I have always felt that cooking is the time to tell stories. In the sixties, when I learned to make this Passover carrot torte from Ruth Moos in Annecy, we talked about lots of things, but never about World War II. When I cook this torte now, after her death, I tell the story of how brave she was during the occupation. Not only did she help so many Jews trying to flee, but she had a narrow escape herself once. When the Annecy police warned the Mooses that the Gestapo was looking for her husband, Rudi, he went underground, hiding between the pork sausages and hams in a butcher’s smokehouse. Looking for him, the Gestapo went to the hotel where the Mooses had been hiding in nearby Talloires. Ruth, walking outside for a quick breath of fresh air while her tiny daughter was sleeping upstairs, turned around to see the Gestapo agents entering the lobby. In order to sneak past the guards, she grabbed some sheets from a chambermaid and, posing as a maid herself, climbed the stairs, passing the Gestapo. Terrified, she snatched her baby and fled to safety.
Recipe information
Yield
8 to 10 servings
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and grease a 9-inch spring-form pan.
Step 2
Separate five of the eggs. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the five egg yolks with the two remaining whole eggs, the sugar, cinnamon, salt, vanilla, and the lemon zest and juice. Mix in the carrots and hazelnuts.
Step 3
Beat the five egg whites to stiff peaks in a clean bowl with clean beaters. Gently fold in batches into the carrot batter. Pour into the prepared pan, and bake for 50 minutes, or until a tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool before unmolding.
