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Carrot Cupcakes

Print Recipe
Course Dessert
Servings 12 cakes

Ingredients
  

Cake Mix

  • 350 g Self Raising Flour
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp mixed spice
  • 200 g  caster sugar
  • 200 g muscovado sugar
  • Zest of 1/2 an orange
  • 260 ml vegetable oil
  • 4 large Chicken eggs
  • 350 g carrots - grated
  • 120 g Walnuts or pecans (Chopped or quickly pulesd in a bolender)

Cream cheese frosting

  • 120 g butter (softened and unsalted)
  • 224 g cream cheese 
  • 450 g Icing sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • pinch salt (optional)

Instructions
 

Cake Sponge

  • Pre-heat oven Gas mark 4/180 Degrees C (may need adjusting for fan ovens)
  • Sift the flour together with the cinnamon and mixed spice.
  •  If using caster sugar also sift that trough.
  • Just rub the muscovado sugar with your fingers to crumble it up into the flour
  • mix everything together until roughly combined
  • Add the orange zest and mix again
  • Add the vegetable oil and eggs to the dry ingredients then mix again until well combined
  • Add the carrots and mix until well combined
  • Add the walnuts and mix until well combined
  • Then pour into muffin tin, cake tin etc.
  • Bake for about 25 minutes then check using the toothpick method

Cream Cheese frosting/icing

  • Sift the icing sugar twice as this ensures little to no clumps in the frosting
  • Mix the butter until it's soft and creamed
  • Add the cheese a bit at a time and mix with the butter
  • Add a heaped (not stupidly heaped, but decent amount) tablespoon of icing sugar to the butter and cheese mix and let this mixer do its job (on a low speed) until the sugar is combined
  • Keep adding a heaped tablespoon of icing sugar, waiting until it's mixed in and then another spoonful etc.
  • When almost half the sugar is used up you can:
    1 - Add in the vanilla extract and wait about 5 to 10 seconds for that to get mixed in
    2 - Then either turn up the speed of the mixer a little or add about 1 1/2 spoons to the mix at a time.
  • Obviously frost the cakes once the sponge is cooled

Notes

One I've made many times and almost perfected it.
For the frosting ensure that the butter and cream cheese are both at room temperature. If not then the butter will solidify in the frosting.
Use a decent butter like "President" and none of this easy spread crap otherwise the frosting will won't set ad will be very runny.
Ensure icing sugar is properly sifted as otherwise you'll get sugary clumps.
Use Vanilla Extract, not this Vanilla essence bullshit.
Can decorate with candy carrots.