carrot cake for tea

Virtual Tea Party March 2021

If you ask for carrot cake in Singapore, you are likely to find yourself with a savoury dish.

A popular breakfast (and in fact, all day) item found in hawker centres & food courts, cubes of steamed “white carrot” (radish) cake are fried till crispy, then stirfried with eggs, preserved radish and chilli.

It comes in 2 forms: “white” and “black”. Kechap Manis (Sweet sauce) is added to the “Black” version, which is my preference. Loving Husband relishes the “White”, with lots of chilli, of course.

On the left: the “Black”; on the right, “White”, from Havelock Road Cooked Food Centre

But if you prefer a more familiar sweet for tea, dear BlogFriends, I serve you a slice of Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting.

The twist is the addition of sourdough discard in the batter, and pineapple (the original recipe from King Arthur calls also for coconut, but we are not great fans in our household; I also lowered the sugar)

Cake

• 300g vegetable oil
• 260g castor sugar
• 227g sourdough discard
• 3 large eggs
• 241g canned pineapple, drained & crushed
• 200g grated carrots
• 70g chopped walnuts
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 300g all-urpose flour
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease and flour a 9″ x 13″ pan or two 8″ x 2″ round pans or 3 paper loaf containers 9″ x 4″ (I use the latter combination)
2. Combine the oil and sugar.
3. Stir in the starter.
4. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each.
5. Fold in the pineapple, carrots, walnuts and vanilla.
6. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda.
7. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, stirring just to combine.
8. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
9. Bake the cake for 30-45 minutes (depending on your pan size), or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, and the sides are just beginning to pull away from the edge of the pan.
10. Remove the cake from the oven and cool it completely on a rack before frosting.

Frosting

• 85g butter, at room temperature
• 227g cream cheese, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 260g confectioners’ sugar
• 2 to 4 tablespoons milk

1. Combine the butter, cream cheese, and vanilla.
2. Beat until light and fluffy.
3. Add the sugar gradually, beating to combine.
4. Add the milk, a little at a time, until the frosting is a spreadable consistency.
5. Serve the cake at room temperature. Store it in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Unfrosted, the cake can be frozen, well wrapped, for up to 3 months. Frost just before serving.

You could, of course, choose to make these as cupcakes. I would adjust the baking time to about 25 min, or until the toothpick inserted comes out clean.

This post is my contribution to:

• Virtual Tea Party hosted by Su at zimmerbitch & Del at CurlsnSkirls
• Friday’s Food Around the World hosted by CadyLuckLeedy