Carrot Cake

By nonna Ottilia from Agriturismo Anselmi in Terzolas, Trentino.

You might enjoy this recipe on our tours in Trentino & Sud Tyrolor try at home using just a few ingredients!

Ingredients for 6 people:

• 4 eggs
• 250 grams (1 and 1/4 cup) of sugar – I prefer to use only 175 grams (2/3 cup)
• 250 grams (1/2 pound) of grated carrots
• 1 lemon
• 250 grams (2 cups) of ground almonds 
• 8 grams (1 tsp) of baking powder
• 10 ladyfinger cookies
• a pinch of salt

Directions:

• Separate egg whites from yolks. Whip egg whites with a pinch of salt until it becomes frothy
• Separately beat egg yolks with sugar until it gets smooth and fluffy
• In another bowl mix grated carrots with lemon zest (simply grating the skin of the lemon avoiding the pith), then add ground almonds and baking powder
• Add the carrots and almond concoction to the beaten eggs and sugar
• Then fold very gently the egg whites into the mixture, trying to keep it fluffy and soft
• Finally crush the ladyfingers (nonna Ottilia used a rag containing the cookies and rolled a glass bottle back and forth to crush them!) and add them to the mixture
• Pour the batter in a ~10-inch pan and make a layer not higher than 1 inch
• Bake for about ~30 minutes at 360 F.

Cool, slice, and buon appetito (in the picture 3 generations of cooks in the family with nonna Ottilia, daughter Annamaria, granddaughter Chiara and the other nonna Carla)