Torta di Carote - Carrot Cake

-strong enough for winter but light enough for spring-

I've had my eye on this recipe for somewhere around a year. marcella hazan, as you probably know, is the quintessential itallian cook. i've had her "italian kitchen" book for some while now and have loved every thing that comes out of it. i promise you, you will not find a recipe for pasta roses anywhere else. yeah - i said pasta roses and they are amazing.

the deserts are just as warm and homey as the rest of the book but unlike the rest of the recipes this once is actually pretty light, there is no butter or flour for goodness sake!

so back to that year in waiting. there are a few things that stood in my way of completing this cake mostly the lack of lady fingers. who keeps lady fingers in the pantry anyways? well i suppose its not such a stretch for a baker to have them on hand but, really, that and buttermilk give me a break won't ya! so this Christmas when a vendor sent foodie baskets to everyone, which oddly contained ladyfinger, i went around the office and snagged then all. yeah i'm that person; i horde office treats for later use at home. oh the shame. the second strongest force against this cake is, well there never seemed an appropriate time. and finally the day came that an friend of mine and her girlfriend came for dinner. score! the cake was made, slices were doled out and mouths were happily stuffed.

two things i changed: i left out the tablespoon of amaretto called for and used a mix of a vanilla and almond extract. i'm not a 70 year old man by the way nor do i own a silk robe so this i did not have in my pantry, nor was i going to buy any. and Marcella calls for fresh whipped cream to be served alongside but i also don't keep a stash of heavy cream on hand so i whipped up a batch of coconut milk and vanilla bean ice cream. stay tuned for the ice cream recipe, i assure you the warmth of the dense crumbly cake paired with the cool fresh ice cream was-a perfecto!

TORTA DI CAROTE

9oz unpeeled ground almonds

1c + 2 tbs sugar

9oz peeled carrots

4oz ladyfingers

2 1/2tsp baking powder

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4tsp almond extract

1/4 tsp salt

4 eggs, separated

*preheat oven to 325F, place ladyfingers on a large baking sheet and cook for about 20 minutes

*take the ladyfingers out of the oven, let cool

*raise temp to 350F, grease an 8" springform pan

*pulse the almonds and sugar in a processors to a consistent mixture, place in a large bowl

*finely chop the carrots in the processor to as fine as you can get it, add to bowl w/ almonds

*place ladyfingers in the processor and chop until you have a fine powder, add to bowl w/ carrots & almonds

*add baking powder, vanilla, almond and salt. mix thoroughly

*mix in egg yolks

*in a separate bowl beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.

*add 1-2 tbs of the egg whites to the almond mix to help loosen

*gently (will take a while) fold in remaining egg whites.

*pour batter into the prepared springform. tamp the pan on the counter to level - do not press the batter.

*bake for 50 minutes, until toothpick is clean.

*let cool completely, slice and serve.