Carrot Gâteau

I've only got three weeks left of this current Seasonal Dessert Tasting Platter and it's time to start recipe testing. This collection will be up for May and June so I'm thinking of summertime produce and flavors. Ben recently forwarded me a curious carrot cake recipe from David Lebovtiz's blog and I was really intrigued. It's a very dense and eggy french-style carrot cake. I tried it as listed and have made a few changes to fit my specific interests, though it's very tasty in it's original conception, too.

This particular cake is very french in that it has less flour content than most you'd find in traditional Americana. Instead, it uses mostly almond flour (which keeps it very moist and dense). I've also doubled the carrot content as well as added some orange zest and vanilla been seeds. Just a few standard Eclipse additions... I mean, when was the last time you found yourself saying "you know, this ____ sure is lovely, but it could use a little less vanilla bean". Personally, I feel that vanilla beans don't make it into desserts more often because they are cost prohibitive, and when you buy ingredients wholesale like myself, it's hard to not take advantage of that.

After it bakes, it's so short and cute and I love how David baked it in rounds and cut it into little wedges. I've decided to panini grill it to order and top it with a little cocoa-nib cream. The final Carrot Gâteau is pretty simple and straight forward in flavor, but charming nonetheless. Look for it on the next platter debuting at the end of this month!