7 February 2013

The Baking Experiment proudly presents Carrot Cupcakes for Olivia

Today is my lovely colleague Olivia's birthday - Happy Birthday! - and thus it was a perfect excuse to try a new recipe. As carrot cake is one of her favorites (I did sneakily find out!) it was an easy choice.



I have never made carrot cake before despite the fact that I genuinely enjoy eating it. What has always put me off was the thought of having to grate carrots. Don't get me wrong I do love carrots, grated or not, but I usually hurt myself when being left to my own devises with the cheese grater (or should I say carrot grater in this instance?). Maybe the gods were on my side for once, maybe I just got lucky but somehow I managed to grate 300g of carrot without causing serious damage to any of my fingers.

One of my most trusted cookbooks that I like to experiment with is the Hummingbird Bakery. Lots of people keep telling me that they think their recipes are too sweet but I have always found them delightful and easy to make. Unlike some other cookbooks that have severely disappointed me, I get a 99% success rate with the Hummingbird recipes. This time I took their traditional recipe for carrot cakes and turned it into cupcakes. 

Here is what you will need:

  • 300g soft brown sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 300ml sunflower oil
  • 300g plain flower
  • 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp ginger
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla
  • 300g grated carrots
  • 50g walnuts and pecans
  • 600g icing sugar
  • 100g butter
  • 250g cream cheese
  1. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees and line the cupcake tins with cases.
  2. Bang the sugar, eggs and oil into a bowl and mix until smooth and even. I used my electric whisk for that because it is easier.
  3. Slowly add the flower, bicarb and baking powder to the sugar mix. Then add the spices, salt, and vanilla and continue to mix until well combined and smooth.
  4. Grate the carrots and add to the mixture. Then add the nuts and mix again.
  5. Divide evenly between cupcake cases (I ended up with 18!) and put in the oven for about 25 minutes.
  6. While you wait for them to bake/cool, mix the icing sugar, butter and cream cheese together until smooth and slightly stiff. Fill into icing bag and ice the cakes once they are cool.
  7. Add glitter and any other decoration you may like and....
Voila:


All done! Lets hope they are as delicious as they look and the batter tasted (Licking the bowl is my favorite bit about baking!)

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