This carrot cake recipe is a family favorite. The cake is very tender and moist and has a little extra spice with ginger and nutmeg. Top it all off with cream cheese frosting and candied carrot curls and you have something wonderful to share with family and friends.
Preparation:
Cook:
Level: Intermediate
Ingredients
- FOR THE CUPCAKES:
- 1-½ cup Grated carrots
- 1 cup Granulated sugar
- 1 cup Flour
- 2 teaspoons Cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoons Nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoons Grounded ginger
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon Baking soda
- ½ cups Canola oil
- 2 whole Eggs
- FOR THE GLAZE:
- 1 block (8 oz size) Cream cheese, room temperature
- 1 stick Butter, room temperature
- 5 cups Granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla
- 2 tablespoons Milk
- FOR THE CANDIED CARROT FRUITS:
- 2 whole Carrots
- 1-¼ cup Granulated sugar, divided
- 1 cup Water
Preparation
For the cupcakes:
Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Prepare cupcake liners by placing a cupcake liner or cupcake tin in each well and lightly spraying the inside with cooking spray.
Peel and grate the carrots. I use a food processor with a grating blade to make it faster.
In the large bowl of a mixer, combine the dry ingredients: sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, salt and baking soda. Mix oil and eggs until fully incorporated. Add the carrots and mix. Spoon an equal amount of batter into each cupcake pan.
Bake for 20-25 minutes (in my oven they took 22 minutes). Let the cupcakes cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes, then take them out to cool and decorate.
When the cake is completely cooled, they are ready to be frosted.
For the cream cheese frosting:
Let the cream cheese and butter sit for about 1 hour to soften and come to room temperature.
In the bowl of a mixer, cream the cream cheese and butter. Add powdered sugar, vanilla and milk. Blend on medium-high speed until frosting is smooth and fluffy. Then pipe a round swirl of frosting onto each cupcake using a large star tip or spread 2 tablespoons onto each cupcake with a butter knife. If desired, you can decorate the tops with candied carrot curls.
For the candied carrot loops:
Preheat the oven to 200ºF.
To make the carrot peel loops, take a vegetable peeler and peel 15 to 20 carrot strips or ribbons lengthwise. Bring 1 cup of sugar and water to a boil in a small saucepan. Add the carrots and lower the heat to medium-low and cook for 15 minutes. Remove the peels from the mold using a slotted spoon.
Lay the carrot ribbons flat on a parchment-lined baking sheet or jelly roll pan. Bake for 25 minutes. The carrots will start to look translucent and will be firm enough to hold their shape.
While the carrots are still warm, work quickly to wrap ribbons of carrots around a wooden spoon handle. You can adjust how tight you want the curls to be. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup granulated sugar. Use to top frosted cupcakes.
Note: If you want to see how to make these carrot curls, click on the corresponding blog link to see a short video that walks you through step by step.
