National Carrot Cake Day, on February 3, celebrates one of our favorite desserts. Carrots contain a natural sweetness that’s just perfect for cake. Many historians believe the cake originated in the Middle Ages when sugar and other sweeteners were scarce. (Carrots were used as a substitute.) The earliest known recipe for carrot cake can be found in a French cookbook published in 1827. While the origins of National Carrot Cake Day are hard to come by, that won’t stop carrot cake lovers from indulging on February 3.