Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Carrot Cupcakes with Buttercream/Cream Cheese Frosting



Sorry I haven't been around in a while. Steve and I welcomed a new family member last week - a 4 month old Newfoundland puppy - and she's been keeping us busy! We're supposed to be on holidays but between puppy training and catching up with friends and family I've barely had a second for myself!

Today was my friend Krista's baby shower (she is due October 3rd, gender will be a surprise) and I volunteered to bake cupcakes. Krista's favourite cake is carrot cake - I baked her a multi-tier carrot "wedding cake" for her wedding shower a little over a year ago and that was a big hit so I thought I'd use the same recipe to make her "baby cakes" (aka cupcakes) for her baby shower. I tweaked the icing recipe - I didn't remember which Cream Cheese Frosting recipe I used for her wedding shower plus I wanted fluffier icing for cupcakes - so I did a hybrid using my legendary buttercream frosting as a base.

I'm a big fan of this carrot cake recipe - moist, flavourful, good balance of carrots and cinnamon, no raisins (yuck)... I believe the recipe is better suited for a flat or layer cake. The cupcakes were good but I found them to be a tad dry (knowing how moist this cake usually is). Still, very good and I will make again.

Carrot Cupcakes

3 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1.5 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 cup cooking oil.

1.5 cups sugar
4 whole eggs
2 cups grated carrots
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Sift first 4 ingredients together. Add the rest of the ingredients. Bake for 25 minutes at 300oF.

(If using angel food, loaf or flat pan (13 x 9) bake for one hour. Press top with finger lightly; if cake is done, it springs back.)

Buttercream/Cream Cheese Frosting

2 cups butter
1.5 cups icing sugar (I only had 1 cup but I would recommend using the full 1.5 cups)
1 package cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
Food coloring (optional)

Using mixer, beat all ingredients for approximately 5 minutes until smooth and fluffy. Ice cupcakes.

*** For traditional buttercream frosting, omit cream cheese.

7 comments:

  1. Thanks and thanks for visiting my blog Mary! :)

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  2. Those cupcakes look sooo good. I love carrot cake. Can't wait to make these! I also saw my grandma's recipe in your top 5 stars of the week. Thanks and I really hope you get to try it out.

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  3. These look amazing. I am definitely going to try them. Forgive me if this is a stupid question because I'm not a baker, but what is icing frosting?

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  4. Oops, meant to say icing "sugar".

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  5. You just made my day! I was browsing around looking for carrot cake recipes for my mom's bday and found this. THANK YOU!

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  6. Nooschi: I will let you know once I try your grandma's recipe! Thanks for stopping by! :)

    asimplekitchen: Icing sugar is confectionner's sugar. Hope you enjoy! :)

    Clairissa: Yay! Glad you found what you were looking for! Happy birthday to your mom! :)

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