Juicy carrot cake

Although one would expect that the French eat only French things, that is clearly wrong when entering many boulangeries and cafes nationwide. In boulangeries, next to the croissants, baguettes, brioches and tartes, there will be a wide selection of worldly bakes such as cookies, focaccia, and cinnamon buns. However, in cafes, especially the ones focused on specialty coffee, you will see that almost none of the things available come from French cuisine. Most probably you will see a bit of British culture (scones), something from Italy (paninis), bagels, puff pancakes and cinnamon buns (USA) and carrot cake. The French love a good carrot cake and no one can blame them as it is pure joy to dig in to a cake so moist and creamy. This is one of my favourite carrot cakes (after my honey cake). Sweet, juicy, full of spices, and creamy. It’s one of those cakes that I could eat and enjoy endlessly.

cake:
4 medium eggs, room temperature
250 ml mild grape seed oil or aroma-free sunflower seed oil
150 g golden caster sugar
100 g light muscovado sugar
280 g all-purpose wheat flour
60 g medium-grind whole-wheat flour 
pinch of sea salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/3 tsp cardamom
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
vanilla powder
100 g pecan nuts, crushed
150 g juicy dates, cut into pieces
270 g peeled carrots, grated

cream:
500 g mascarpone, room temp
300 g sweet condensed milk
pinch of vanilla powder
pinch of salt
1/2 orange zest, finely grated

Heat the oven 190° hot. Line a pan with parchment paper (22 or 23 cm).

Line three pans with parchment paper (21 or 22 cm). 

Mix eggs, oil and sugars in a bowl. If using vanilla extract, add that now. In another bowl, mix both flours, spices, salt, baking soda and powder. Add to the wet ingredients and mix. Add nuts, dates, and carrots and mix.

Pour into the cake pans and bake for 30-40 minutes on the rack just below the middle until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove, cool for about 30 minutes in the pans, then remove and place on a rack to cool completely.

Put the cheese in a bowl with vanilla, salt, zest and whip to loosen (30 seconds). Whisking, add the condensed milk and whip to form firm peaks, which may take a few minutes. Spread the mixture on each layer as well as around the outside.

Chill the cake in the fridge for at least 12h. Before serving, remove the cake from the fridge and decorated as desired. Serve.