Venetian Carrot Cake

I long thought that carrot cake was an American invention, until I found out that an early version was made by Venetian Jews in the original ghetto. This modest disc is very different from the gargantuan US model with its rich sweet cream-cheese filling and topping, and although — apart from a glorious goldenness — it's not much to look at, it is divine to eat. It also has the added virtue of being attractive to those with lactose and gluten allergies: it was always made dairy-free, and I decided to use ground almonds in place of flour so that the cake could be eaten by the gluten-intolerant as well, but more particularly because it tastes perfect to me like this. Those who do not need to avoid dairy should most certainly consider dollopping alongside each damply crumbling wedge of cake my Italianate nod to the American cream-cheese frosting — a soft, rum-spiked mascarpone cream. If you don't want to use the rum, add some finely grated orange zest to the mascarpone, and replace the rum in the cake with the equivalent amount of orange juice.