Today, March 22nd, is the birthday of one the most awesome teachers in all existence. Her name is Sally Haggis, and I knew I had to deliver a kick-ass cupcake to congratulate her. I already knew she was a big fan of carrot cake through my painstaking research (I asked her what her favorite cake was). So I set out to find the greatest carrot cake recipe that I could make cupcakes out of. I then had to find a truly incredible frosting to accompany it. The carrot cupcake features the use of crushed pineapple and applesauce for great moisture and flavor, and the cream cheese frosting has a nice maple syrup twist – how delightfully Canadian. The end results were pretty spectacular, in my humble opinion, and hugs and smiles were shared. Here’s the legendary recipe:
Maple Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
- 2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Beat cream cheese and butter in large bowl until smooth. Add powdered sugar, syrup, and vanilla; beat until smooth. There is a chance that this frosting might be a bit runny, as it happened to me. In this case, add the frosting, little at a time, to a separate bowl of icing sugar until you reach your desired consistency.
Carrot Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 4 eggs
- 3/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup apple sauce
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 8-oz. can of crushed pineapple, well drained
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- Small pinch of ground cloves
- 3 cups grated carrots
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a large bowl, beat together eggs, oil, apple sauce, sugars, pineapple and 2 teaspoons vanilla.
- Mix in flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and small pinch of ground cloves.
- Stir in carrots, until well blended.
- Line cupcake tray with liners. Fill each liner 3/4 full.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 18-20 min. Let cupcakes cool completely. While cooling, prepare frosting.
Cupcake recipe from:
http://half-bakedbaker.blogspot.ca/2011/11/best-ever-carrot-cake-cupcakes.html
Frosting recipe from:
http://www.epicurious.com:80/recipes/food/views/Maple-Cream-Cheese-Icing-104851#ixzz1pUZmcpUD
calvindsilva 