Morotskaka, a Swedish Carrot Cake

I had the two mini-bakers help me with dessert for our tabletop travel to Sweden. D and S made Morotskaka, a Swedish carrot cake. It was moist and delicious; we didn't frost it and didn't even sprinkle it with powdered sugar.

Ingredients

• 1-1/4 C olive oil
• 1 1/4 C organic granulated sugar
• 4 eggs
• 2 C flour (we used a whole wheat pastry flour)
• 2 t cinnamon (I forgot the cinnamon, but will definitely use it next time)
• 1 t baking soda
• 2 t baking powder
• 1 t sea salt
• 4 large carrots, finely grated
• 3/4 C hazelnuts
• 1 C raisins

Procedure

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter a 9" round baking dish, then line with parchment paper. Butter liberally. Set aside.

Grate the carrots. Our four carrots - we used a mixture of orange, yellow, and purple carrots - rendered about 4 cups grated carrots.

Chop hazelnuts. Set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together all of the wet ingredients to form a batter. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the batter. Mix to combine with a spatula till just moistened.

Pour batter into pan and bake until cake springs back in the center when touched, approximately 60 minutes.

Let cool for ten minutes in the pan, then run a knife around the edge of the pan and unmold onto a cooling rack. Let cool for another 15 minutes before slicing.

As I mentioned, we ate it just like this. The texture was perfect and the flavor wonderful. So, we didn't think it needed any garnishing. But, it you prefer, let the cake cool completely and frost with your favorte cream cheese frosting.