Morning Glory breakfast loaf

May 31, 2024

This Morning Glory loaf is a healthy breakfast masquerading as a cake.William Meppem

easyTime:1-2 hoursServes:6-8

Created at, and named after, a cafe in Nantucket in the 1970s, the Morning Glory is a muffin with heft (wholemeal flour, pecans and coconut) and sweet juiciness (carrots, apples and raisins). A healthy breakfast masquerading as a cake? I can tell you we sold a lot of them at my cafe in Melbourne in the ’90s.

The Morning Glory has never gone out of style in my view, though I’ve updated this recipe with coconut oil and made it into a loaf cake. The amount of sugar can be reduced if you want to legitimise its breakfast credentials, though the loaf will be paler and not quite as tender or moist.

Ingredients

200g solid coconut oil (or sunflower oil)
200g coarsely grated carrots (from 2 large, peeled carrots)
1 apple, peeled and coarsely grated (discard the core)
80g raisins
60g pecans or walnuts, roasted
50g desiccated coconut
100g caster sugar
80g light brown sugar
3 large eggs
1½ tsp vanilla extract
150g plain flour
150g wholemeal plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
½ tsp fine sea salt
softened butter (or dairy-free spread) to serve

Method

Step 1
Put the coconut oil in a small saucepan and place over low heat until it melts. Remove from heat and set aside to cool to tepid. (If using sunflower oil, there’s no need to heat it.)
Step 2
Preheat the oven to 175C fan‑forced (195C conventional). Line the base and sides of a standard loaf tin (approximately 23cm x 13cm) with baking paper, ensuring a generous overhang (for lifting the cake out later).
Step 3
Place the carrots, apple, raisins, nuts, coconut and sugars in a large mixing bowl and toss to combine.
Step 4
Place the eggs and vanilla in a separate, medium-sized bowl, whisk lightly to combine, then add the melted coconut (or sunflower) oil. Whisk until fully combined, then stir into the carrot mixture.
Step 5
Sift the flours, baking powder, bicarb soda and salt into a medium bowl. Transfer the husky fibres from the wholemeal flour that were caught in the sieve during sifting to the bowl as well, then add the flour mix to the carrot mixture. Using a large, flexible spatula, fold the dry ingredients into the wet mix until just combined, then scrape the batter into the prepared loaf tin.
Step 6
Place in the preheated oven and bake for 60-65 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the loaf comes out clean. Remove the tin from the oven and allow to cool for about 15 minutes before lifting the cake out to cool completely on a wire rack.
Step 7
Slice the loaf thickly and spread with butter to serve.