Carrot Cake Cupcakes

I found this recipe in a cupcake book, so I thought I'd give it a try. I did make a modification to the recipe by reducing the amount of sugar. It is more bread-like than cupcake-like due to this alteration, so it is a matter of preference. The cream cheese frosting is quite sweet, so it compensates for the lack of sweetness in the cakes.

Ingredients You will need are as follows:

1 cup Flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

2 eggs

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar (I skipped this one)

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 1/2 cup grated carrots

1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional in case of food allergies!)

For the cream cheese frosting:

1/4 cup butter

4 oz cream cheese

1 cup confectioners sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

The first step is to mix the dry ingredients and wet ingredients separately. (Brown sugar is mixed with wet).

I grated my own carrot as opposed to buying the pre-cut carrots. I just found that the shredded carrot at the supermarket was much to thick for baking purposes. This was also a cheaper option, so it worked out in more ways than one!

Once the dry mix and wet mix are stirred together, add the carrots and walnuts.

This batter doesn't rise very much in the oven, so you can fill it up almost to the brim. I used a silicon baking tray and I think it worked quite nicely. The benefit to silicon cookware is that it cooks everything very evenly and doesn't crisp the outside like metal cookware does. I used baking spray to keep the cupcakes from sticking.I baked the cupcakes at 350º F for 25 minutes, and they came out lovely.

Mix the frosting ingredients. Make sure you let the cream cheese and butter reach room temperature, because it makes for an ideal texture for mixing. Don't heat the butter to soften it! This will ruin the texture and make everything runny and hot - not particularly appealing.
Once out of the oven, I placed the cakes on a cooling rack. It isn't particularly good to let the cupcakes cool inside the cooking tray because they collect moisture and can become a bit soggy. Luckily, the silicon doesn't get too hot, so it is easy to pop out the cupcakes without getting burned.

I used a serrated knife to cut the cupcakes along the top in order to put some frosting in the center. That's pretty much it. It is very easy and doesn't take long.