Swiss German Carrot Cake
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Traditional Swiss German Carrot Cake made in the loaf pan with ground hazelnuts and lemon cream cheese topping. A very popular cake in Switzerland, Germany and Austria, this moist carrot cake decorated with marzipan carrots, is perfect for spring.
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This traditional Swiss German Carrot cake is perfect for Easter time. With lemon, ground hazelnuts and a generous portion of cinnamon, it becomes moist and smells wonderful once it hits the oven!
And the best thing about this Swiss German Carrot Cake recipe: It’s so easy to bake. With just a few ingredients and without much fuss, the cake batter is baked in the loaf pan in a snap.
For those who like cream cheese frosting, you can then top the carrot cake with my simple lemon cream cheese topping and decorate it the German way, with marzipan carrots and chopped pistachios.
Easter time is the perfect opportunity to bake this carrot cake! In recent weeks, my award-winning carrot cake and my carrot cake truffles have received a lot of attention. It’s no wonder, because Easter is just around the corner! And hey, carrot cake is simply delish and I feel this German Carrot cake recipe is just what your recipe collection is missing.
Ground hazelnuts and finely grated carrots make this cake one of the moistest ever, without tasting like vegetables. The perfect cake for Easter time.
German carrot cake made in a loaf pan:
It’s Easter season – high season for carrot cake. Whether from the sheet pan, as carrot cake muffins, or truffles – all variations are delicious. Today, I would like to show you how to make my granny’s German Carrot cake with a simple batter perfect for one 11 inch loaf pan.
When I was in my early twenties, I baked carrot cake for the first time in Canada for a huge Easter Buffet at a golf hotel. No pressure. Since this carrot cake marathon, I have tried out many great recipe ideas, and this one I find particularly delish.
A traditional German Swiss carrot cake that is super popular in Bavarian, where I grew up and live now. A no-nonsense juicy carrot cake from the loaf pan, with ground hazelnuts and lemon cream cheese topping. This is great cake that tastes good all year round.
The amount of dough for the carrot cake is quite generous, so it should fit well in a large loaf pan with a size of 30 cm / 11 inches. Of course, the cake can also be baked on a baking sheet, in a springform pan, or as a bundt cake.
Ingredients:
- Sugar: simple granulated sugar.
- Lemon zest: gives the cake a fresh note.
- Butter: preferably at room temperature and soft so that it mixes well with the sugar.
- Salt: makes sweet sweeter.
- Vanilla: vanilla flavor (I used Dr. Oetker), vanilla paste, or vanilla sugar.
- Eggs: Beat them well. The air you beat into the mixture expands during baking and makes the cake rise wonderfully.
- Ground hazelnuts: I use ground hazelnuts, with the skin, and buy them already ground. You can also make the dough with ground almonds or mix both.
- Flour: classic wheat flour but also spelled flour works.
- Baking powder: Cream of tartar baking powder leaves no dull taste on the teeth. Top!
- Carrots: For my grated carrots, I always use a hand grater. Of course, it also works in a food processor – this way, you get the carrots finely and evenly.
- Cinnamon: I bake a lot with cinnamon hehe so I put almost a tablespoon in the dough. If you want, you can also add some nutmeg.
For the cream cheese lemon topping:
Here, we use cream cheese, butter, 3 heaped tablespoons of powdered sugar and a splash of lemon juice. Germans put cream cheese frosting on their cakes but less sweet and often using no butter. So this is a less sweet and less buttery version of traditional American Cream Cheese Frosting. If you want an even lighter frosting, you can use my quark frosting.
The traditional decoration for Swiss German Carrot Cake is marzipan carrots and some chopped pistachios.
How to make German Carrot Cake
- Peel the carrots and cut them into pieces. Finely chop them in an electric multi-chopper.
- Cream butter, salt, vanilla paste, and sugar. Gradually add the eggs and mix well.
- Mix flour, ground hazelnuts, cinnamon, and baking powder. Then stir the mixture into the butter mixture.
- Finally, fold in the finely chopped carrot shavings.
- Grease a large loaf pan and lightly dust it with flour. Fill the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake in a preheated oven at 175 degrees Celsius (fan oven) on the lower rack for about 60 minutes. If the cake gets too dark, simply cover it with aluminum foil.
- Let the carrot cake cool completely and then carefully turn it out of the pan.
- If you like, you can now spread the cooled carrot cake with mascarpone or cream cheese frosting and decorate it with marzipan carrots, pistachios, brittle, or similar.
For the cream cheese lemon topping:
- Mix room temperature cream cheese with butter and sprinkle in powdered sugar. Whip until light and fluffy.
- Season with a splash of lemon juice.
Tips:
- Let the cake cool completely after baking before removing it from the pan to prevent it from breaking apart.
- For an even moister texture, you can wrap the cake in plastic wrap and let it rest overnight before serving.
Storage
German carrot cake with cream cheese frosting can stay fresh for about 3-5 days if stored properly.
It is important to store the cake in an airtight container in the refrigerator, as the cream cheese frosting tends to spoil quickly, especially in warm temperatures. Refrigerating the frosting prolongs its shelf life and prevents it from spoiling quickly.
If you want to store the carrot cake for longer, you can also freeze it. In this case, you should cut the cake into portion-sized pieces, freeze them in airtight containers, and thaw them as needed. This way, you can keep the cake fresh for several weeks without losing flavor.
Swiss German Carrot Cake
Traditional Swiss German Carrot Cake made in the loaf pan with ground hazelnuts and lemon cream cheese topping. A very popular cake in Switzerland, Germany and Austria, this moist carrot cake decorated with marzipan carrots, is perfect for spring.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup 180g Sugar
- 1 tsp Lemon zest
- 1 cup 225g unsalted Butter, softened
- A large pinch of Salt
- 1 tsp Vanilla paste or 1 small vial of Vanilla extract
- 5 Eggs
- 1 3/4 cups 200g Ground Hazelnuts
- 1 3/4 cups 220g All-purpose Flour
- 3 tsp Baking powder
- 2 cups 350g grated Carrots
- 2 tsp Ceylon Cinnamon
- **For the Lemon Cream Cheese Topping:**
- 1 cup 250g Cream Cheese
- 1/3 cup 80g Butter
- 3 heaping tbsp Powdered Sugar
- A splash of Lemon Juice
- **Decoration:**
- pistachios
- Marzipan Carrots
Instructions
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Peel and grate the carrots. NO need to dab them dry or wring them out. We want the moisture. You an als also chop them using an electric food processor.
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Grate lemon zest into sugar and rub into sugar with your fingers. Cream together room temperature butter, salt, vanilla paste, and sugar until smooth. Gradually add the eggs one by one, mixing well after each addition.
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In a separate bowl, mix together flour, ground hazelnuts, cinnamon, and baking powder. Then, fold this mixture into the butter mixture.
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Lastly, fold in the finely chopped carrots.
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Grease and lightly flour a11 inch loaf pan. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake in a preheated oven at 350°F (175°C) for about 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. If the cake starts to brown too quickly, cover it loosely with aluminum foil.
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Allow the carrot cake to cool completely in the pan before carefully removing it.
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Once cooled, spread the top of the carrot cake with the lemon cream cheese topping and decorate with marzipan carrots, pistachios, hazelnut brittle, or any other desired toppings.
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**For the Lemon Cream Cheese Topping:**
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In a bowl, mix together cream cheese, softened butter, powdered sugar, and a splash of lemon juice until smooth.
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Adjust the taste with more lemon juice if desired
Recipe Notes
Allow the cake to cool completely in the pan before attempting to remove it to prevent it from breaking apart.
