these cute little carrot cupcakes made everyone happy however, there was a sad little batch of cupcakes i made before these that did not make the cut.
but first... look at this cute apron i wore for this cupcake adventure! my mother-in-law surprised me with it a few weeks ago! it matches the cute tea-towels i received for christmas.
so anyway, i wanted to make some chocolate carrot cupcakes. this recipe looked interesting because it was vegan and it used whole wheat flour.
as soon as i started to mix the batter together, i knew there was little hope for these cupcakes. they just smelled kind of funky. however, i still finished the project and baked them up. they turned out gross. they were really dense and had the flavor of what i imagine cinnamon mud tastes like. 
after my cupcake disaster, i opted for a little easier, fail proof choice. i used a cake mix. i used the recipe on the side of the duncan hines spice cake mix and made the old fashioned applesauce spice cake. I added some nuts and carrots in the batter to turn it into carrot cupcakes. 
these came out good! i topped them off with some cream cheese frosting and candy coated walnuts. 
i also added a few of carrots made out of fondant.
my husband took the cupcakes to work with him to share :) i still really want to try a successful chocolate carrot cake recipe. does anyone have suggestions?
I love your blog too, I seriously drool everytime I visit!
ReplyDeleteThis one is really good. It's from VWAV by Isa Chandra. I have not made it in cupcake form yet, but it's a yummy cake.
ReplyDeleteGinger-Macadamia-Coconut-Carrot Cake
2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground or freshly grated nutmeg
1 cup pineapple juice
1/2 cup canola oil
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup macadamia nuts, roughly chopped
1/4 cup crystallized ginger, chopped
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
2 cups carrots, grated
Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease two 8-inch round springform cake pans, or one 9×13″ baking pan.
In a medium mixing bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and ground spices.
In a large mixing bowl, mix the pineapple juice, oil, sugar, maple syrup, and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and combine well with a hand mixer or strong fork. Fold in the macadamias, ginger, coconut, and carrots.
Divide the batter evenly between the two round pans, or spread in the rectangular pan, and bake for 40-45 minutes. Let it cool in the pans. Once it is cool, remove from the pans and put coconut icing (recipe to follow) between the layers and more icing on top. If you’ve used a rectangular pan, you can cut the cake in half to form the two layers, or leave it as one layer.
Coconut Icing:
1/4 cup margarine at room temperature (earth balance brand is vegan!)
1/4 cup coconut milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
Cream the frosting until light and fluffy. Add the coconut milk and vanilla and combine. Add the confectioners sugar and mix until smooth. Hand held mixer recommended for this! Add the coconut, mix to combine, and refrigerate until ready to use.
They look really pretty. Too bad you didn't care for them. The frosting looks sooo good!
ReplyDeleteCarrot cake is one of my favorite things in the world. :)
ReplyDeleteOn the To Do now, I think.
OMG I LOVE your BLOG! You're a girl after my own heart! Your blog makes me want to bake cupcakes everyday!
ReplyDeletecute little cupcakes!
ReplyDelete