Cute Carrot Cake Cupcakes
Who says you can’t have cake and a generous serving of veggies at the same time? My newly updated carrot cake cupcake recipe is a joy to eat. Perfectly moist, scattered with delicious walnuts and topped with a swirl of my perfectly fluffy and totally pipeable cream cheese frosting!
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Nick’s favorite thing…
I love how adorable these cupcakes are. The little buttercream carrots sticking out the top are super easy to make. This cake is moist, and just an all-round easy and indulgent recipe to make!
What does carrot cake cupcake taste like?
The cupcake is moist, not too sweet. I love the little pockets of walnuts in there too. It’s a classic combination with carrot cake. The cream cheese frosting on top is creamy, perfectly pipeable and also not too sweet. The buttercream carrots are cute and easy to make.
What are the ingredients I need for the carrot cake cupcakes?
All-purpose flour – also known as plain flour
Sugar – granulated sugar or caster is fine.
Baking powder – this will help the cake rise and lighten
Bicarb soda – also known as bicarbonate of soda or baking soda.
Salt – I used fine salt
Cinnamon – I used powdered cinnamon
Oil – I used vegetable oil. Sunflower oil will also work.
Eggs – I used large eggs.
Walnuts – add a nice creamy nuttiness. Chopped is best.
Carrot – Peel and grate your carrots. Adds moisture to the cake and make it so yummy.
Cream cheese – make sure it’s cold for the frosting.
Unsalted butter – make sure it’s softened for the frosting.
Powdered sugar – also known as icing sugar.
Powdered milk – this helps stabilize the frosting and makes it creamy too. Slim or full fat will work. Can you leave it out? Yeah but the frosting won’t be as set and easy to pipe.
Vanilla Extract – Always use good quality vanilla extract when baking, it makes a huge difference. I have a great recipe here for it if you’d like to try your own!
American Buttercream Frosting – I have a really great recipe for this that you can grab here! It’s great for cupcake, cakes and buttercream decorations!
Food gel – I used chef master food gel.
My Top Tips!
- When making the buttercream carrots, make sure you use my American buttercream Frosting. It’s ideal when making 3d Buttercream Decorations.
- These cupcakes go perfectly with my cream cheese frosting!
Other Cupcake Recipes You Might Like!
- Carrot Cake Cupcakes
- Pupcakes – Dog Friendly Cupcakes
- Loukoumades Cupcakes
- Funfetti Cupcakes
- Paris Brest Cupcakes
- Strawberry Mango Margarita Cupcakes
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I hope you guys enjoyed this simple but delicious carrot cake cupcake recipe with me. Giving the recipe a 5-star ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating really helps out a lot. Please also feel free to join me in the comments section below. And feel free to share with your family and friends on social media.
I’ll see you all on the following recipe!
N x
Cute Carrot Cake Cupcakes
Serves 12
Ingredients
Carrot Cake Cupcakes
- 1 cup (160 g) all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup (160 g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp bicarb soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 2/3 cup (165 ml) vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup (150 g ) chopped walnuts
- 1 1/2 cups (300 g) grated carrots (aprox 2 1/2 carrots)
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 1 cup (250 g) cream cheese, softened
- 1 cup (250 g) unsalted butter, softened
- 2 cups (300 g) powdered sugar
- 1 1/2 cups (150 g) powdered milk (full fat or skim)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
Buttercream Decorations
- 1/2 batch American Buttercream Frosting
- 3 drops orange food gel
- 2 drops mint green food gel
Learn How To Make it! [VIDEO]
Instructions
Carrot Cake Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 160°C / 320°F degrees.
- To a medium mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl.
- Add the eggs and oil and mix until well combined. The batter will look thick at first, but that’s normal.
- Scrape down the bowl and add the walnuts. Mix until just combined, Stop the mixer and scrape down. Add the grated carrot until it’s mixed evenly. The batter will thin out and this is normal so don’t panic.
- Scoop the batter into the cupcake tin lined with cupcake liners. Fill 1/2 way. It’s important to not over fill these as they have a lot of raising agents in them (bicarb soda and baking powder) and will explode in your oven!
- Bake them for 20-30 min or until a skewer comes out clean. Set them aside on a cooling rack to cool completely before frosting
- Line a piping bag with a Wilton 6B FrenchStar Tip and fill with cream cheese frosting. Pipe in a swirl starting in the centre of the cupcake. To finish off sprinkle some cinnamon on top and some walnuts.
Buttercream Carrot Decorations
- To make the buttercream carrot decorations, split 1/2 a batch of American Buttercream frosting into two bowl.3/4 of the frosting in one bowl which you’ll color using orange food gel and the remaining frosting in the other bowl which you’ll color green. Once you’ve mixed each frosting and it’s evenly colored, transfer the orange frosting into a piping bag fitted with a medium sized round tip and the green frosting into a grass tip.
- Line a baking tray with baking paper. Add little dabs of frosting on the baking tray to help stick the paper to the tray so it doesn’t move around. Pipe 12 little 1-inch-tall stalks of orange frosting on the tray. Place the tray in the freezer to chill for 30 minutes (or fridge for 1 hour). Then carefully take the stalks off the baking tray one at a time and pipe green frosting on top for the leafy part of the carrot. Place the carrot on its side on the tray. Once you’ve finished all the carrot, place back in the freezer for 30 minutes or fridge for 60 minutes.
- To assemble the cupcakes, fit the end of a piping bag with a 6B piping tip and fill with the cream cheese frosting. Pipe each cupcake with a bulb of frosting and then cover with chopped walnuts. Pipe another single layer swirl of cream cheese frosting. Finish with the buttercream carrots.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- Place the cream cheese and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Alternatively, you can use a hand mixer. Mix on low speed to begin with, to help break up the cream cheese a little, then increase the speed to high for a couple of minutes to help combine the cream cheese and butter.
- After a couple of minutes, stop your mixer and scrape down the side of the bowl with a spatula. Add the icing sugar, powdered milk and vanilla. Mix on low speed until the dry ingredients are fully incorporated, then bring the speed back up to high. Continue beating on high speed until your frosting is fluffy and turns pale in color.
Notes
Nutrition
4 comments
They taste amazing 😋😋 had to double the recipe the second time as they were eaten way to fast 🤩👍🏻
Hi Julia! Haha, that’s so funny and so lovely to hear! Glad you enjoyed the recipe! N x
Can I use this recipe for a cake also?
Sure! But I would recommend trying my carrot cake recipe! N x