This one goes out to everyone who doesn't like cream cheese frosting (guilty) and prefers cake at breakfast instead of dessert, no matter how much sugar it has (guilty again). In their latest cookbook, Bake from Scratch: Volume Two, the team behind the always-reliable magazine of the same name have compiled a year's worth of published recipes for cakes, breads, cookies, pies and more into one extra-sweet resource. Here, they free carrot cake from its heavy cream cheese coating in the name of flaked coconut, chopped pecans and crushed pineapple.
Leftover carrots? Throw them on the grill or pair roast carrots with salty cheese.
Carrot Coffee Cake
Recipe adapted from 'Bake from Scratch, Volume Two,' by Brian Hart Hoffman
Yield: One 9-inch cake
Prep Time: 25 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes, plus cooling time
Total Time: 1 hour, plus cooling time
Ingredients
For the Coconut-Pecan Crumble
½ cup sweetened flaked coconut
⅓ cup chopped pecans
1½ tablespoons firmly packed light brown sugar
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
For the Cake
¾ cup vegetable oil
½ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
½ cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup shredded carrots
½ cup crushed pineapple, drained
½ cup chopped pecans
½ cup sweetened flaked coconut
Coconut-pecan crumble
Buttermilk whipped cream (see below)
For the Buttermilk Whipped Cream:
1 cup heavy whipping cream
½ cup whole buttermilk
2½ tablespoons granulated sugar
Directions
1. Make the coconut-pecan crumble: In a medium bowl, stir together the coconut, pecans, brown sugar and flour. Using a wooden spoon, stir in the melted butter until the mixture is crumbly.
2. Make the cake: Preheat the oven to 350°. Butter and flour a 9-inch round cake pan.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the oil, both sugars, eggs and vanilla at medium speed until combined.
4. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking powder and salt. Turn the mixer on low speed and gradually add the flour mixture to the oil mixture, beating until just combined. Stir in the carrots, pineapple, pecans and coconut.
5. Spread the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 25 minutes. Sprinkle with the coconut-pecan crumble, and bake for about 10 minutes more, until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove from the pan and let cool on a wire rack.
6. While the cake cools, make the whipped cream: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the cream and buttermilk at high speed until foamy. Gradually add the sugar, beating until stiff peaks form. Serve the cake warm or at room temperature with whipped cream.