Carrot cake is always a popular dessert option and is a nice change from the usual chocolate or vanilla cake. Making cupcakes instead of a traditional cake is a fun option that is ideal for entertaining or casual gatherings.
A Flexible Dessert
Carrot cake is a great stand by dessert because it uses items that are generally on hand in any reasonably well-stocked pantry. Carrots are also very economical and keep the cake moist and sweet. Some recipes call for additions such as nuts, raisins, currants, coconut or even pineapple so there is a lot of flexibility. Cream cheese frosting is a classic topping but regular buttercream icing is also delicious. The cupcakes are on the smaller side but they are quite rich so a little goes a long way.
Carrot Cupcakes
Makes 18 cupcakes
- 2 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1-1/2 cups sugar
- 3 cups grated carrots (about 3 very large carrots or 5 medium carrots)
- ½ cup raisins
- ½ cup chopped walnuts
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 4 eggs, beaten
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 18 cupcake liners
Frosting:
- 2 X 8 oz. packages cream cheese
- 8 teaspoons oil
- 2 cups icing sugar
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
- In a large mixing bowl, add flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, nutmeg, salt and sugar. Stir until spices are thoroughly distributed.
- Add carrots to dry ingredients. Stir carrots into flour mixture. Use your hands to work carrots into the mixture and to make sure carrots are evenly coated with flour. Add raisins and walnut pieces to the mix and stir to combine.
- Pour oil into mixture and add the beaten eggs and vanilla. Gently mix wet and dry ingredients together until just combined. The batter will be very thick.
- Place cupcake liners into muffin cups and spoon batter into the liners. Fill the cups to just below the top of the cupcake liner. Bake cupcakes for 25 to 30 minutes or until a knife inserted into the middle of the cupcakes comes out clean. Depending on the size of the muffin tin (6 or 12 cups), cupcakes can be baked in batches. If a batch does not fill all muffin cups, fill the empty cups with water.
- Remove cupcakes from the oven and let cool completely before frosting.
To Make Frosting:
- Make sure cream cheese is at room temperature. With a hand mixer or stand mixer with whisk attachment, beat cream cheese, oil and icing sugar together on medium-high speed until the icing is creamy and smooth. Stop mixing to clean beaters periodically with a rubber spatula if the cream cheese sticks to the beaters. Frost cupcakes once cooled.
Optional: To decorate the cupcakes, set aside about ¼ cup of the frosting. Using green food colouring (or a mix of blue + yellow), colour the frosting so it resembles carrot tops. Put frosting into a pastry bag fitted with a small round tip. Peel a large carrot and cut into thin slices about 1/8” thick. Cut the slivers into elongated triangles that resemble miniature two-dimensional carrots. Place a mini-carrot on top of each cupcake and add green ‘fronds’ with the pastry bag (see photo for example).
Trish Coleman - Trish grew up in a small town in New Brunswick, Canada and her family ate fresh home cooked meals every night. Her family grew most of ...
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