Sourdough Discard Carrot Cake
A delicious recipe for a moist Sourdough Discard Carrot Cake packed with flavor and topped with a sour cream frosting. It's perfect for a springtime or Easter dessert!
Servings: 16 servings
Calories: 213kcal
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ⅔ cup brown sugar packed
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil
- 2 eggs
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 200 grams (about ¾ cup) sourdough discard unfed, at room temperature
- 2 cups shredded carrots
- ½ cup chopped walnuts optional
- ¼ cup raisins optional
For the Frosting:
- 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter softened
- 4 Tablepsoons sour cream non-dairy or regular dairy, at room temperature
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ¾ cups confectioner's sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350℉. Grease and flour a 9x9-inch baking pan*, then set aside.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and salt. Set aside.
- Peel and shred your carrots using the small holes of a box grater. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, use a hand-held mixer to mix together the sugars, oil, eggs, and vanilla extract until smooth and fluffy, about 1 minute. Add the sourdough discard and mix until smooth. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix until just combined and no dry spots remain. Fold in the carrots, nuts and raisins and mix until just combined. Transfer your batter to the prepared baking pan.
- Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan for about 15 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool fully.
- After the cake has cooled, make the frosting. In a medium bowl, whip the butter with a hand-held mixer until smooth and creamy, about 2-3 minutes. Add the sour cream and vanilla extract, and mix until smooth. Add the powdered sugar and mix until smooth. If the icing seems too thick, add more sour cream (1 Tablespoon at a time) to reach a thinner consistency.
- Transfer the cooled cake to a serving plate or board, then spread the cake with the frosting. Slice and serve!
Video
Notes
*If you don't want to grease and flour your pan, you can also grease your baking pan and line it with parchment paper.
To make a cream cheese frosting: Follow the same directions but substitute the sour cream for cream cheese (4 Tbsp). You can use a non-dairy or a regular dairy cream cheese. Note: I tried this with Violife Just Like Cream Cheese and it did not produce the flavor or texture that I was looking for. If you're looking for a dairy-free frosting option, I'd go the sour cream route!
To make this recipe with active sourdough starter, replace the sourdough discard with active starter (200g). You do not need to change any other ingredients in the recipe.
Nutrition
Calories: 213kcal | Carbohydrates: 42g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 28mg | Sodium: 202mg | Potassium: 118mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 18g | Vitamin A: 2793IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 47mg | Iron: 1mg
