Carrot Cake For Breakfast

I love desserts with vegetables or fruit in them because I can sort of trick myself into thinking that they are healthy.... for example, if I bake a blueberry pie and have it for dessert one day, I will absolutely always have it for breakfast the next morning.... because there is fruit in it.... and fruit is healthy..... ergo, pie for breakfast is perfectly fine. I LOVE dessert for breakfast. 

So when my husband requested Carrot Cake for his birthday, I thought, Yes! Score! Delicious dessert that I can eat in the morning! Because carrots are healthy, and although I generally woulnd't eat a carrot in my cereal, I do sometimes eat granola with coconut in it, and I just so happened to find a carrot cake recipe with coconut! PERFECT!!! 

The recipe we found (we being my mom & I... we are home for a family wedding) is from Gourmet Magazine, and is fantastic! The cake turned out to be moist, not too dense and not too sweet. It was simply delicious. We made only a few changes to the recipe. We tend to think sweetened coconut has an artificial flavor and is just too sweet, so we substituted Bobs Red Mill Unsweetened Coconut Flakes (which are soooo good) in place of the sweetened variety. We also toasted some flakes (put about a cup or so on a baking sheet and pop in the oven at 350 for around 5 min... watch it to make sure it doesn't burn.) We sprinkled the toasted flakes on top of the cake after it was all finished --- It looked so pretty!!! 

And tasted delicious for breakfast the next morning :) 

The recipe calls for:

3/4 lb carrots

2 c all purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp ground cinnamon

2 c granulated sugar

1 1/2 c vegetable oil

4 large eggs

1 (8oz) can crushed pinapple (drained)

1 c sweetened coconut ***We used unsweetened coconut flakes****

1/2 c chopped walnuts

2/3 c rasins **We didn't add rasins, becuase they aren't our favorite... I think they taste like soap

Frosting (We made 1 1/2 times this frosting recipe)

2 (8oz) pkgs cream cheese, softened 

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 1/2 c confectioners' sugar, sifted

Preheat to 350*

Butter and flour the cake pans

Shred the carrots finely using a grater or a food processor to measure 2 cups

Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon into a large bowl. Stir in sugar, oil, eggs, carrots, pineapple, coconut, walnuts and raisins (which we didn't use)

Divide batter between the cake pans and bake until a wooden pick comes out clean. (35 to 40 min)

Cool layer in pans on a rack for 5 min, then run a knife around the edge of each pan, invert layers onto rack and cool completely. 

Frosting: 

Beat together butter, cream cheese, and vanilla in a a large bowl until it is fluffy (2 min). Reduce speed to medium and add the confectioners' sugar a little at a time (unless you want to be covered it.)

Place 1 cake layer bottom side up on a cake plate and spread with some frosting. Place remaining cake layer right side up on top and spread remaining frosting over the top and sides.