This deliciously moist and flavoursome Swiss Carrot Cake is a delight for your tastebuds. A very popular cake in Switzerland, Germany and Austria, this nutty, moist carrot cake decorated with homemade marzipan carrots, is a showstopper cake.
It is a classic German Easter recipe, but it is enjoyed all year round.
Let me share with you 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 that originates from the region of Aargau. In essence, the cake consists of a sponge cake mix, with 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, you differentiate cakes and tortes according to how they are made. A torte is a cake where the decoration is not baked in the oven. [Reference: Einfach Backen]
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 the moisture in longer. [source wikpedia Rüblitorte]
History
Carrot cake has been a Swiss speciality since the 19th century. The oldest written recipe dates back to 1892, from a recipe collection of the domestic school Kaiseraugst.
Carrot cake become 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 has become popular in the US in 1960 and is now one of the most popular desserts in America.
How to make Swiss Carrot Cake?
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
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Ingredients
- carrots
- eggs
- salt
- butter
- sugar
- vanilla essence
- grated lemon peel
- baking powder
- ground hazelnut
For the marzipan carrots
- marzipan
- orange food colouring. You can also mix yellow and red food colouring to mix the orange colour. You will need more yellow than red.
- green food colouring
For the glaze
- icing/confectioners sugar
- apricot jam
- lemon juice
Swiss Carrot Cake Recipe - Step by Step
- Line the base of your spring form with baking parchment. Grease the sides with butter and dust with a little flour.
- Preheat your oven to 190°C or 374°F top to bottom heat.
- Peel the carrots, discard of the ends and finely grate them.
- Separate the eggs into egg white and yolks.
- Add the egg whites into a bowl with the sugar and salt and whisk until stiff.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, vanilla essence, milk and lemon peel. Melt the butter and carefully add it to the mixture.
- Combine the flour and baking powder in a bowl and sieve them into the egg yolk mixture. Sieving the flour will add air into the dough and make the cake more fluffy. Thoroughly mix the cake dough.
- Now add the hazelnuts and grated carrots and mix with a spatula until completley combined.
- Carefully fold the stiff egg white into the cake batter. You do not want to mix too much as this point, as we do not want the egg whites to deflate again.
- Pour or spread the cake batter in the form and bake for about 30-35 minutes. To check if the cake is done, prick a skewer into the middle. If it comes out clean it is done.
- Leave the cake the cool down in its form for 10 minutes. Then carefully loosen the edges by running a knife around the cake. Let the cake cool upside down to ensure that the surface will be nice and flat.
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.
- To make the carrots, you carefully roll out the orange marzipan and cut out 2 cm circles using the round piping tip. 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.
Icing the cake
- Slightly warm up the apricot jam, as it makes it easier to spread. Spread the apricot jam on the surface and sides of the cake. This will provide a barrier between the glaze and the cake, and add a lovley fruity note to the flavour.
- Sieve the icing/confectioners powder into a bowl. Add a tablespoon of lemon juice and whisk until you achieve a thick glaze. If the glaze is too liquidy, add more icing/confectioners sugar. If the glaze is too dry, add more lemon juice.
- Finally place the marzipan carrots on the moist glaze and wait for the icing to set.
Recipe 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 creme 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 really like this recipe for lemon cream cheese frosting.
- Replace the hazelnuts with almonds. In Germany and Switzerland you will find Rübliuchen recipes using either hazelnut or almonds. (Walnuts are found more often in the American or British carrot cakes). Swiss Almond Carrot Cake is a delicious alternative.
- Substitute the lemon juice and peel with 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 Instructions
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.
More Recipes for Easter
- German Easter Bread
- Hefezopf (German Braided Bread)
- German Hazelnut Cake
- German Poppyseed Cake
Did you try this recipe?
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Try these delicious Swiss Recipes
Recipe
Traditional Swiss Carrot Cake (Rüblikuchen)
Equipment
- 1 24 cm or 9" cake tin /spring form
Ingredients
- 250 g carrots 8.8 oz
- 6 eggs medium size, at room temperature
- 50 ml milk 1.6 fl oz
- 1 pinch salt
- 150 g butter 5.2 oz unsalted
- 150 g sugar 5.2 oz
- 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
- 1 tsp grated lemon peel
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 175 gr flour 6.1 oz, Germany type 405, UK plain flour, USA pastry flour
- 100 g ground hazelnut 3.5 oz
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 icing/confectioners sugar 7 oz
- 100 g apricot jam 3.5 oz
- lemon juice of one lemon
Instructions
- Line the base of your spring form with baking parchment. Grease the sides with butter and dust with a little flour.
- Preheat your oven to 190°C or 374°F top to bottom heat.
- Peel the carrots, discard of the ends and finely grate them.
- Separate the eggs into egg white and yolks.
- Add the egg whites into a bowl with the sugar and salt and whisk until stiff.
- In a separate bowl whisk together the egg yolks, vanilla essence, milk and lemon peel. Melt the butter and carefully add it to the mixture.
- Combine the flour and baking powder in a bowl and sieve them into the egg yolk mixture. Sieving the flour will add air into the dough and make the cake more fluffy. Thoroughly mix the cake dough.
- Now add the hazelnuts and grated carrots and mix with a spatula until completely combined.
- Carefully fold the stiff egg white into the cake batter. You do not want to mix too much as this point, as we do not want the egg whites to deflate again.
- Pour or spread the cake batter in the form and bake for about 30-35 minutes. To check if the cake is done, prick a skewer into the middle. If it comes out clean it is done.
- Leave the cake the cool down in its form for 10 minutes. Then carefully loosen the edges by running a knife around the cake. Let the cake cool upside down to ensure that the surface will be nice and flat.
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.
- To make the carrots, you carefully roll out the orange marzipan and cut out2 cm circles using the round piping tip. 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.
Icing the cake
- Slightly warm up the apricot jam, as it makes it easier to spread. Spread the apricot jam on the surface and sides of the cake. This will provide a barrier between the glaze and the cake, and add a lovely fruity note to the flavour.
- Sieve the icing/confectioners powder into a bowl. Add a tablespoon of lemon juice and whisk until you achieve a thick glaze. If the glaze is too liquid, add more icing/confectioners sugar. If the glaze is too dry, add more lemon juice.
- Finally place the marzipan carrots on the moist glaze and wait for the icing to set.
oh sorry Heike, I must have been daydreaming when I was writing the recipe. I have added the ingredients now.
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.
Thank you, Petra! I hope your family will enjoy this cake as much as mine did.