I'd have to say that carrot cake is up there as one of my favourite cakes. I'm not much of a chocolate cake fan, I do like vanilla cake with vanilla buttercream, and I absolutely love coconut cake- specifically the toasted coconut layer cake that I made for Jacquelyn last-last Christmas (it was like a giant bombshell of coco-nutty perfection). Along with coconut, is my love for carrot cake. Plus it's totally healthy for you, it has carrots in it! (it's how I convince myself to indulge). That mix of carrot, cinnamon, and sweet/tart cream cheese frosting is magical. It's a dessert that doesn't totally feel like you're eating dessert- more like a sweet breakfast treat. I acquired this recipe from Deb at smittenkitchen.com, I swear she has never made a bad recipe. The recipe called for 24 cupcakes, but I halved it because I can sort-of manage consuming half that amount in a week or so...with sharing of course!
Today I woke up to a bright, sunny day, which brought a smile to my face- winter has been taking it's toll. There's just too many grey-gloomy days, with a serious lack in sunshine. Even though it's frost-bite cold outside, I bared the bite and spent some time outside. I went out for lunch with one of my best friends, Bernarda. Lots of catching up, good food at Jack Astors, and really tasty drinks (blue raspberry Lemonade and Cool Breeze) yes they were cocktails- but those are what taste the best.
After arriving home I got down to business. After peeling and grating the carrots, measuring flour, sugar, butter, eggs etc. I was ready to create my very first home-made cupcakes. They came together relatively quickly, and getting the batter into the pan was a cinch ( due to the nifty trick I learned at my Baking Arts course from Chef Rock- using an ice cream scoop for even filling every time, genius I know). The sunshine pouring through the kitchen windows made baking today just that much more enjoyable, I just wish it were summer...and that Toronto had a beach resembling the best of the best i.e. Florida, California, I could go on forever. Anyways, the cupcakes took almost twice as long to bake as the recommended time, I found this quite odd for smitten kitchen has never let me down before, maybe there was a typo in the recipe. Regardless, after letting them cool, and practicing my piping skills, I managed to have 4 cupcakes I would be proud to photograph, and the rest...well they can be eaten off camera. All in all my first cupcake baking experience was great, and it will ensure many more to come- Maple Bacon cupcakes here I come.
Till next time!
Addison
Below is the recipe as borrowed from Smitten Kitchen-
I halved the recipe and tweaked it slightly.
Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting
Makes 12 cupcakes
1 cup of all purpose flour
1 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 cup of sugar
3/4 cups canola oil
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups grated peeled carrots
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Line 12 cupcake molds with papers.
Whisk flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger in medium bowl to blend. Whisk sugar and oil in large bowl until well blended. Whisk in eggs 1 at a time. Add flour mixture and stir until blended. Stir in carrots, walnuts and raisins, if using them. Divide batter among cupcake molds, filling 3/4 of each.
Bake cupcakes 14 to 18 minutes, or until a tester inserted into the center of one comes out clean. Let cool in pans for five minutes or so, then transfer cakes to a cooling rack. Let cool completely before icing them.
Maple Cream Cheese Frosting
One (8-ounce) package of cream cheese, softened
1/2 a stick unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup of confectioners’ sugar
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
In a stand mixer beat all the ingredients on medium until fluffy. Chill the frosting for 10 to 20 minutes, until it has set up enough to pipe smoothly.
I thought I hated carrot cake until I ate this - yummie!
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