Sinfully Delicious Carrot Cake!

Yesterday I discussed the difficulties I've had with my family eating raw broccoli. Thankfully, my friend and co-worker, Brenda, helped me find a way to get past that, with her tangy/sweet Broccoli Salad!  Granted, it's probably not the 'healthiest' way to get the kiddo's to eat that veggie, but you could make a low calorie version, just by using a light mayo, and sugar substitute.

Unfortunately, (or fortunately in hubby's case) that is not true for this decadent carrot cake recipe that I recently found.

Can you tell by the photo- what secret ingredient makes this cake so sinful?

How about now?

Well, if you guessed chocolate, you are absolutely RIGHT!!!  But not just ANY chocolate!  Oh no!  We are talking DARK chocolate.  That scrumptiously delicious-taste bud exploding chocolate, that is actually good for you!

Yep! You heard right.  It is a proven fact that eating 2 oz. of dark chocolate daily-can actually be beneficial to your health! Hubby reminds me of this truth every time he buys a bag of dark chocolate M&M's to snack on.  "I'm eating my veggies," he'll say, referring, of course, to the fact that chocolate comes from a bean!!!!!

Okay-let's get back to the cake part.  I've been craving carrot cake for a couple of weeks.  I love it.  The recipe I usually use always turns out moist, and it's just another way I can have my 'healthy' addiction-raisins!

Yet, when I mentioned to hubby yesterday morning what I planned to make-his response was less than excited.  Truth is-he hates carrots!  Not just raw carrots-but ANY and everything involving carrots!

Can you believe that?  Who doesn't like glazed carrots?  I mean-what's not to love?  Butter-brown sugar-Yum-and oh yes, carrots.

So, what's a girl to do when she wants carrot cake REALLY bad, but also want to tantalize her hubby's taste buds?

Well, she goes in search of a better recipe-that's what!  

 Who would have thought there were so many recipes for carrot cake?  I sure didn't. They all looked delicious, but something was missing.  I needed more than just cream cheese frosting and nuts to get hubby's attention.  I needed something....PROFOUND!

That is when it hit me.  Could it be possible to add chocolate to carrot cake?  

I couldn't help but laugh at my own ignorance.  Of course it's possible!  Anything is possible when it comes to cooking.  I learned that a long time ago.  But, would it taste as good as my own recipe?  After all-this cooking stuff isn't just about hubby!

Thankfully, after a quick search change, I found EXACTLY what I was looking for.  

I figured Hershey's knew a little something about chocolate, so I used their recipe.

I did make one change- I substituted raisins for the walnuts! (Compromise folks-it's all about compromise!)  Funny thing was-Hershey must have been thinking about me when they wrote up this recipe, because they listed this in their 'variation' section.

I have to say-at first I was skeptical about changing up my favorite carrot cake recipe, especially when it involved adding an ingredient that I never would have thought to add.

Change is good.  Change is VERY, VERY, good! 

Hubby thought so too!  Just seeing his expression as he devoured a piece of this decadent cake-made it all worthwhile!  Gobbling down my first piece-made it EVEN better!

What recipe have you changed up that turned out better than the original?  I'd love to hear from you!  Until then....

Happy Tuesday!