Carrot Cake Sourdough Bread

This gorgeous loaf of sourdough carrot cake bread bring together everything you love about carrot cake and marries it into your favorite sourdough loaf. Serve it with your favorite butter at brunch or gift it to a friend for Easter.

Course Bread

Cuisine American

Keyword Flavored Sourdough, Sourdough Bread, Sourdough Recipes

Prep Time 4

Cook Time 45

Fermentation Time 22

Servings Loaf

Calories 3060kcal

Equipment

Mixing Bowl
Digital Scale
Banneton
Dutch Oven

Ingredients

Bread Dough

100 g Sourdough Starter
350 g Water
40 g Maple Syrup (can use honey if you prefer)
500 g Bread Flour
10 g Salt

Added During Stretch and Folds

100 g Raisins (or sultanas)
70 g Pecans (or walnuts, chopped or can do a mix of both pecans and walnuts)
100 g Carrot (raw, shredded or grated)

Added During Shaping

1 teaspoon Cinnamon
½ teaspoon Nutmeg
½ teaspoon Ginger
40 g Brown Sugar
20 g All Purpose Flour (see notes)

Instructions

Pre Mix & Autolyse:
Weigh out your starter, water and maple syrup in a glass or ceramic bowl. Mix them together so that the maple syrup is dissolved in the water (or at least really well distributed).
Then add your flour and salt and mix altogether with the end of a spatula. The dough will be fairly shaggy and only just brought together.
Cover your bowl with cling film or a damp tea towel and let it sit for around 1 hour.
Forming Up Your Dough:
Work your way around the bowl, grabbing the dough from the outside, stretching it up and over itself until a smooth ball is formed. You shouldn't need more than about 20-25 folds to form the ball.
Once the dough has formed into a smooth ball, pop the cling film back on and let it rest for 30 minutes.
Stretch & Fold - Creating Structure:
You need to add the raisins, chopped pecans and shredded carrot to your dough during the stretch and fold phase. It's very easy to do!
Try to add them around the second or third set of stretch and folds. So do your first set of stretch and folds with the dough as is and then add the inclusions on the second (or third) set depending on how your dough is behaving.
Try to do around 4 sets of stretch and folds with around 15 to 30 minutes between each set.
Don't worry if your dough tears a little bit, this is to be expected when adding nuts because these can tear the gluten strands.
Bulk Ferment:
Once you've finished your stretch and folds, place the cling film or damp tea towel back over your dough and let it rest and bulk ferment at room temperature. This can happen quite quickly with the maple syrup in the dough and all the inclusions, so keep an eye on that dough.
While your dough is fermenting, take a small bowl and mix the cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, brown sugar and all purpose flour together. Set this aside until you're ready to shape your dough.
Shaping Your Dough:
Once your dough has finished its first ferment, it's time to give it some shape and surface tension and add the spices that you've kept aside.
I think this recipe lends itself to a batard however it's completely up to you what shape you would like.
Stretch your dough out into a rough rectangle and sprinkle over a generous amount of the spice mixture. Fold the top down and sprinkle on some more. Fold the sides in, sprinkle some more. It's really up to you as to how much of the mixture you want to use.
Roll up the dough like a burrito and pull it towards you to create some surface tension and ensure all of those beautiful spices are tucked up inside.
Place the shaped dough into your banneton with the seam side up. Stitch the base together if you need to.
Cold Ferment:
Now your dough is in it's "shaping container" cover it loosely with a plastic bag or damp tea towel and place into the fridge to cold ferment.
Try to leave it in the fridge for a minimum of 5 hours. I don't like to leave this loaf in the fridge for too long - generally I don't leave it more than 12 hours because after this the carrot can cause moisture issues.
Preparing to Bake Your Sourdough:
Once you're ready to bake your sourdough, you'll need to preheat your oven to 230C/450F.
Place your Dutch Oven into the oven when you turn it on so it gets hot. Try to preheat for around 1 hour to ensure your oven is super hot - but you know your oven so just adjust this time if you need to.
Baking Your Sourdough:
Now it's time to bake!
When your oven is at temperature. Take your sourdough out of the fridge. Gently place it onto a piece of baking paper.
Gently score your bread with a lame, clean razor blade or knife.
Carefully take your dutch oven out of the oven. Place the sourdough into the pot using the baking paper as a handle. Put the lid on and place into the hot oven.
BAKE TIME:
30 Minutes with the lid on at 230C/450F plus
10-15 Minutes with the lid off at 210C/410F
If you're worried about the base of your bread burning, place a baking sheet on shelf underneath your Dutch Oven - it works!
Finishing Your Bake:
When you remove your dough from the oven, carefully remove it from the dutch oven as soon as possible and place on a wire rack to cool.

Notes

Notes on Sourdough Starter - This recipe is based on you having an active starter that you have fed a few hours before starting your bake. For information on whether your starter is ready, go here. I've used 100g of starter, but you can use less if you're baking in warmer temperatures. You can read about how to adjust the amount of starter you use here.

Notes on Stretch & Folds - This loaf requires you to add a lot of inclusions during stretch and folds so just take it easy. The dough will tear a little but just let it rest and it will recover and absorb all of the inclusions.

Spice Mixture & All Purpose Flour - I've added all purpose flour to the spice mixture as this can stop the brown sugar from leaking out during cold fermentation. I also recommend not letting this loaf cold fermenting for too long (I generally don't let it cold ferment for more than 12 hours).

Notes on Baking - If you're worried about the base of your bread burning, place a baking sheet on shelf underneath your Dutch Oven - it works! If you're worried about your bread not being cooked all the way through, turn the oven off and place your dough straight onto the oven rack.
Leave the door ajar and let your bread rest there for a few hours.
Remember not to cut into your loaf too soon - you'll need to let it cool for at least a few hours (4-6 is best).

Nutrition