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Gâteau aux carottes

Adapted from Lulu’s Provençal Table* by Richard Olney, foreword by Alice Waters
Although Lulu calls this a gâteau aux noix, I’m featuring the carrots, which appear in the cake as little orange flecks, hence the name change. I swapped out almonds for the walnuts since I like them better, but free to use either. Or another nut. When I get more time, I want to try this with different kinds of flour, as well as trying to make it a thicker, yet lighter, cake. In the past, I’ve played around, replacing one tablespoon of the butter with a tablespoon of a good nut oil. Walnut, plum kernel, or hazelnut all add a terrific nutty aroma to the finished gâteau.
  • 8 tablespoons (115g) butter, salted or unsalted, at room temperature
  • 1 1/4 cups (250g) sugar
  • pinch of salt
  • 5 large eggs, at room temperature
  • 1 3/4 cups (225g) toasted almonds
  • 2/3 cup (90g) flour
  • 1/4 cup, packed, (40g) finely grated carrot
  • Preheat the oven to 325F (160C). Butter two shallow 10-inch (23cm) cake pans and line each with a circle of parchment paper. Then lightly butter the top of each circle of paper.
  • Beat the butter, sugar and salt until smooth.
  • Meanwhile, pulverize the nuts and flour in a food processor or blender until relatively fine, but not powdery. If you don’t have a machine, simply chop the nuts by hand and toss them with the flour.
  • Beat in the eggs one at a time. Afterwards, stir in the ground nut mixture and the carrots, mixing just until smooth.
  • Divide the batter into the pans, smooth it evenly, and bake for 40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
  • Cool, then release the cake from the pans and cut in wedges to serve.

Notes

Note: This is a rather unusual cake. More like a flat griddle-cake. Next time I might try it with one less egg and maybe a bit more flour since I think the recipe was written with American flour in mind, and French flour is quite a bit softer.
*The original edition of Lulu’s Provençal Table shown above, was originally published by HarperCollins, and subsequently re-published. It appears to be out of print, but one can easily find used copies available. I suggest if you get one, try for an original edition, which are not at all expensive (for now) and includes photographs by Gail Skoff.