Short & Sweet: A family favourite

A family favourite

As exams are finally over, I thought I'd share one of my favourite classic recipes. This simple, yet delicious carrot cake is bound to be a family favourite, with the smooth cream cheese icing being a perfect match with the fruity, moist sponge.

Carrot cupcakes

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 15 minutes

Serves: 5 cupcakes

Ingredients:

For the cake:

150g softened butter
75g caster sugar
75g light brown sugar
3 free range eggs
150g self raising flour
100g grated carrots
50g chopped walnuts
50g raisins/sultanas (optional~coat in flour to prevent them from sinking)
grated orange zest
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

For the cream cheese icing:

50g full fat cream cheese
50g softened butter
200g icing sugar

Method:

Firstly, preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius and line a cupcake tray with 5 cupcake cases (the number of cupcakes may vary slightly depending on how big you make them).

Next, place the butter and sugars into a bowl and mix together until they are of a creamy, smooth consistency.

Add in the eggs one at a time, ensuring you mix well between each addition to ensure enough air is incorporated. This is a key part of the process as if this isn't done your carrot cake could be quite heavy, and stogey.

Grate the carrot(s), and chop the walnuts (into small pieces), and add to the mixture, along with the orange zest. Here you can also add sultanas or raisins if you wish, make sure you coat these in a small amount of flour before adding them to make sure they do not sink to the bottom of the cakes when cooking.

Finally, sift in the flour and cinnamon, and fold in gently until all the ingredients are fully combined.

Fill each cupcake case until they are 2/3 of the way full (i use an ice cream scoop as this is a good measurement).

Place into the oven to cook for 15-20 minutes, or until springy to touch and cooked all the way through. Once done place on a wire cooling rack to cool completely.

To make the cream cheese icing, place the butter and cream cheese into a bowl and combine until they are smooth. It is important full fat cream cheese is used as reduced fat will be too watery and will not make a thick buttercream.

Next sift in the icing sugar and carefully mix together until a thick, smooth buttercream is made.

You can decorate these delicious carrot cakes however you like, but if you'd like to replicate mine I used two spoons to create a round 'blob' of icing and carefully placed it on top of each cake. This can alternatively be done with a large piping nozzle or a leaver ice cream scoop. I then placed a small carrot on top, and a walnut to decorate.

And there it is, a super easy, and delicious recipe, sure to be a crowd pleaser. Happy Baking!

A family favourite

Carrot cupcakes

Ingredients:

Method:

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