April 19, 2019 • 1

Recipe: Swiss Carrot Cake (Aargauer Rüeblitorte)

One of my many favorite desserts in Switzerland is the Aargauer Rüeblitorte, a Swiss carrot cake. I like to make this carrot cake from the canton of Aargau with an American-style cream cheese frosting.

The wonderful secret about this and several other classic Swiss baking recipes is that they’re naturally gluten-free and sometimes even dairy-free, as well. These recipes often call for ground almonds or hazelnuts and rely on eggs as a binder. In addition, a handful of traditional cakes and biscuits, like Basler Brunsli, do not contain any flour. Or, they make it easy to swap out flour for another ingredient without wheat or gluten.

How to Make an Aargauer Rüeblitorte

Swiss Carrot Cake

Servings: 10-12
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For a 28-cm (11-inch) springform pan

Ingredients

– unsalted butter for greasing the pan
– 5 egg yolks
– 200 grams (1 cup) sugar
– 2 tablespoons kirsch or water
– zest of an orange or lemon
– 300 grams (3 3/4 cups) carrots, finely grated
– 300 grams (3 cups) ground almonds
– 64 grams (1/2 cup) cornstarch
– 1 teaspoon baking powder
– 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
– 1/4 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
– 5 egg whites
– 1 pinch of salt

Frosting: (in the photo above, I used a double batch of this frosting)
– 57 grams (1/4 cup) unsalted butter
– 113 grams (4 ounces) cream cheese
– 1/2 teaspoon vanilla paste or extract
– 180 grams (1 1/2 cups) powdered sugar

Instructions

Prepare the springform pan by greasing the bottom and sides with butter. Cut a circle of parchment paper to line the bottom of the pan.
In a large bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar, kirsch and lemon zest until well-combined. The mixture should be lighter in color than before you started mixing it.
Stir in the following ingredients – grated carrots, ground almonds, cornstarch, baking powder and spices – until they are fully incorporated (all except for the egg whites and salt).
In a separate bowl, using an electric mixture, beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until they form stiff peaks. Then, very gently fold the egg whites into the carrot mixture until well-combined.
Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake at 180°C/350°F oven for about 35-45 minutes. When the cake is set and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, take it out of the oven.
Let the cake cool in the pan for at least 10 minutes. Use a knife to make sure it has detached from the sides and carefully remove it from the pan onto a wire rack to cool.
When the cake has completely cooled, prepare the frosting. Add the cream cheese, butter and vanilla paste to a bowl and then sift in the powdered sugar. Mix all the ingredients together until smooth and creamy. Spread the frosting on the top of the cooled cake. If you want a thicker layer of frosting or enough to also cover the sides, just double the recipe. Top with marzipan carrots or pistachios. Keep the cake refrigerated. (Please note: I like to make the cake the night before. It usually tastes better the next day.)[/recipe-directions]

*The classic version of this cake is decorated with marzipan carrots.*

The recipe above was inspired, in part, by carrot cake recipes found in the following cookbooks: The Swiss Cookbook (2010) from Betty Bossi, Croqu’menus (Editions scolaire du canton de Berne, 2005) and La Suisse Gourmande (2nd edition, 1986).