This post is sponsored by Bubbies Fine Foods. All opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting the businesses who support Sloane’s Table!
This ginger sauerkraut carrot cake is unlike any carrot cake you've ever had before... but it's SO much better! Adding Bubbies Sauerkraut, along with the freshly grated carrots, adds so much moisture and gives the cake a tiny bit of spice. You might be hesitant to try baking with sauerkraut, but I promise, it will transform your baked goods into perfectly soft & tender desserts. Plus, it's always a good idea to sneak some veggies in wherever you can! Decorate this carrot cake with my super sturdy cream cheese frosting recipe, and you'll have the perfect Easter dessert!
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Ingredients
- All-Purpose Flour: You'll need about 2 ½ cups of flour.
- Leaveners: You'll need both baking powder and baking soda to give this cake the perfect rise.
- Spices: I used a combination of cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.
- Oil: Use any neutral oil, like vegetable, canola, or light tasting olive oil.
- Sugars: You'll need both granulated sugar and brown sugar to add the right amount of sweetness and moisture to this cake.
- Eggs: You'll need 4 large eggs at room temperature.
- Freshly Grated Carrots: You'll need about 2 cups of carrots, which is roughly 4 large carrots.
- Bubbies Sauerkraut: You'll need about 1 ½ cups of drained sauerkraut. Just like any other vegetable, sauerkraut adds amazing moisture and creates the best texture in baked goods!
- Freshly Grated Ginger: Fresh ginger adds a little kick to this cake and complements the sauerkraut really well!
- Nuts: Add chopped pecans or walnuts (or really any other extra) if you'd like!
- Cream Cheese: Be sure to use cold cream cheese when making the frosting.
- Unsalted Butter: You'll need about 2 ½ sticks of butter (or 1 stick of butter for every block of cream cheese).
- Powdered Sugar: Add as much or as little powdered sugar as you would like depending on your preference of sweetness. I suggest no more than 4 cups or 450g.
FAQ
Just like baking with any vegetable, sauerkraut adds so much moisture to baked goods. Bubbies Sauerkraut is exactly what makes this cake so much more special than other traditional carrot cake. All you need to do is drain the sauerkraut and fold it into the cake batter. It creates the perfect soft & tender cake texture that just melts in your mouth!
To make a cream cheese frosting that is smooth enough to decorate a cake, but sturdy enough to support thick cake layers I use 1 stick of butter for every 1 block of cream cheese. This is technically a 1:2 ratio. Add as much or as little powdered sugar as you would like depending on your preference of sweetness. For this recipe, I suggest no more than 4 cups or 450g.
Other cake and Easter recipes you'll love
- Almond Cake with Blood Orange Curd and Mascarpone Frosting
- Roasted Banana Bundt Cake with Chocolate Glaze
- Robin Egg Macarons with Chocolate French Buttercream
A few other baking tips
- I recommend grating your carrots before you start anything else in this recipe. It will take awhile, and you don't want to mix ingredients together to just have them sit around.
- You can make these cake layers the day before, then freeze them overnight, and decorate the next day. This allows you to skip the crumb coat and makes it so much easier to frost. Just leave the cake out for a couple hours at room temperature before serving.
- If you would like, you can also bake this cake in two 9-inch cake pans.
- Be sure to get yourself a jar of Bubbies Sauerkraut to make this cake!
Happy baking! x
Print📖 Recipe
Ginger Sauerkraut Carrot Cake
- Prep Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours
- Yield: 6-inch 3 layer cake 1x
- Category: Cake, Dessert
Description
This ginger sauerkraut carrot cake is unlike any carrot cake you've ever had before... but it's SO much better! Adding Bubbies Sauerkraut adds so much moisture and gives the cake a tiny bit of spice. It's the perfect Easter dessert!
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- 300g all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp nutmeg
- ¼ tsp cloves
- 198g neutral oil
- 320g brown sugar
- 100g granulated sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 4 eggs
- 200g freshly grated carrots
- 175g Bubbies Sauerkraut (drained)
- 1 tbsp freshly grated ginger
- 120g chopped pecans or walnuts
For the Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 20 oz cream cheese (cold)
- 283g unsalted butter
- 400-450g powdered sugar
Instructions
For the Carrot Cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and line three 6-inch cake pans with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the oil and sugars until fully combined.
- Add in the vanilla and eggs, fully incorporating each before adding the next.
- Fold the dry ingredients into the wet until just combined.
- Then, fold in the grated carrots, sauerkraut, ginger, and nuts.
- Divide the batter up between the prepared cake pans.
- Bake the cakes for about 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- Allow the cakes to cool in the pans for 15 min, then turn them out onto wire racks to cool completely.
For the Cream Cheese Frosting:
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese and butter on high speed until smooth.
- Slowly add the powdered sugar in and beat until fully combined.
- Continue beating on low speed until no more lumps remain and the frosting is smooth.
For Assembly:
- Secure the first cake layer on the cake stand with a small amount of frosting on the bottom. Use a cookie or ice cream scoop to measure out the frosting for each layer. I used a 3 tablespoon cookie scoop and put 3 scoops of frosting on each layer.
- Place the second cake layer on top and add another 3, 3 tablespoon or buttercream on top, then place the cake layer on top.
- Spread a thin layer of frosting all around the outside of the cake as the crumb coat. Place the cake in the fridge for one hour.
- Then, decorate the cake with the remaining frosting as desired.
Notes
- I recommend grating your carrots before you start anything else in this recipe. It will take awhile, and you don't want to mix ingredients together to just have them sit around.
- You can make these cake layers the day before, then freeze them overnight, and decorate the next day. This allows you to skip the crumb coat and makes it so much easier to frost. Just leave the cake out for a couple hours at room temperature before serving.
- If you would like, you can also bake this cake in two 9-inch cake pans.
- Be sure to get yourself a jar of Bubbies Sauerkraut to make this cake!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice
- Calories: 1115
- Sugar: 84.3 g
- Sodium: 593.8 mg
- Fat: 71.9 g
- Carbohydrates: 113.5 g
- Protein: 10.9 g
- Cholesterol: 192.5 mg
Keywords: fresh ginger, sauerkraut cake, carrot cake, cream cheese frosting
Alivia DeGagne says
How much ginger? I don’t see that in the ingredients list 🙂 thanks!
Sloane says
oops sorry about that! you'll need one tablespoon. thanks for catching that!