Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Cinnamon Frosting
I’ve been super busy lately and haven’t had too much time to update. I made these cupcakes about two weeks ago for a friend’s birthday and then made them again this past week for my mother to bring to work. My friend is a vegetarian so I attempted to make vegetarian cupcakes without eggs. I got a lot of compliments so I figured it was safe to share.
Ingredients & Directions:
- 2 1/2 C Flour
- 1 1/4 tsp Baking Powder
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- 1 1/4 tsp Cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp Nutmeg
- 1/8 tsp Cloves
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 1 lb carrots, peeled
- 1 1/2 C Granulated Sugar
- 1/2 C Brown Sugar
- 2 C Milk (I used 2%)
- 1 1/3 C Canola Oil
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two cupcake pans with paper liners. In a food processor fitted with a shredding disk, shred the carrots (about 3 cups). It’s always nice to have help!
You will want to grate 2 extra carrots for the candied carrot topping later!
Set the carrots aside for a moment.
Wipe out the bowl of the food processor and fit with the metal blade. Process the sugars and milk until well combined, about 20 seconds. With the machine running, add the oil in a steady stream through the feed tube. Continue to process until the mixture is light in color and well emulsified, about 20 more seconds. Leave that alone for a moment.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices and salt; whisk together. Add the shredded carrots to the bowl with the dry ingredients.
Combine liquid mixture to mixing bowl with carrots and dry ingredients. Stir together until well incorporated and no streaks of flour remain. Scoop evenly into prepared cupcake liners.
Bake for about 20-24 minutes (This took at least 24 minutes in my oven). Let cool in the pan at least 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.
Cinnamon Frosting:
- 1 1/2 sticks Butter, softened
- 1 pound (3 2/3 cups) Confectioners’ Sugar
- 1 to 2 tablespoons milk
- 1/2 tsp Cinnamon (add/subtract for taste)
- Cinnamon Sugar mix (optional: to sprinkle over frosted cupcakes)
Frost cupcakes however you want to! I used a decorators bag, but you can just frost with a spatula to keep it simple. I sprinkled the tops of the cupcakes with a little cinnamon sugar mixture.
Candied Carrot Topping:
- 2 Carrots, peeled
- 1/2 C Sugar
- 1/4 C Water
Use your two grated carrots from earlier. In a small saucepan, combine sugar and water and bring to a boil. Add carrot curls, reduce the heat, cook curls for about 10 minutes. Take off the heat and let sit for about 5 minutes.
Remove carrot in clumps onto a plate try to leave extra sugar water in pan. Let clumps cool.
Place small portion on top of each cupcake and then try not to eat them all yourself!
(Steven)
