Let's make this deceptive yet delicious cake then! It is made of two different cakes, vanilla génoise for the bun and red carrot cake for the burger plus mint leaves, cherry jam and sugar glaze. In this recipe I make a full batch of carrot cake dough, so you'll have enough for the burger (11cm diameter) but also for another carrot cake (30cm diameter), if you only want to do the little burger then take note of the change of proportion in ingredients in step 3. Here is the list of everything you need for the full desert+extra carrot cake, you can also check the picture (it's only missing eggs, mint leaves and sesame seeds). 5 eggs 435g sugar a few spoons of glazing sugar 300g flour 250g sunflower oil 1 vanilla sugar pack (around 8g) vanilla extract (1 tea spoon) 1 pack of baking powder 16g 15g butter + some to protect your cake spring form milk (a few teaspoons) cherry jam salt (around 3/4 teaspoon) 2 teaspoon of cinnamon ½ teaspoon of nutmeg 120g pecans nuts (unsalted and uncooked) or any nuts you like, here I used hazelnuts 250g of carrots red food colouring sesame seeds mint leavesWhat you will also need: an oven, a mixer, a blender and a cake form or two. (ca. 11cm for the burger, and ca. 30cm for the extra carrot cake)Let's start making the bun in the next step!

To create the buns I got inspired from sponge cakes and especially by the rolled cakes. This recipe is combining jam with cake so it's perfect to fake bread and ketchup! It's quite simple to do, here is the detail list of ingredients and the instructions right after for one bun. 2 eggs60g of powder sugar60g of flour1 bag of vanilla sugar (8g)1/2 bag of baking powder (8g)a few pinches of sesame seeds.a bit of butter for the cake formHow to make the bun:Break the two eggs and separate the yellow and the white. Put the white aside for later, it's good to leave at room temperature.Mix the yolks with the 60g of sugar and when it has whitened slowly add the 60g of flour, the bag of vanilla sugar and half of the baking powder. At the end the mix will be quite dense and solid, see second picture, but that's perfectly normal!At this moment you can start pre-heating your oven at 180 C°. Whip the egg whites until foamy, so it can stand on it's own like in the third picture. Then mix it little by little with the yolk mix. The goal is to keep as much fluffiness as possible so use a spoon and swipe from bottom to top of the bowl. You have to be a bit rough at the start so the mix gets more liquid but you can get more subtle after.When everything is done, butter your cake form and fill it until 3/4th of the height. I used all this dough in a small form of 11cm diameter but be free to experiment with other sizes and quantities! Sprinkle sesame seeds on top, it really gives a bread look to the cake. Don't be afraid to put quite a few because your cake will expand while cooking. You can see in the fourth picture all the experiments I tried to make the bun and on the one in front I obviously didn't put enough seeds. You can then place it in the middle of your oven for 25-30 minutes of cooking depending on your oven. The best is to check on your cake once in a while. (To know when it's ready a lot of people use the knife trick (putting a clean knife through the cake and see if it comes back with liquid dough or if the cake is cooked). But that might leave a terrible clue over the secret identity of your bun. You can also gently push the top of the cake with your fingers (don't burn yourself, be cautious!) to feel if the structure is already solid.)When it's done let it cool for a while. Pass a knife in between the cake and the form if it's not already loose and open your springform. Tada! Just a cut in half horizontally and your bun is ready, it looks like a bread, but it's cake!It's only missing an amazing steak, so let's go to next step!

Now to the juicy meat! As I said in the intro, these instruction is for a full batch of carrot cake as you might want to make a full one next to the small burger. If you only want to make one burger then 1/8 of those ingredient should be enough:3 large eggs250g sunflower oil375g sugar1 teaspoon vanilla extract5 drops of red colouring or more175g flour¾ teaspoon salt2 teaspoons cinnamon (or more)½ teaspoon nutmegthe rest of the bag of baking powder (8g)120g pecans (unsalted and uncooked) or other nuts250g carrotsHow to make the burger:So again, let's separate the eggs and put the whites aside to warm up. The yolks can be mixed with 375g of sugar and then with the 250g of sunflower oil, a teaspoon of vanilla extract and quite some colouring. At the end you get fresh human flesh, see picture two. Make it just a little bit ~too~ red because after cooking the colour will become a bit lighter.In a separate bowl stir the 175g of flour with ¾ teaspoon salt, 2 teaspoons cinnamon, ½ teaspoon nutmeg and the last half of your little bag of baking powder. You can then add it to the yolk mix. It might again get quite stiff after adding all the flour.Carrots can be peeled or not depending on what you like the best but make sure to have 250g at the end. Chop them and blend them and add on the mix.Nuts should also be blended, I like to keep chunks so the cake is a bit crunchy, like on the second. If you use pecan nuts don't blend them too long or it will get bitter. Add to the rest and mix it together.You can start preheating your oven at 200 C°.Whip the egg whites stiff and slowly add them to the mix, again I recommend using a spoon for top to bottom, see the fourth picture, to keep a fluffy texture. Butter the small springform (or the same that you used for the bun) and fill 1/4 of it. This is the proportion to get the burger thickness you see on the pictures, feel free to make different. Pour the rest in a bigger form if you chose to make the whole batch. The burger will cook for 20 minutes depending on your oven so feel free to use the knife trick to be sure. The big cake can cook for 55 minutes.When it has cooled down you can try it with the bun, only one step and we're finished!

For the white sauce, I made a simple sugar frosting. You can also make a bit more to put on top of your big carrot cake if you made one. The ingredients:Glazing sugar (powdered sugar)ButterMilkMelt a small amount of butter (15 or 10g) and slowly add glazing sugar until you get an homogenous mix similar to honey. You can then add a bit of milk to get it slightly fluid, see the second picture for the good balance (I forgot to take one so this is from google). I always mix this on feeling as it's more about reaching the texture you like. You can now leave it the fridge for a bit to get more dense, if you want to make drips like I did (see first picture) use it directly.But first, add ketchup to this burger by spreading cherry jam over both buns. Then place the burger over the lower bun and spread the glazing over it.Mint leaves will make a perfect salad, not only for the looks but also for the taste, just place them on top of the burger. Finish up with the top bun, your burger cake is perfect!

For more surprise don't tell your friends/guests what this burger really is. You have now the perfect occasion to throw a weird food party or to satiate your meat loving urges even at desert time.If you try this recipe, I would love to see your result, I am curious also about your victims reactions.In any case enjoy a delicious cake you made yourself!