With the carrot cake, I don't usually use spices, so just spice it to taste. And this recipe will take a LOT of tweaking and still work, since the eggs are doing the work - so if you want to increase the carrots, or play with honey/molasses flavors, go for it. If you want to be able to lift it out of the pan though, line it with parchment paper, and stick it in the fridge to be cold before trying to remove it, since it's extremely moist - I just usually serve it in the pan.
Pound Cake
1/2 cup Butter
1/2 cup Cream Cheese
~1 cup sweet (honey, maple, sugar, etc.)
5 Eggs
2 cups Almond Meal/Flour
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Directions:
Cream butter and cream cheese well. Add extracts and then eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Mix almond flour with baking powder and add to egg mixture a little at a time while beating. Add honey to taste. Pour into greased 9" cake pan (square or round) and bake at 350F (with honey bake at 325) for 50-55 minutes, or until set.
Variations:
Sweet Almond Bread - Add 2 teaspoons Almond Extract. Bake in a loaf pan. Frost with almond flavored cream cheese frosting.
Banana Nut Bread - Add 1 Tablespoon Banana Extract, 1 finely chopped banana and 1/2 cup chopped walnuts. Bake in a loaf pan.
Carrot Cake - Add 1-2 Tablespoons Molasses, 1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda, 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, 1 finely grated carrot, spices to taste. Frost with molasses flavored cream cheese.
