♥ Here’s some MUSICA to take you halfway to heaven . . .
CARROT CAKE CUPCAKES
Chock full of nuts and fruit, these delicious morsels don’t fall apart when you break into them and the frosting is homemade cream cheese; these cupcakes are good enough to give to your children, almost classified as a vegetable if you expand your mind a little bit and are a creative thinker. The frosting can be colored any way you like. Here we go, here’s how to make them:
This recipe makes about 2 ½ dozen cupcakes; put liners in the cupcake tins and preheat the oven to 350°.
Set out cream cheese and butter to soften (for the frosting).
Put a can of crushed pineapple into a sieve to drain.
Beat 4 eggs in a large bowl . . . I’ll give you the measurements at the end so you can print them out if you like.
Whisk in the brown and granulated sugars.
And then the canola oil.
Add flour, soda and baking powder; whisk until well mixed.
Grate the carrots and add them along with
all the rest of the goodies: cinnamon, nutmeg, coconut, golden raisins, chopped walnuts and the drained pineapple. Stir the batter well. See what I mean? Pure health food!
Fill the cupcake liners 2/3′s full; put the trays into the oven and bake for 20 minutes, until a toothpick stuck in the middle of one comes out clean.
Cool slightly (now is the time to quickly down three of them). Frost . . . with
Cream Cheese Frosting
So easy, just mix softened cream cheese and butter together with a box of powdered sugar and 3 tsp. of vanilla until smooth. That’s it! Now the fun starts, they are so fun to decorate, and actually taste as good as they look! As you may have noticed, not all cupcakes are created equal, but these are.
Divide the frosting into four bowls; keep one white and add a drop of food coloring to each of the other bowls; frost them grass green, daffodil yellow, cherry blossom pink. ♥
Frost them . . .
Right now, with nothing else done to them, these are perfect cupcakes, creamy, delicious, crunchy, with nuts and fruit. BUT. . .
They are so fun to decorate! ♥
Kellee has been busy putting together kits of cute cupcake toppers for spring in our web store, including my dancing chickens . . . which you actually make yourself . . . in case you’d like to gild the lily a little bit!
They are so easy! Scroll down a bit for the cupcake recipe all written out for you to print. Hope you LOVE them ♥!
C A R R O T C U P C A K E S
- 4 eggs, well-beaten
- 1 c. packed brown sugar
- 1 c. granulated sugar
- 1 ½ c. canola oil
- 2 c. unbleached flour
- 2 tsp. baking soda
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 2 tsp. cinnamon
- 1 ½ tsp. nutmeg
- 3 c. finely grated carrots
- 1 c. sweetened coconut
- 1-8oz. can crushed pineapple (drained)
- 1 c. golden raisins
- 1 c. coarsely chopped walnuts
Preheat oven to 350°. Put cupcake liners in two cupcake pans. See frosting recipe below and set out butter and cream cheese to soften. Put the pineapple into a sieve to drain. Beat eggs in a large bowl. Add sugars and beat until light and fluffy. Whisk in oil and mix well. Put in the dry ingredients and beat until smooth. Stir in remaining ingredients and pour batter into cupcake liners. Bake for 20 min. until toothpick comes out clean when inserted in center of cupcake. Cool slightly and frost with
C R E A M C H E E S E F R O S T I N G
- 1/2 c. butter, softened
- 8-oz. package cream cheese. softened
- 1-1 lb. box of powdered sugar, sifted into bowl
- 3 tsp. vanilla
Mix all ingredients together until smooth. If desired, divide frosting into several bowls. Add one drop of food coloring to each bowl until the color is correct. Enjoy girls!
Delicious! My daughter and I made them yesterday…well, we didn’t use ALL the mixture as it made rather a lot! We separated the frosting into four cups and mixed in the colouring. Decorations this time were smarties – oops – I mean M&M’s! What a wonderful treat for spring! It was a snow day, so it turned into a Mum and daughter bonding day too. As an aside…we added a tad more flour, and cooked it at 375 degrees as we are at a high elevation here in the Rockies.
Sounds like you had fun!
Yes, I am making even more of an effort to bond with my daughter before she goes off to England (and Wales where I am from) for a few weeks. It’s her High School graduation gift, and she’s very excited as you may imagine. Because she’s asking so many questions, it’s made my brain go back in time and I’ve been reminiscing a lot. I may start a memory album… I know she will love my sisters house, as she lives in a little English village of Broad Oak. No house numbers – just a name! Mead Manor is there and dates from the 14th century, and is mentioned in the Domesday Book. Her house reminds me of those Jacquie Lawson Christmas cards with the trees and the dog. Of course, high on my daughter’s list is the sights of London, so thank goodness my sister also has a flat there. They are planning a trip down the Thames, Madame Tussauds, The Tower of London etc., etc! So fun to know you are going to visit England soon too!
Loved your reminiscences! Your daughter is very lucky, what a beautiful thing to do for her!
My sister and I attempted the carrot cupcakes (we both don’t cook or bake much) and surprised our mother for Easter. They were a hit! Thank you!
Happy to hear it Milli, thanks for letting me know!
I’ve been looking for a good Carrot Cupcake recipe. This one looks so delicious, with everything I love to eat included. Can’t wait to make them. I love cupcakes because they are so much fun to decorate and to eat. They are great to give to neighbors and friends. These little treats are always so appreciated. Carrot Cakes always reminds me of Beatrix Potter. I don’t own a copy of the book so I will look at the Library for a copy to read while I wait for my cupcakes to bake. Thanks for sharing this recipe with us.
You will love these, they are irresistible! Have fun Debra!
hi susan….thank you so very much for this recipe..Carrot Cake/Cupcakes are my husbands favorite and now the rest of my family is following suit. I have made these three times….then..went into two restaurants and one bakery and sampled their wares..not even close!!!! These are the best!! Moist, full of flavor, sweet, spicy..all rolled into one…love!!! thanks again…only 5 more days!!! xoxo love, cindy
I know! Would be needing a cupcake for sustenance!
I made these with my 13 year old daughter and they were a hit with the whole family. I like that the recipe makes so many as we have 4 kids. We are making them again for a church potluck this week!
Happy to hear it Annie!
Thank you for this recipe i am going to make it as soon as i can . I cant wait I appreciate all the nice things you do.Love to you all Cheyenne
So glad to find this recipe online. While visiting cousins in the Cape Cod area, Bonnie made this cake for Aunt Rita’s 90th birthday party. Wonderful!!! Up to now our favorite Carrot Cake recipe was from Grandma’s Coffee House upland from Paia on Maui, but this recipe beats that hands down. I am also pleased to see the suggestion for high altitude alterations since we live in the Sierras in California. Looking forward to a good excuse to make this soon but I need several people around so we don’t eat it all ourselves!
Ooooo, nice compliment! Thank you so much, I have to say, it’s pretty darn good!
…this carrot cup-cake recipe makes incredibly YUMMY cupcakes … however, it makes so many tho, so make sure you have a lot of folks around to share these treasures with !!!
This is true! These are good for parties, to take to the office, to drop off at a senior home, or when you have a lot of company. This does not have “serves two” on it anywhere!
These cupcakes are going into the KEEP RECIPE ON THE FRIDGE level of yum-yum-yumminess and I have a couple of family members who ADORE carrot cake…
xoxo
I have to agree with your family members, just delicious! xoxo Joann!
I see you posted this recipe some time., but I have only just now discovered it. Can’t WAIT to try it! Thanks so much for sharing it!
The “boys” around here LOVE cupcakes, so I’m sure they’ll be gone in no time!
Perfect!
No matter what I try, I don’t seem to send a message. Just in case my computer
gremlin is asleep right now, I want to tell you how much your blogs cheer the world, so, thank you. Besides, this cupcake recipe is being sent to my married daughter, Kym, who loves carrot cake more than anyone I know. So, double thank you. Polly.[Paula]
They look delicious! And my husband loves carrot cake – must make these for him! That makes me happy!
Hi Susan! You’ve done it again! Besides your wonderful blog, you brought happiness with your carrot cupcakes! My husband and I are going to make them for Easter! Of course, we will have to “try” them way before the holiday! Thank you! Can’t wait for the new book! Love you!
Just re-reading your blog tonight…I have been without my computer for over 2 weeks. Have missed my daily dose of “Susan Branch”….I am watching the weather channel and seeing all the snow in Boston…with the post Nemo storm..I love to read about ur home being your refuge in the storm and snow…we haven’t had a snow yet…so hope to have at least one good snow before spring. The carrot cake cupcake recipe is wonderful…my husband and son have the same birthday March 2 … I will be making cupcakes for their special day….then again for easter of course…Happy Anniversary to you and Joe ..thank you for bringing “happy” to my days….and so many others too….
Welcome back Evangeline! Nice to see you!