This recipe is in my Aunt Carol’s handwriting, although I don’t know if she ever made it herself. It is certainly a unique take on a carrot cake recipe as it includes a cup of sourdough discard, which gives the cake more of a tang. Unlike many carrot cake recipes, there are no nuts, raisins, or pineapple in the cake, only carrots. There wasn’t a frosting recipe included, so Grace, who prepared the recipe, made one that she’s used to making.
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Since this is a carrot cake, it makes sense to start with shredded carrots. You can shred using a food processor or grate them by hand. I personally never peel my carrots before using them, but you can do whatever works for you. Just make sure you give them a good wash, but you can skip the peeling step because I doubt you or anyone else will notice.
Stir together the dry ingredients in a bowl
Add the carrots, oil, and a cup of sourdough discard. What’s sourdough discard? It’s a cup of your sourdough starter that you remove before feeding it. It isn’t being used as leavening, so it doesn’t need to be freshly fed.
Beat at medium speed until thoroughly mixed, about two minutes. Since Grace is living in a 5th wheel, she doesn’t have space to store a full Kitchenaid Stand Mixer, so she uses a Kitchenaid Hand Mixer, which is an amazing substitute for things like this.
Both Grace and I have this Pyrex Easy Grab 13 x 9 inch baking dish, it is one of my favorites to use.
While the cake was baking, she mixed up some cream cheese frosting
The cake was nice and golden brown when it was finished baking.
She frosted it when it was still a bit warm, cream cheese frosting holds up fairly well even when spread warm.
This is really a fantastic cake with delicious flavor, extremely fluffy and moist. Highly recommended!
Sourdough Carrot Cake
Ingredients
- 2 cups All Purpose Flour
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 cups carrot shredded
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup sourdough starter
- 4 eggs
- 1/2 cup butter one stick
- 8 ounces cream cheese one package
- 1-2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 pinch salt
- 1/2 cup nuts chopped (optional)
Instructions
- Stir together flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon
- Add carrots, oil, sourdough starter, and eggs
- Mix until moistened, then beat at medium speed for 2 minutes.
- Pour into greased and floured 13x19x2 inch baking dish
- Bake at 325 degrees for approximately 55 minutes, until golden and toothpick comes out clean
- While cake is baking, make cream cheese frosting. Mix together cream cheese, softened butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, and pinch of salt until smooth
- Cool cake slightly and spread cream cheese frosting over top
- Sprinkle with chopped nuts if desired
