Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

 

I have used this recipe many times to make cakes, however this time I altered it slightly by leaving out the walnuts and used raw cacao in place of cocoa powder. I used the batter to make 24 cupcakes and also a 2 layer 6" cake for Max's Birthday. If you like carrot cake, you will love this recipe!

Carrot Cake Cupcakes:

1 cup dark raisins
1 pound carrots (to make 4 cups shredded, firmly packed)
2 cups minus 2 tablespoons sifted all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon raw cacao or unsweetened cocoa powder
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
11/4 cups corn oil

Cream Cheese frosting:

16 ounces Philadelphia-brand cream cheese at room temperature
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups sifted confectioner's sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line the muffin tins with cupcake liners.
Steam the raisins: place them in a steamer basket over shallow water in saucepan. Cover the pan, place on high heat and let the water boil for about 10 minutes. Uncover and set aside.
Wash, dry, and peel the carrots. The carrots can be grated on a metal grater or in the food processor.
Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and  raw cacao together and set aside.
In a large bowl beat the eggs. Beat in vanilla, both of the sugars, and the oil. Next on a low speed, add the dry ingredients and mix until just incorporated. 

Stir in the carrots and raisins.
Scoop the batter into the muffin pans. Bake for 18 to 22 minutes. The top of the cupcakes should spring back when gently touched with your fingertip.
Remove from the oven and let stand for a few minutes before removing the cupcakes from the pans.

To make the frosting: In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter until smooth. On a low speed beat in the vanilla and confectioner's sugar. Then beat on high for a few minutes, until smooth.

Recipe modified from Maida Heatter's book Maida Heatter's Cakes. 

 

Lasagna Cupcakes

I came across this recipe on Pinterest via The Girl Who Ate Everything. This recipe is super easy to follow, I adjusted it slightly to make more of them. These little lasagnas would be great as an appetizer at a party or an easy dinner to prep at home to take to someone for a meal. You can find the recipe here to make 6 cupcakes or follow along below; I made 18 standard sized lasagna cupcakes.You could also alter the recipe to make your favorite kind of lasagna.

Ingredients:

• 16 oz jar of marinara sauce or 2 cups of homemade marinara sauce.
• 1 lb of ground beef or turkey
• 36 wonton wrappers (find in the produce section of the grocery store, in the refrigerated section)
• 8-12 oz shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 1/4 cups freshly grated parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
• Basil, for garnish (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and grease your muffin tins.

2. Brown your ground beef or turkey over medium high heat until browned. Add Salt and Pepper.

3. Cut wonton wrappers with a drinking glass or round cookie cutter.

4. Start layering your lasagna cupcakes. First place a wonton wrapper into the bottom of each muffin tin. Sprinkle a little Parmesan cheese, Ricotta cheese, and mozzarella cheese on top. Then top with some meat and marinara sauce. You can add the ingredients to your taste. I added about 1-2 teaspoons of the cheeses and about 1-2 tablespoons of the meat and sauce for each layer.

5. Repeat step 4 and once you end with the marinara sauce you will add more Parmesan and mozzarella cheese on top of each cupcake.

6. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until the edges are golden brown.

7. Remove from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes before removing from the muffin tins. Run a knife along the edges to loosen.

8. Garnish with basil and serve.

Payton's Shabby Chic 1st Birthday Party

Cupcake Dummies

I ordered some cupcake dummies a while ago from The Bakers Nook and finally got around to making some fake cupcakes today. Some of you might be wondering why I would want fake cupcakes...I want to have some to display on cake plates that I am going to be selling. They also just look cute to display in the kitchen! However, I am not sure that is a good idea in our house. Hudson kept asking to taste the frosting the whole time I was making them, and could not grasp the fact that they aren't real. I don't blame him, they look like they would taste delicious! Here's what you'll need to make some:

• Cupcake dummies (I ordered mine here for .79 cents each, or you can make some be following this tutorial at Viv's Whimsy)
• Lightweight Spackle (i bought a 32oz container and had lots leftover after frosting 6 cupcakes)
• Frosting Tips (1M and 2D)
• Frosting Bags or Ziploc bags (I used two 10" Wilton frosting bags)
• Food Coloring 
• Decorations(beads, glitter, cupcake toppers, ect.)

Here are the supplies that I used.

First place some of the spackle in a small bowl and add just a couple drops of food coloring, I used pink.

Stir in the food coloring until the color is well blended. You also want to make sure to stir both the white and the colored spackle to get ride of any air pockets. If you don't stir it before placing it into the bags it may not come out smooth. Place your tips in the bags and then fill with the spackle. (If you are using a ziploc baggie, just snip the corner off one side of the baggie and then drop your tip in.) I used two 10" bags, one for the pink spackle and one for the white. You can frost about 4-5 cupcakes with once full 10" frosting bag.

When I frosted the white cupcakes i first made a small mound on top of the cupcake dummy with the spackle.

Then I frosted on top of the mound using the frosting tip M1. I started from the outside edge and worked my way around into the middle of the cupcake. You can always scrape off the spackle and start over if you don't like the way it turns out. The spackle will start to dry out, but not that fast. Just make sure to rinse out your frosting tips and bags right after you're finished.

I frosted the pink cupcakes a little differently, I used the frosting tip 2D. To give it the look of a rose you start at the center instead of the edge, then work your way around and out. I also did not make a mound of frosting, so these are flatter in appearance.

I left my cupcakes undecorated, but you could use small beads or glitter to decorate them. You could even insert cupcake toppers or candles. I placed mine inside of some polka dot cupcake liners that i ordered from Bakers Confections. They may take a couple days to fully set.

Linking up at:  
Craft-O-Maniac,  
Skip to My Lou,  
Life Made Lovely,
Marvelously Messy,
Sumo's Sweet Stuff,
Tip Junkie,
Pressed Down, Shaken Together- Cupcake Month

Cupcake Fondue

This is a really cute idea! I found it on Pizzazzerie, and it is created by Amanda Krueger of Bake it Pretty. You can find the recipe and all the details here. This would be really fun for a little girls birthday party!

Graduation Cupcakes

You'll need Reese's Peanut Butter cups, Airhead Xtremes, mini M&M's, and at first I bought Ghirardelli chocolate squares for the caps, but they were a little too big. So I made my own chocolate squares using chocolate candiquik.

I made the chocolate squares just how I made them for the cake pops with square molds. And you will need some of the melted chocolate to fasten everything together.

Peel the wrappers off of the Reese's, but it helps if you stick them in the freezer first. Then the chocolate won't stick to the wrappers. Cut the Airhead Xtremes into pieces, pop your chocolate squares out of the molds, and then you're ready to assemble your caps.

Valentine's Day Cupcake

Made some cupcakes for Amy's Birthday and decorated these for Valentine's Day. They are vanilla cupcakes with vanilla butter cream frosting, and they have a raspberry mousse filling. I piped on the hearts on top with some raspberry preserve. Then I rolled the edges of the cupcakes in white sanding sugar from Williams Sonoma. The cupcake liners are by Meri Meri, and can be found at Francesca's Collections. Happy Valentine's Day!

Coconut Cupcakes

I made some coconut cupcakes for the first time this weekend for a winter themed baby shower. The shower was themed with snowflakes, the colors blue, white, and silver, and sparkly decorations. I tried to make the cupcakes fit right into that. I used a coconut cupcake recipe by Martha Stewart and topped them with cream cheese frosting. I topped some of the cupcakes with coconut that I tinted blue with an edible blue luster dust and the other half I topped with plain white shredded coconut. I decorated the tops with snowflakes that I piped out of melted Almond Bark. I placed the melted almond bark in a decorating bag with a tip #2. I piped the snowflakes onto wax paper and let them set in the refrigerator. Once they set I dusted them with blue and white shimmery luster dust and placed them on top of the cupcakes.

Makes 2 dozen

• 3 cups cake flour (not self-rising)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 sticks (1 1/2 cups) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 1/4 cups sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 8 large egg whites
• 1 1/4 cups shredded sweetened coconut
• shredded sweetened coconut for garnish

 Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two standard 12-cup muffin pans with paper liners; set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and 2 cups sugar until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes, scraping down sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in vanilla. With mixer on low speed, add flour mixture in three parts, alternating with the milk and beginning and ending with the flour; beat until just combined. Transfer mixture to a large bowl; set aside.
4. In the clean bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat egg whites on low speed until foamy. With mixer running, gradually add remaining 1/4 cup sugar; beat on high speed until stiff, glossy peaks form, about 4 minutes. Do not overbeat. Gently fold a third of the egg-white mixture into the butter-flour mixture until combined. Gently fold in remaining egg-white mixture; stir in shredded coconut.
5. Divide batter evenly among the muffin cups, filling each with a heaping 1/4 cup batter. Bake, rotating pans halfway through, until the cupcakes are golden brown and a cake tester inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer pans to a wire rack. Invert cupcakes onto rack; then reinvert and let cool completely, top sides up. Frost cupcakes with seven minute frosting, swirling to cover. Cupcakes may be stored in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Garnish with fresh coconut just before serving.

From The Martha Stewart Show, March 2008

Read more at Marthastewart.com: Coconut Cupcakes - Martha Stewart Recipes

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