Whole Wheat Hot Cross Bu...
2021-02-12
What better way to celebrate Easter than with homemade, warm and fresh hot cross...
Easter Carrot Cupcakes
Prep 20 mins
Cooking 25 - 30 mins
Serves Makes 10
If you can’t indulge a bit at Easter time, when can you? But if you absolutely do need to have your conscience assuaged, these Easter cupcakes are packed with carrots! We’ve added loads of Natural Herbs and Spices Nutmeg and Cinnamon to them, so they’re heady with spice. And because we believe baking should be easy, you don’t need any fancy schmancy baking scales. A set of measuring cups and a set of measuring spoons and you’re good to go. Happy Easter baking!!!
What you will need
- FOR THE CUPCAKES
- 1 cup cake flour (NB: all cup and teaspoon measures need to be level, not heaped)
- 1½ tsp baking powder
- Pinch of salt
- 1½ tsp Natural Ground Cinnamon
- FOR THE CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
- ½ tsp Natural Ground Nutmeg
- ½ of a small 100g log of salted butter (i.e 50g of salted butter), at soft room temperature
- ½ cup chopped walnuts (a standard small 100g bag of walnuts is more than sufficient)
- 4 Tbsp icing sugar
- Zest of one orange, as finely grated as possible
- 1 cup very finely grated carrots – about 3 medium-large carrots (the finest grater blade on a standard box grater does the trick nicely)
- 250g punnet of full-fat cream cheese (this is one instance when low fat does not work)
- ¾ cup light brown sugar
- FOR DECORATING
- 2 jumbo free range eggs
- Mini Easter eggs
- ½ cup vegetable oil
Method
Pre-heat the oven to 180 °C (on normal setting; if using fan setting adjust it down to 160 °C). Then line a muffin tin with paper cupcake moulds.
Next, in a large mixing bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add the walnuts and just a quarter (¼) cup of the sugar to the flour. Use a handheld electric whisk to whisk the other half a cup of sugar and eggs together until the mixture is pale and frothy. Add the egg mixture, the oil and the grated carrots to the dry ingredients. Stir with a large wooden spoon to only just combine the ingredients, you don’t want to ever over-mix a cake batter. Spoon the batter into the cupcake moulds, stopping 7-10mm from the top. Then pop the cupcakes in the pre-heated oven and check them after 25 minutes by inserting a thin skewer. If it comes out clean, they’re done. If there’s batter on the skewer, it needs a few more minutes. Allow cupcakes to cool completely before you ice them.
To make the icing, use a handheld electric whisk to cream together the soft butter and icing sugar until it is light and fluffy. Add the orange zest and cream cheese and gently whisk until just combined. (Cook’s note: It’s very important to not overwork the icing once you’ve added the cream cheese. Doing so will alter the consistency of the cream cheese, causing it to become runny.)
Recipe & photography by food stylist and blogger of everything yum, Lizet Hartley: http://www.melkkos-merlot.co.za
