Name: Carrot Cake Cupcakes
Prep time: 40 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 65 min
Ingredients: 2 tbsp Orange juice ((or water)); 45 g Raisins or sultanas; 2 Eggs (large); 135 ml Vegetable oil; 135 g Light brown sugar; 165 g Carrot (grated); 100 g Self raising flour; 65 g Wholemeal plain flour; 1/2 tsp Bicarbonate of soda; A pinch of Baking powder; 1 1/2 tsp Mixed spice; 1/2 tsp Cinnamon; 45 g Pecans (chopped); 135 g Butter; 135 g Icing sugar; 270 g Full fat cream cheese; 1/2 tsp Vanilla extract; 12 Fondant carrots (optional)

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I absolutely love carrot cake, and the best bit of course is the cream cheese frosting! These Carrot Cake Cupcakes are perfectly sized portions of deliciously spiced and moist carrot cake, topped with the most divine cream cheese frosting that's also super thick and pipeable. It can be hard in the UK to get cream cheese frosting to work, but this recipe is the sure fire way to make it work. I love to put raisins and pecans in my carrot cake, but this part of the recipe is very flexible so if you don't like them or prefer walnuts instead, it's easy to adapt it.

Ingredient Tips & Equipment Information

Make sure all your ingredients (particularly the eggs) are at room temperature before you start baking.
The pecans are optional, you could omit them entirely, or use another nut like walnuts.
The raisins are optional too, you can leave them out or replace them with dried cramberries, sultanas or even chopped up dried apricots.
Mixed spice is a British spice blend usually containing cinnamon, coriander seed, nutmeg, clove, pimento and ginger. If you can't get hold of it, you can use a Pumpkin Spice mix instead. Or try 1 + ¼ tsp cinnamon, ¼ tsp ground ginger, ¼ tsp ground nutmeg, ¼ tsp ground cloves.
I prefer to use Philadelphia full fat cream cheese for the buttercream as it gives me the best results.
Although I provide cup measurements, I highly recommend weighing your ingredients out using digital kitchen scales*. It is the most accurate way to measure ingredients and will ensure the best results. Digital scales are very low cost and can be purchased for around £12 ($16.50) .
For teaspoon (tsp) and tablespoon (tbsp) measurements, please use measuring spoons* and not the type of spoons you eat with. Again this will ensure accuracy and provide the best results.

For the full recipe with measurements, head to the recipe card at the end of this post.

How to make Carrot Cake Cupcakes

To make the cupcakes start by soaking the raisins in the orange juice, set them aside whilte you prepare the other ingredients. Then mix together the eggs, vegetable oil and light brown sugar. Add the grated carrot and the raisin and orange juice mixture. and mix them in.

Add the self raising flour, wholemeal flour, mixed spice, cinnamon, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda, and mix them in. Finally, stir in the chopped pecans.

Divide the mixture between the cupcake cases and bake them for 25 minutes.

For the cream cheese frosting, beat the butter with an electric mixer until smooth, then mix in the icing sugar. Once that is smooth, mix in the cream cheese and vanilla extract until it's just mixed in. Be careful not to over mix as that can make it sloppy.

How should the cupcakes be stored and can they be frozen?

The cupcakes should be stored in an airtight container in the fridge and will last for 3-4 days. You can freeze the cupcakes either alone, or decorated (but do not freeze the carrot decorations). Once the cupcakes are fully cool, wrap them well with cling film or put them in an airtight container. You can freeze the cream cheese frosting on it’s own in a tub, or you can decorate the cupcakes and freeze them assembled. To do this and avoid damage to the decoration, freeze them either in an airtight container, or let them freeze solid on a cake board or plate, then wrap in cling film. Remove the cling film when you take them out to defrost, if you don’t it could damage the decoration as it defrosts and softens.

Can you make this recipe with plain/all purpose flour?

Self raising flour, which is very commonly used in the UK where I am based, already contains a raising agent and a little salt too. Therefore if you want to swap it for plain or all purpose flour, you will need to add some additional baking powder and also a little salt if you like. Some people like to add salt to cake recipes and some don't, so I'll leave that up to you as it won't affect the bake. The general advice is to add 2 teaspoons baking powder (a measuring teaspoon, not the kind you stir your coffee with) per every 200g plain or all purpose flour. So for this recipe you'd need to add 1 teaspoon baking powder. Please note, I have not tested this recipe using plain or all purpose flour.

Can this recipe be made gluten free?

Yes! For gluten free you can replace the self raising flour with a gluten free self raising flour blend, and the plain wholemeal flour with a gluten free plain flour blend. If you only have a gluten free plain flour blend, you will need to add additonal baking powder. The general advice is to add 2 tsp baking powder per 200g flour, so for this recipe you'd need to add 1 teaspoon baking powder. You may also like to add ¼ tsp Xanthan Gum for better texture.

Can this recipe be made dairy free?

Great news, the cupcakes are already dairy free! I haven't tried making the cream cheese frosting with dairy free substitutes so I don't know what the results will be. If you'd like to top them with a dairy free vanilla buttercream instead, you can find details on my Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes recipe.

Can this recipe be made nut free?

Yes, you can leave out the pecans and this will then be a nut free recipe. Please do check the labels of everything you use though in case of cross contamination.

Can this recipe be made into a cake?

For a cake version of this recipe, check out my Carrot Cake recipe!

What is the best way to grate the carrots?

You don't need to peel the carrots before you grate them, but you can if you want to. I use a box grater and grate it by hand. You can also grate the carrot using a food processor with a grating attachment. I also dont cut the top root off the carrot, hold onto that bit then you can grate them right up to it, then throw the root away.

Do you need an electric mixer to make the cupcakes?

No, in fact I find these cupcakes easier to make by hand with a hand whisk or spatula/spoon. You could use a stand mixer or an electric hand mixer, but keep it on a low speed to avoid over mixing.

More tips for making the Carrot Cake Cupcakes:

The pecans and raisins are optional, you don't have to include them if you don't want. You can also swap them for walnuts or sultanas.
If you can't get hold of the fondant carrots, you could decorate with a sprinkle of chopped pecans, leave them plain, or some candied carrot curls - check my Autumn Vegetable Cake for instructions on how to make them!
Carrot cake batter can be quite "wet" and hard to spoon into the cupcake cases. I like to put it in a jug and pour it into the cases, or put it in a piping bag and pipe it in them. It makes it so much easier and reduces the mess!
Make sure to store these cupcakes in the fridge once they've been frosted.

Troubleshooting

If you have any questions about this recipe, or if something went wrong and you need help, please use the comment form below and I will get back to you. You can also get in touch with me on my Twitter, Instagram or Facebook. I'd love to hear from you!

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