Who knew February 3rd is #NationalCarrotCakeDay every year? Certainly not me, otherwise I would have been celebrating this national event for decades. You see this spice cake is easily my favorite, especially when it is made with sourdough, pmoist and spicy, filled with chewy surprises like raisins and walnuts, and iced with cream cheese frosting.

My mouth is watering just thinking about this dessert. On top of that, this cake offers the chance to eat your cake and have some veggies too—both carrots and sourdough starter (or discard) make this cake a good keeper. But like I said, I love carrot cake, so mine does not need to keep for long.

This recipe is a blend of recipes from The Clever Carrot and Ina Garten’s classic carrot cake, which I have adapted using local, raw honey for the sweetener, organic coconut oil, and flax meal as a substitute for the eggs, just like we do at the bakery whenever we bake a sourdough cake.

Also if you choose to make this cake using a long ferment to mitigate gluten and release more nutrients from the flour, omit the baking soda in the initial mix and hold off baking for a day. Mix all the ingredients listed following the directions (except for adding the soda), then let the dough ferment for 8–12 hours. Following the long ferment, sprinkle the dough with the soda and gently fold it in as you bring the dough into shape for baking. Cook for the same amount of time with the same heat.

Cool, ice, and enjoy. . I hope you find this as yummy as I do.

SOURDOUGH CARROT CAKE

Serving Size:
8-10 slices
Time:
75 minutes
Difficulty:
very easy

Cake Ingredients

  • 2 cups/400 g Granulated Sugar (we substituted14¼ Tbsps/300 g local, organic honey)
  • 1⅓ cups/ 230 g Vegetable Oil, (we substituted melted organic coconut oil, but olive oil or other mild-flavored vegetable oils would work just fine.)
  • 3 Eggs/210 g, extra-large (we substituted 3 Tbsps/20 g flax meal)
  • 1 cup/226 g Sourdough starter
  • 1 tsp/5 g Vanilla extract
  • 2½ cups+1 Tbsp/240 g White all-purpose flour (we used Abigail’s Premium White Whole Wheat Flour)
  • 2 tsp/5 g Cinnamon or Chai Spice
  • 2 tsp/3 g Baking Soda
  • ½ tsp/1½ g Real Salt or Fine Sea Salt
  • 3 cups/300 g Organic Carrots
  • ½–1 cup/57-115 g Raisins (optional)
  • ½–1 cup/60-120 g Walnuts (optional, especially for those with nut allergies)

Cake Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 375° F/190°C.
  2. Prepare two cake pans, one 2lb loaf pan, or one 9 x 13-inch baking pan lined with parchment paper or butter
  3. Mix the sweetener, oil, eggs (or flax meal), sourdough starter, and vanilla on medium speed for 2 minutes.
  4. Sift or whisk the dry ingredients (flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt) together.
  5. Gradually add the dry ingredients into the wet mixture at a low speed.
  6. Wash and peel carrots. Grate them then sprinkle one tablespoon (2–3 grams) of flour into the carrots and mix well. (This helps prevent the carrots from sinking to the bottom of the cake.)
  7. Fold the carrots, and option nuts and raisins into the batter and pour it into the prepared pan.
  8. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes in the center of the oven until a tester comes out clean. (If using a 2lb bread pan, increase the heat by 25°F/4°C and extend the baking time to 50–70 minutes)

Frosting Ingredients

  • 3½ cups/397 g Powdered Sugar
  • 1 cup/227 g Cream Cheese, softened
  • 6 Tablespoons/85 g Butter, room temperature
  • 1 dash/ 7 g Salt
  • 2-4 Tablespoons/28-57 g Milk
  • 1 teaspoon/5 mls Vanilla extract.

Directions

  1. Cream together butter, sugar, and cream cheese in a medium bowl.
  2. Gradually add the salt, vanilla, and milk, beating until smooth.
  3. Add additional milk to get the desired consistency.
  4. Spread over the cooled cake.