One of my favorite Swiss treats! Rüblikuchen is a Swiss Carrot Cake made with grated carrots and ground nuts and decorated with pretty marzipan carrots.
How is it different? This carrot cake tastes different from its British and American counterparts. It is not as sweet but more nutty. It only has a single layer and is covered with a lemon sugar glaze.
I grew up in Germany, where this cake is also very popular. But every Christmas and Easter, I would go skiing in Switzerland, where I first tasted this cake.I am going to share my easy Swiss carrot cake recipe and also show you how to make marzipan carrots from scratch.
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What is Swiss Carrot Cake?
Rüblikuchen is a Swiss cake speciality from the region of Aargau. It consists of a sponge cake mix, carrots, and nuts (either hazelnuts or almonds).
"Rübli" means "carrot" in Swiss German. "Kuchen" is the word for cake. Other names for this cake include "Karottenkuchen" (carrots in German is Karotten) or "Möhrenkuchen." "Möhren" is another, more colloquial term for carrots.
Another term to describe this cake is "Karotten Torte" (carrot torte). In Germany, cakes and tortes are differentiated according to how they are made. A torte is a cake where the decoration is not baked in the oven.
There is no such thing as German carrot cake. Some say the difference between German carrot cake and Swiss carrot cake is that the German version uses a chocolate glaze to lock in the moisture for longer. [source wikpedia Rüblitorte]
How to make Rüblikuchen?
This Rüblikuchen recipe is pretty simple. What will take time is making the marzipan carrots from scratch. However, you can also buy them ready-made.
Ready made marzipan carrots
Buy Now → (affiliate link)
Ingredients
- Carrots – They brings natural sweetness to the cake. Use fresh young carrots - as they contain more moisture.
- Eggs – Separated. Folding in the stiff egg whites makes the cake extra fluffy.
- Oil – Add stability and moisture.
- Salt, cinnamon and vanilla essence – the flavours for a rich and earthy taste.
- Sugar – Use just a little to enhance the natural sweetness of the carrots.
- Grated lemon peel – Adds a fresh, fruity note.
- Baking powder (affiliate link), ground hazelnuts (affiliate link) or ground almonds (affiliate link), and flour – The dry ingredients that form the cake’s base.
For the marzipan carrots
- Marzipan – [Check out my homemade German Marzipan here.]
- Orange food coloring – Or mix yellow and red.
- Green food coloring
For the glaze
- Powdered sugar, fresh lemon glaze
Recipe Steps
- Line the base of a 9-inch 24 cm springform pan with baking parchment. Grease the sides with butter and dust lightly with flour.
- Preheat your oven to 180°C (356°F),
- Peel the carrots, remove the ends, and finely grate them.
- Combine the eggs and sugar and whisk them on a high speed until they are nice and fluffy.
- Add the oil, lemon zest and vanilla extract (affiliate link).
- In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, salt, baking powder (affiliate link), cinnamon, and ground nuts. Then fold them into the cake batter.
- Lastly, add in the carrots. Mix until everything is combined before pouring it into the cake tin.
- Bake the dough for approximately 45-55 minutes. To check if the cake is done, prick a skewer into the middle. If it comes out clean, it is done.
2-Ingredient Lemon Icing.
For the glaze, you will need powdered sugar and lemon juice. Make sure that you sift the sugar to avoid lumps. Then, add the lemon juice spoon by spoon. Mix well after each addition to check the consistency. You want to have a rather thick glaze, as it looks nicer if the cake does not shine through.
Making the Homemade Marzipan Carrots
- Divide the marzipan into two portions—⅓ for green, and ⅔ for orange.
- Knead green food coloring into the smaller portion and orange coloring into the larger one.
- To shape the carrots, roll out the orange marzipan and cut 2 cm circles using a round piping tip (affiliate link) for uniformity. Alternatively, roll small balls and weigh them to ensure even sizing. I made about 12 carrots—one for each slice of cake.
- Start with a round ball and roll it between your palms to form a carrot-like triangle shape.
- For the greens, pinch off a small piece of green marzipan, roll it into a ball, then flatten it slightly. Use a knife to cut two small triangles into the edge to form leaves, then attach the greens to the carrots.
- The starting shape for each carrot is a little round ball. You roll it then on the palm of your hand to a triangle. (see picture)
- To make the carrot greens, take off a little bit of green roll it in a tiny ball. Then flatten it. With a knife cut out two triangles. Then attach the greens to the carrot.
Variations
There are many variations of this Karottenkuchen recipe floating around. Let me show you how you can adapt the recipe to your preferences:
- Use cream cheese frosting- the original Swiss carrot cake is made without cream cheese frosting. However, in Germany, you will find more and more carrot cakes using the cream cheese frosting used in the UK and America. I like this recipe for lemon cream cheese frosting.
- Try this vegan carrot cake frosting without cream cheese - if you prefer a creamy topping without the cheese.
- Substitute the lemon juice and peel with the orange. This will still add a citrus flavour to the cake, but it has a different note.
How to serve
Serve this cake cold with a warm cup of tea or coffee. In my opinion, this carrot cake tastes best the next day, after having been kept in the fridge. This allows for the flavours to develop.
Storage
Store the carrot cake in the fridge, in an airtight container. This way it will remain lovely and moist.
This cake is also very suitable for freezing. This way it will stay good up to 6 months. However, for the best results, I would freeze the carrot cake in advance without the glaze, and then glaze it after being defrosted.
Carrot cake has been a Swiss specialty since the 19th century. The oldest written recipe dates back to 1892, from a recipe collection of the domestic school Kaiseraugst.
Carrot cake became popular in England after the Second World War as ingredients were rationed, and bakers were looking for a way to naturally sweeten their cakes. The first recipe for carrot cake in England dates back to 1943.
It became popular in the US in 1960 and is now one of the most popular desserts in America.
More Recipes for Easter
More Swiss Recipes
Recipe
Traditional Swiss Carrot Cake (Rüblikuchen)
Equipment
- 1 24 cm or 9" cake tin /spring form
Ingredients
- 260 g carrots
- 200 g sugar
- 5 eggs medium size, at room temperature
- 120 ml neutral oil such as canola or rapeseed oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tsp grated lemon zest
- 120 gr all-purpose flour Germany type 405, UK Plain flour
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 200 g ground nuts either ground almonds (affiliate link) or ground hazelnuts (affiliate link)
For the marzipan carrots
- 80 g marzipan 2.8 oz
- 2 drops orange food colouring You can also mix yellow and red food colouring to mix the orange colour. You will need more yellow than red.
- 1 drops green food colouring
For the glaze
- 200 g powdered sugar 7 oz
- 3 tablespoon lemon juice
Instructions
- Line the base of a 9-inch (24 cm) springform pan with baking parchment. Grease the sides with butter and lightly dust with flour.
- Preheat your oven to 180°C (356°F).
- Peel the carrots, remove the ends, and finely grate them.260 g carrots
- In a large bowl, combine the eggs and sugar. Whisk on high speed until light and fluffy.5 eggs, 200 g sugar
- Add the oil, lemon zest, and vanilla extract (affiliate link). Mix well.
- In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, salt, baking powder (affiliate link), cinnamon, and ground nuts.120 gr all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoon baking powder (affiliate link), 1 pinch salt, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (affiliate link), 200 g ground nuts
- Gently fold the dry ingredients into the wet mixture. Then add the grated carrots and mix until everything is well combined.
- Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin and smooth the top.
- Bake for approximately 45–55 minutes. To check if the cake is done, insert a skewer into the center. If it comes out clean, the cake is ready.
Icing the cake
- Sift powdered sugar into a bowl to remove any lumps.
- Gradually add lemon juice, one spoonful at a time, mixing well after each addition.200 g powdered sugar, 3 tablespoon lemon juice
- Continue until you reach a thick glaze consistency. A thicker glaze looks best, as it won’t allow the cake to show through.
- Pour the icing over the cake and spread it with a pallet knife.
Making the marzipan carrots
- Divide the marzipan pan mass into two pieces. ⅓ of the marzipan you can knead with the green food colouring. Colour ⅔ orange.80 g marzipan, 2 drops orange food colouring, 1 drops green food colouring
- To make the carrots, you carefully roll out the orange marzipan and cut out 2.5 cm / 1 inch circles using the round piping tip (affiliate link). This will ensure that they are equal in size. Alternatively, you can form little balls and weigh each one separately. I made about 12 carrots. For each piece of cake one.
- The starting shape for each carrot is a little round ball. You roll it then on the palm of your hand to a triangle. (see picture)
- To make the carrot greens, take off a little bit of green roll it in a tiny ball. Then flatten it. With a knife cut out two triangles. Then attach the greens to the carrot.
Marita says
oh sorry Heike, I must have been daydreaming when I was writing the recipe. I have added the ingredients now.
Petra says
Great tip for a spring treat! We love carrot cake in our family and those little marzipan carrots look adorable. I'm adding it to the list of recipes I need to try.
Marita says
Thank you, Petra! I hope your family will enjoy this cake as much as mine did.