Carrot Cake Cupcakes

One of the most frequently requested desserts is to make carrot cake. For Thanksgiving I made cream cheese stuffed carrot cake cupcakes. They were pleasing to the eye and to the mouth. The recipe is based off of Paula Deen's carrot cake recipe, though I've altered the amount of several ingredients.

Ingredients

Carrot Cake

2 cups of all purpose flour

1.5 cups of white sugar

2 teaspoons of baking soda

1 tablespoon of cinnamon

1 teaspoon of salt

4 eggs

3/4 cup of vegetable oil

3/4 cup of unsweetened applesauce

3 cups of grated carrots

1 cup of chopped walnuts

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 stick of butter

1 (8 oz) package of cream cheese

4 cups of powdered sugar

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Yields 30-36 cupcakes.

Directions

Peel and grate carrots. If you have a food processor with a shredder attachment, you can use baby carrots and do this step in less than a minute. Otherwise, get ready for some orange hands.

Because peeling and grating carrots can be time consuming, I often do this step ahead of time and store the grated carrots in the fridge. I simply put a damp washcloth on top and store them in a Tupperware container so they don't dry out.

Mix all the dry ingredients together.

In a separate bowl, mix the wet ingredients.

Combine the wet and dry ingredients thoroughly, then add the grated carrots and walnuts.

Pour batter into cupcake pan. Either use baking spray or cupcake liners.

Bake for 22 minutes at 350 degrees. While cupcakes cool, make frosting.

If cream cheese and butter are not room temperature, soften in the microwave for 30-45 seconds.

Mix cream cheese and butter in stand mixer, then add powdered sugar one cup at a time. Then add vanilla.

To fill and decorate the cupcakes, I use the two tips below. Neither tip can be used with a coupler, so you can use a piping bag or simply a Ziploc bag.

Tip #230 is specifically used for stuffing cupcakes. Fill your bag halfway with frosting. Push the tip almost to the bottom of the cupcake, and gently squeeze the bag while lifting the tip up.

After filling each cupcake, cover them with icing however you want.

I like the look of the 1M tip because it makes a pretty rose with a mere swirl of the wrist.

The end result is a beautiful, decadent cupcake.

I always store in the refrigerator since cream cheese icing softens very quickly.