From maple bits to pineapple and coconuts, these delicious speciality carrot cake recipes are the answer to any question about breakfast, brunch, and dessert. 

While you don’t need an excuse to eat carrot cake—or at least you shouldn’t—you might need some recipes to help you along the way. So here are three specialty carrot cake recipes that you can use for any occasion (even if that occasion is just you sitting in front of the TV with a cup of joe).

Carrot Cake with Maple topping

Other than the whole Canadian thing, what better combination can you think of than carrot cake with maple bits? This recipe, which balances the sweet with the salty, is a fun and tasty example of the many delicious combinations that you can add to a carrot cake. While retaining the traditional soft and moist texture of a carrot cake, the extra addition of walnuts, raisins, and maple bits will appeal to those who like both a sweet and savoury dessert.

Carrot Cake Waffles

What’s better than carrot cake? How about carrot cake waffles? This delicious mix is sure to appeal to those who enjoy a sweet dessert. The use of Seville orange preserves, added on top of whipped cream, is the perfect marriage of flavours, apt for both a tasty brunch and an after-dinner treat.

Carrot Cake with Coconut and Pineapple

This tropical take is a soft and creamy infusion of real pineapples and shredded coconut. Whether you’re a fan of carrot cake, fruit cake, or just cake, this special recipe from Honey Salt Vancouver will surely appeal to the (carrot) cake lover.

Alyssa Hirose

Alyssa Hirose

Alyssa Hirose is a Vancouver-based writer, editor, illustrator and comic artist. Her work has been featured in Vancouver magazine, Western Living, BCBusiness, Avenue, Serviette, Geist, BCLiving, Nuvo, Montecristo, The Georgia Straight and more. Her beats are food, travel, arts and culture, style, interior design and anything dog-related. She publishes a daily autobiographical comic on Instagram at @hialyssacomics.