So, after no baking last week, this week I thought I’d share some lovely carrot cake cupcakes. Last week was so busy with exams, practical’s and the fun of starting to move my stuff out of my uni flat. I can’t believe how quickly my first year has gone and in a couple of weeks I’ll have done my first year of uni, but I’ve met some amazing people so far. Being back home meant leaving behind the nice oven that I’ve got used to in Leicester and using my mams oven instead. I was planning on making these cupcakes last week but never got the chance and uni work had to come first. Carrot cake is just perfect for Easter but you rarely see cupcakes.
For the cakes I started by grating 240g of carrots, this probably took me longer than I should’ve done but I got there in the end. I put this to one side until I needed it. In a big mixing bowl I added 210g light muscovado sugar and self raising flour. I tried to get rid of the lumps from the sugar. I also added a teaspoon of baking powder, cinnamon and mixed spice, using some measuring spoons I’d found in the cupboard. It’ll be nice being home and having all my baking equipment not just a little selection I’d taken to uni with me. I added 50g desiccated coconut, 75g walnuts chopped (I crushed mine with a rolling pin in a bag but whatever works for you) and I also added to carrot. I then added 3 eggs along with 100ml sunflower oil. I stirred this until it was combined, you could really smell the cinnamon. I thought copper coloured cupcake cases would be nice for these cupcakes. After I filled the cases I had mixture left over and, in the end, made 19 cupcakes. I had already preheated the oven at 180 degrees and the cupcakes baked for 15 minutes.
Once the cupcakes were cooling I made some buttercream to go on top. Learning from past mistakes this time I let the butter soften to room temperature. I added 125g into a bowl and beat it using a mixer. I slowly added 125g icing sugar and beat it until it was smooth with a dash of milk and some drops of vanilla extract. Once this was all mixed together I added 250g cream cheese. The buttercream came out at a perfect consistency to be piped onto the cupcakes. I used my star nozzle and had more than enough buttercream to decorate all 19 cupcakes and some left over for next time. For the decoration I added some little white chocolate carrots. As the majority of my family doesn’t eat chocolate I just put crushed walnuts on the majority of the cakes so they didn’t look plain.
Over the recent weeks making Easter egg cheesecakes, I’ve realised that I like cream cheese more than I thought I did. I had a go at making cream cheese buttercream, I’ve actually been so converted because it was lovely and really complimented the cupcakes really well. These cupcakes are a nice little Easter treat, there is something about this recipe I certainly recommend trying. They make for a nice little snack during the day and go really well with a cup of tea. No doubt I’ll certainly be making some more of these cupcakes before Easter next weekend. My family are happy I’m back home so they can sample the bakes instead of just seeing photos online. Hopefully I’ll keep them happy whilst I’m home. Have a lovely week, can't wait to plan what I'm baking for next week.
Lots of love,
Hannah x
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