Carrot Almond Cake

Cake:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/ 350°F. Grease and flour the springform. Shake well over the sink to remove the excess flour (or use parchment paper instead).
2. Carrots: Peel them and weigh the required quantity. Grate them finely and set them aside.
3. Roast the almonds in a dry pan. Stand by the stove and stir frequently. Immediately remove the roasted almonds from the pan and let cool while you prepare the rest.
4. Separate the eggs. Beat the egg whites until stiff. Set aside.
5. Mix wet ingredients: Zest 1 of the oranges. Beat the egg yolks, sugar, vanilla extract, and orange zest until light and creamy, at least 2 minutes at high speed. Fold in the grated carrots and the roasted almonds.
6. Add dry ingredients: In another bowl, mix the flour and the baking powder. Sieve the mixture over the egg yolk mixture and fold in. Carefully fold in the egg whites as well.
7. Bake: Pour the mixture into the prepared springform and bake for 40-45 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.
8. Let the cake cool in the pan for about 15 minutes, then remove it and let it cool completely on a wire rack.

Orange filling:

1. Bloom the gelatin: Place the gelatin leaves in a deep plate and cover them with cold water. Leave to bloom as instructed on the packet, usually between 7 and 10 minutes.
2. Prepare oranges: Juice some of the oranges and measure 375 ml/1 ⅔ cups of orange juice. If only a small quantity of liquid is missing, top that with water. Keep one orange whole, as you will need it for the filling.
3. Make orange pudding: Stir the cornstarch and sugar with a little of the juice, enough to form a pourable paste. Pour the rest of the juice into a saucepan and bring to a boil. When it boils, whisk in the cornstarch paste. Let bubble a couple of times while whisking continuously. Remove from the heat and stir in the bloomed and lightly squeezed gelatin and the vanilla extract.
4. Cool: Place a piece of cling film directly over the surface of the orange pudding to prevent it from forming a skin. Then, leave it to cool completely.

Assemble and decorate (Note 4):

1. Orange zest: Zest 1 orange and spread the zest on a paper towel. Leave to dry for a while. You will need that to decorate the cake; it works better if the zest is dry.
2. Cream: Beat the heavy cream until stiff and fold in the zest of another ½ orange.
3. Combine: Stir the orange pudding shortly to smooth it out, then fold in the whipped heavy cream.
4. Slice the cake horizontally. Place the lower slice on a serving platter.
5. Peel one orange and fillet the orange slices to remove all the white skin and membranes.
6. Assemble the cake: Cut the orange fillets into smaller pieces and arrange them all over the lower cake slice. Top with ½ of the orange cream filling. Place the second cake slice on top and top with the remaining orange cream filling.
7. Decorate the carrot almond cake with chopped pistachios and dried orange zest.