Carrot Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

I made these delicious carrot cake cupcakes and cream cheese frosting for my Easter dessert this year although they are good anytime of the year. I used Ellie Krieger's Carrot Cupcake recipe and combined it with The Cake Boss, Buddy Valastro's Cream Cheese Frosting recipe. The cupcakes are super moist thanks to the applesauce and pack a lot of delicious flavor especially with the cream cheese frosting. Buddy's cream cheese frosting recipes makes the best cream cheese frosting I have ever tasted! A little tip if you aren't a fan of nutmeg then use half of what the recipe calls for. It does have a strong nutmeg flavor. If you want to have cupcakes that have big swirls of frosting like mine use a 1M tip and a piping bag. It is super easy and it looks pretty too! I garnished my carrot cupcake with crushed walnuts it looks pretty and tastes great too!

The pictures are of my finished cream cheese carrot cake cupcakes. (The recipes are below along with step-by-step instructions on how to frost a cupcake with a swirl with a Wilton 1M decorating tip.)

Carrot Cupcakes

recipe by Ellie Krieger,  food network

Makes 12 cupcakes

Ingredients:                                                                   

• 3/4 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Pinch ground nutmeg
• 3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups finely shredded carrots (about 2 medium carrots, peeled)
• 1/2 cup natural applesauce
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons finely chopped walnuts

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line 12 standard muffin cups with paper cupcake liners.

Sift together the flours, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. In a large stand mixer with the paddle attachment, combine the brown sugar, oil and eggs until well combined. Add the carrots, applesauce and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients and mix until combined. Stir in 1/4 cup of the chopped walnuts.

Divide the batter among the muffin cups. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Cream Cheese Frosting

recipe by:The Cake Boss, Buddy Valastro, TLC

 yields about 1-1/2 cups icing

Ingredients:

• 16 ounces of cream cheese
• 8 tbsp unsalted butter, softened at room temp
• 1 tsp pure vanilla
• 2 cups powdered (10x) sugar, sifted

Directions:

Beat cream cheese, butter and vanilla in large bowl with electric mixer at medium speed until smooth, scraping down side of bowl occasionally. Gradually add powdered sugar. Beat at low speed until well blended, scraping down side of bowl occasionally.

 How to Ice a Cupcake Using a 1M Wilton tip

From: Wilton.com

Supplies: 

•  Wilton 1M Swirl Tip

 

• Wilton disposable Decorating Bags 

Place a 1M tip in a disposable piping bag and drop the tip to the bottom take a pair of scissors and run the blade around the bag 

Instructions:

Step 1

Hold tip 1M approximately ½ in. above cupcake top at a 90° angle to cupcake surface. Squeeze out icing to form a star.

Step 2

Without releasing pressure, raise tip slightly as you drop a line of icing around the star in a tight, complete rotation.

Step 3

After completing the first rotation, move tip toward center and up and around to make a second spiral around the inside edge of the first spiral.

Step 4

Release pressure to end spiral at center of cupcake.

recipes by Ellie Krieger and Buddy Valastro
frosting a cupcake with a 1M tip from wilton.com
cupcake photos by Julie Hodges (me)