Carrot cake is so underrated. Seriously, it’s such a delicious, moist cake that tends to be overshadowed by trendy flavours like red velvet. Don’t get me wrong, I love red velvet, and it was certainly one of our most popular flavours when I owned my bakery – but I wish people gave carrot cake another chance. Sure, it takes some extra work so it’s not exactly the laziest of recipes, but once you bite into that decadent cake with a dollop of rich cream cheese buttercream, it’ll all be worth it.
If you haven’t guessed, it’s definitely one of my favourite cupcake flavours. And this recipe is my go-to carrot cake/cupcake recipe. I’m also about to give you the secret to delicious, simple cream cheese buttercream – it was my ‘secret ingredient’ buttercream that deserves a post of its own (soon), and I think it’s time my friends. Time for you to be wowed.
And plus, I owe you guys more baked goods recipes. I mean, I did own a bakery and it did close down, so I don’t really need to keep my recipes under wraps anymore. Well, maybe a few. Gotta keep the mystery alive, after all 😉
Delicious carrot cake cupcakes with cream cheese buttercream
Carrot cake
About 12 cupcakes
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Prepare cupcake liners in cupcake tins.
In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Set aside. In a large bowl, combine eggs, buttermilk, oil, sugar and vanilla. Mix well. Add flour mixture and mix well.
In a medium bowl, combine shredded carrots, coconut, walnuts, pineapple and raisins. Using a large wooden spoon, add carrot mixture to batter and fold in well. Pour into prepared cupcake liners 2/3 full, and bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for about 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean. Allow to cool for at least 20 minutes before frosting.
Cream Cheese Buttercream
Frosts about 2 dozen cupcakes
1 pound/2 cups (one large brick) salted butter (yes, salted!), softened
1 cup full fat cream cheese, softened
4 cups icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla
splash of lemon
Cream cheese buttercream is tricky in that it tends to become runny, it’s important to use full fat cream cheese, and actually mix the cream cheese, butter and icing sugar together at once (normally you’d add the sugar gradually, but in this case over mixing will lead to a runny icing).
Make sure your butter and cream cheese are softened (room temp, not melted). Add the first three ingredients to your stand mixer and mix on low until combined (you can even mix with a wooden spoon at first to make sure the sugar doesn’t explode on you when mixing). Once the sugar is incorporated, you can add your vanilla and splash of lemon, and mix at medium/high until the icing is smooth. Again, make sure not to over mix. Frost your cooled cupcakes and top with a toasted pecan, if you wish.
Normally, I like to keep cupcakes at room temp, but these bad boys can be refrigerated to keep the icing intact. Let them come to room temp before serving, though. Enjoy!
-Monica
Lazygirl Gourmet 