Carrot cake with pear and salted caramel

For the test, grind the almonds not too finely and roast them in a pan until a nutty aroma appears.

Mix the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, soda, cinnamon, nutmeg.

Grate the carrot on a coarse grater. Grate the orange zest on a fine grater. Squeeze the juice from the orange pulp.

Melt the butter, add vegetable oil and 30 ml of freshly squeezed orange juice.

Beat the eggs with sugar until a strong foam forms. Add the mixture of oil and orange juice and mix. Add the carrot with orange zest and mix again. Add the dry ingredients and mix until smooth. Pour the resulting dough into a mold.

Bake in the oven at 160 degrees for 50 minutes. Check readiness with a wooden skewer. Remove the finished sponge from the mold, cool it down, and wrap it in food film.

For the filling, peel and core the pears, cut into small cubes, transfer to a saucepan, add sugar, nutmeg, and cognac. Simmer on low heat until soft. Cool down.

For the cheese cream, beat the butter with powdered sugar until fluffy, add cream cheese and beat until smooth. Place the cream in a pastry bag.

To make salted caramel, melt sugar over low heat, add butter and salt, and mix. Add warm cream, stir until smooth, and cook for 3-4 minutes. Pour into a cup through a sieve and let cool.

Assemble the cake. Cut the cooled sponge into three equal layers with a string. Spread cream on the first layer, smooth it out, create a border with cream, and add half of the pear filling. Do the same with the second layer. Cover with the third layer. Coat the top and sides of the cake with an even layer of cream. Place in the cold until set. Then drizzle with caramel and decorate with kumquat, whole almond nuts, and pistachio branches.