Preheat oven to 180C.
• Melt butter in a frying pan over low heat.
• Using a pastry brush, grease a 22cm x 10cm loaf tin with melted butter, then line with baking paper and grease again.
• Process almonds in a food processor to form a fine powder.
• Scrape into a mixing bowl.
• Attach grating disc and grate carrots.
• Add carrot to mixing bowl, add flour and lemon zest.
• Mix well, using your fingers to make sure there are no lumps.
• Beat egg yolks and sugar in an electric mixer until thick and pale.
• Stir in carrot mixture using a slotted spoon.
• Scrape mixture into a large mixing bowl.
• Wash and dry electric beaters and bowl well.
• Whisk egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold into carrot batter gently.
• Spoon batter into loaf tin.
• Scatter pine nuts over the batter.
• Bake cake for 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.
• Leave cake to cool in tin for a few minutes before running a knife around edges and turning out on to a cooling rack to cool completely.
• Accessorise with more pine nuts and icing sugar.