Swiss Carrot Cake (Aargauer Rüeblitorte)

Turns out, Switzerland is more than just chocolate.  This Swiss carrot cake (Aargauer Rüeblitorte) tells us so.

When it comes to Swiss desserts, of course the natural order of things would be to provide you with some exquisite chocolate dessert. Maybe a chocolate cake with chocolate filling and chocolate frosting.  I’m not going to do that today.

Why not? Well, I couldn’t actually find any Swiss desserts that called to me. Swiss roll? That seemed pretty boring. Swiss chocolate fondue?  Too much for a party of one.  Plus, to be honest, Swiss chocolate to me is best in its purest form: a chocolate bar. No matter where in Switzerland you may travel, their $1 budget, grocery store chocolate bar will beat our Godiva in any taste test.  Fact.

Instead, I found what you would perhaps consider an unconventional choice: Carrot cake.  Most people I know love carrot cake- I sure do.  It’s heavy and moist and usually topped with some sweet ,creamy, gooey  frosting.  That’s the American way. The Swiss way, called “Aargauer Rüeblitorte,” is completely different- light and airy, made with ground almonds, and topped with simply powdered sugar or a simple icing, decorated with marzipan carrots.  It’s a carrot cake you can indulge in without breaking your diet.  This recipe hails from the Aargau region of northern Switzerland, and is very similar in style to the Tarta de Santiago I made way back in Spain, and some of the tortes I grew up eating as a kid (and will share once I get to the motherland).  I will disclaim that I changed this just a bit by adding some cinnamon, which the traditional recipe lacks.

And for those of you who insist on a cream cheese icing, it will work on this as well.  I always seem to have “leftover” cream cheese icing in the fridge, and I tested it out just to make sure. You know, to not lead you astray.