Made from scratch, this sourdough carrot cake is quick and easy, moist and delicious. Topped with a decadent cream cheese frosting, it’s easily one of our favorite cakes.
A classic for a reason, homemade carrot cake whips up easily with pantry staples. Adding sourdough gives a subtle tang and a tender, moist texture, which works happily with the fun pops of pecan pieces and the soft chew of grated carrot. Let the cake cool on a wire rack while you mix up a rich, fluffy cream cheese frosting.
Now, while we love homemade vanilla buttercream (especially spread between these sourdough oatmeal cream pies!), the blend of cream cheese and butter in this zesty frosting delivers cozy, savory hints that leave this cake irresistible.
Maintaining a sourdough starter leaves you with extra sourdough starter called discard, a fully fermented byproduct that works well in loads of recipes. Aside from this sourdough carrot cake, some of our other favorite sourdough discard recipes are granola bars, monster cookies, easy sourdough pancakes, hamburger buns, and soft pretzels. For more ideas, scroll through these lists of 15+ healthy sourdough recipes, 20+ discard breakfast recipes, and 20+ discard desserts.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Delicious dessert – Made with sourdough starter, brown sugar, crunchy pecans, fresh carrots, and warm spices, this moist carrot cake is spiced just right and smothered with thick cream cheese frosting.
Simple classic – This sourdough carrot cake recipe utilizes simple ingredients and sourdough starter for a well-loved, easy-to-make classic.
Long-ferment optional – If you prefer a long-fermented batter for easier digestion and more bioavailable nutrients, start by mixing the oil, sourdough starter, and flour. Once combined, cover the bowl and let it rest at room temperature overnight. This time allows the natural yeast and bacteria to break down carbohydrates and proteins in the batter. Not only is it easier to digest, but the sourdough enhances the flavor the longer it ferments.
Ingredients
Carrots – I used three large carrots, peeled and freshly grated.
Pecans – Chopped pecans keep the texture more uniform and sliceable. Toasting the pecans adds more flavor and better crunch than keeping them raw.
Sourdough starter – Either an active starter or discard works fine. Active provides a milder flavor, and discard tastes more deeply sour. Are you new to sourdough? Get started by learning how to make your own sourdough starter, how to maintain and feed it, and how to use it.
Vanilla extract – I love to make my own vanilla extract because it’s both economical and super flavorful.
A full ingredient list with exact amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
Tools You May Need
Stand mixer – Not required, but it makes mixing the batter super easy.
Box grater – A box grater or food processor shreds the carrots small enough to suit the cake. Pre-shredded carrots from the store are too thick.
Recipe Modifications and Variations
- Swap out the pecans for chopped walnuts, pistachios, or sliced almonds.
- Add orange or lemon zest for a brighter take.
- Add raisins, dried cranberries, or coconut flakes.
- Make a one layer cake using a 9×13 baking dish instead of two round cake pans. Adjust bake time to 40 to 50 minutes.
- Turn it into a trifle. Break up the cake and place it into a trifle dish, layering the cake with frosting.
- Make sourdough carrot cake cupcakes using lined muffin tins and bake for 18 to 22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
How to Make Sourdough Carrot Cake
Step 1: Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease two 9 inch round cake pans or line them with parchment paper. Grate carrots and chop pecans. For easy grating, I suggest using a food processor with a grating attachment. A box grater works well, too.
Step 2: In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, oil, white sugar, brown sugar, sourdough starter, and vanilla.
Step 3: In a separate bowl, stir the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
Step 4: Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mixing until just incorporated. Fold in the carrots and pecans.
Step 5: Pour the batter into the prepared cake pans, spreading it evenly. Bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. If using a 9×13 baking dish, adjust time to 40 to 50 minutes.
Step 6: Allow the cake to cool while you prepare the frosting.
Step 7: Add softened cream cheese and butter to a stand mixer bowl. Whip for a few minutes until creamy and smooth. Adjust the speed to low and slowly add in confectioners’ sugar and vanilla. Increase the speed to medium-high and whip until fluffy. Fold in pecans or other mix-ins of choice.
Step 8: Frost the cake generously once it is fully cooled.
Long Fermented Sourdough Carrot Cake
Step 1: The day before baking, add oil, sourdough starter, and flour to a mixing bowl. Stir to combine. Cover and allow to ferment for 8 to 12 hours at room temperature.
Step 2: The next day, preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease two 9 inch round cake pans or line them with parchment paper. Grate carrots and chop pecans.
Step 3: Whisk eggs, white sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla. Stir into the fermented batter.
Step 4: Sprinkle the baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon over the batter and mix well.
Step 5: Fold in grated carrots and chopped pecans.
Step 6: Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 25 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. If using a 9×13 baking dish, bake 40 to 50 minutes.
Step 7: Allow to cool completely while preparing the frosting. Frost the cake once fully cooled.
Tips
- This cake can be made quickly or long fermented for more health benefits.
- Grate carrots by hand for a better texture and flavor. Pre-shredded carrots from the store are too thick and dry to bake nicely in a cake.
- Stir the batter gently, just until combined. You don’t want to overmix.
- Active sourdough starter or sourdough discard works for this recipe, since the sourdough isn’t used for rising, but rather for flavor and fermentation.
- Allow the cake to cool completely before frosting, or the frosting will melt.
- Ensure the baking powder and baking soda are fresh. If they have been sitting in the back of the cabinet for a while and are past their prime, then the cake won’t rise properly.
Recipe FAQs
A cream cheese-frosted cake needs refrigeration to keep the cream cheese from turning. An unfrosted cake can remain at room temperature for a couple of days, or it can be stored in the fridge for up to a week.
Sourdough reduces the gluten formation, producing a more tender crumb. It can also add depth of flavor to the cake with a mild sourdough tang that pairs well with the sweet and spice.
Yes. As long as it has not been too long since feeding the starter, you can stir it up and use it in this recipe.
Underbaking your cake tends to be the most common reason for the middle of your cake sinking. Opening the oven too early to check the cake can also affect the rise, so just peek in with the light on if possible. Finally, be sure to check the freshness of your leaveners. Baking powder and baking soda need to be replaced about every 6 months or so once opened.
You can! You can either follow the long-fermented option and finish mixing the batter the following day, or you can bake the cake, leave it unfrosted, and keep it covered at room temperature until needed (1 to 2 days). Frost before serving.
More Delicious Cake Recipes from the Farmhouse
- Delicious Sourdough Chocolate Cake
- The Best Sourdough Coffee Cake
- Sourdough Vanilla Cake
- Gingerbread Cake
- Lemon Sourdough Pound Cake
If you try this recipe and love it, I would love it if you could come back and give it 5 stars! Tag me on Instagram @farmhouseonboone.
Sourdough Carrot Cake
Equipment
- 2 9 inch round cake pans A 9×13 baking dish can also be used.
Ingredients
Cake
- 2 cups grated carrots, 3 large
- 1 cup chopped pecans
- 4 large eggs
- ¾ cup oil, 168 grams
- 1 cup white sugar, 192 grams
- 1 cup brown sugar, 200 grams
- ½ cup sourdough starter, 100 grams
- 2 teaspoons vanilla, 10 grams
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, 280 grams
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt, 5 grams
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon, 5 grams
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease two 9 inch round cake pans or line them with parchment paper. Grate carrots and chop pecans. For easy grating, I suggest using a food processor with a grating attachment. A box grater works well, too.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, oil, white sugar, brown sugar, sourdough starter, and vanilla.
- In a separate bowl, stir the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mixing until just incorporated. Fold in the carrots and pecans.
- Pour the batter into the prepared cake pans, spreading it evenly. Bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. If using a 9×13 casserole dish, adjust time to 40 to 50 minutes.
- Allow the cake to cool while you prepare the frosting. Add softened cream cheese and butter to a stand mixer bowl. Whip for a few minutes until creamy and smooth.
- Adjust the speed to low and slowly add in confectioners’ sugar and vanilla. Increase the speed to medium-high and whip until fluffy. Fold in pecans or other mix-ins of choice.
- Frost the cake generously once it is fully cooled.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
By chance have you tried this with honey or maple syrup instead of the white/brown sugar? I don’t want to assume since it replaces a dry ingredient with a wet one.
It could alter the texture since those are considered wet ingredients. You could use a coconut sugar, which is a bit better for you.
Can you use butter instead of oil?
Yes.
I made these into 12 individual cupcakes (realistically it makes more like 15). They taste delicious, but I live at altitude and think I over stirred because the middles all fell down and they all became cavernous. Separately, are there really 756 calories in each one??
Yes, that is correct on the calories.
I haven’t been able to find a place where you have the weight converstion. Do you have a general blog where you list what weights, in grams, you use for this weight receipt?
I’m slowly working on updated all blog posts to include grams. Here is a conversion chart to use in the mean time.
I am in the process of making it. I left it overnight but it is hard. Is that how it should be? I am use to starter or fermentation adding bubbles. I am very new to all of this and would love some direction. I will add the rest of the ingredients this morning.
It shouldn’t be that hard. Did you cover the batter before letting it sit?
Thank you for your reply. It wasn’t as hard as it looked and it blended very nicely. The cake came out great.
Slight changes to a long (36) hour ferment. Used sprouted whole wheat flour. Cut cake sugar in half (only 1 C). Instead of cream cheese ised soft goat cheese and onstead of confectioners sugar powdered evaporated organic cane sugar. It was amazing the frosting was the star though and i cut the sugar by 1/3.
Thank you Lisa for an awesome recipe I’ve made this two times now. The second time I made it I reduced the sugar by half and added one cup of applesauce.
Delicious!!
I’ve had luck throwing everything in the mixing bowl and letting it all long ferment on my counter overnight (66° house).
Thank you!!
This was an amazing recipe. Thank you for posting. I weighed out all the measurements and that was the best cake I ever made. That icing is also amazing. This will be made again.
This carrot cake is so delicious! It was perfect for Easter dinner with the family. Everyone loved it! I opted to long ferment the discard overnight. I did opt to leave out the nuts just for the sake of being safe with family allergies, but I’m sure they would be equally delicious! My husband requested coconut flakes on top of the icing next time.
Could you, please, share how you long fermented the discard? Did you make the dough and put it in the fridge or added eggs the next day?
Thank you
LOL! I decided to do the long ferment and use coconut oil. NOT smart. My dough was hard as a rock this morning. I had to defrost microwave it….so we will see what happens! Next time, I’ll use avocado oil if doing the long ferment. Haha. Anyway, it’s in the oven now…
Haha, whoops!