Carrot Cake Cupcakes

 These CARROT CAKE CUPCAKES are moist, flavorful, nutty, and sweet, with a hint of spice! Paired with the most wonderful light and fluffy cream cheese frosting. The perfect dessert for Spring and Easter!

If you read my blog last week, you know how excited I am for spring to make its appearance.

I am also getting super pumped for SPRING BAKING!  From lemon bars to berry chantilly cake, I love using in-season ingredients to naturally sweeten my treats.  Spring desserts also have a fresher, lighter flavor and I sure know my waistline could use some lighter treats this time of year. 🙂 Follow my Spring Baking Pinterest Board for more inspiration!

However, I am MOST excited about these carrot cake cupcakes.  Which, I know, is super controversial… you either love carrot cake or you can’t stand it.  There are a lot of different variations out there, so I’m thinking the haters haven’t tried my version. 🙂

How cute is this wooden cake stand with beading detail in my photos?  Magnolia, of course.  Chip and Jo might take over the world one day.

This recipe has a slightly odd cast of characters, but they come together beautifully to create a moist, flavorful, sweet and spicy cake.  I call my recipe the “tropical” version, as it has flaked coconut and crushed pineapple, which adds a little moisture and offsets the warmth and spice of the cinnamon.  I also love the nutty flavor that comes through from the walnuts and the coconut!

I may be just as excited about the frosting as I am about the cake.  I have finally perfected my cream cheese frosting and it is creamy yet light, sweet yet tangy, and insanely delicious… the PERFECT pair for these sweet, spicy, nutty cupcakes!  I have found that using vanilla bean paste over extract is key here.  The paste adds a deeper, smoother flavor than the extract and offsets some of the tang of the cream cheese.  Vanilla bean paste is a tad pricier than extract, but it is totally worth it here!  I use Silver Cloud Estates vanilla bean paste, which is out of stock on Amazon, but LorAnn Oils and Nielsen Massey are other great options.

As much as I love the frosting, I’ve also eaten these without it (carrot cake muffin?) and they are delish.

These would be the perfect thing to make for Easter weekend!  I decorated half of my cupcakes with a carrot on top and left the other half blank, just to have a mix.  Another note- this recipe can be used for a 3 layer 8-inch cake!  You will need to adjust the baking time to 50 – 55 minutes.

Happy spring baking friends!!!

Print

Carrot Cake Cupcakes

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword Carrot cake cupcakes, Easter cupcakes

Prep Time 40 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 1 hour

Servings 24 cupcakes

Ingredients

For Cupcakes:

• 2 cups sugar
• 1 ½ cups vegetable oil
• 4 eggs room temperature
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups shredded carrots
• 2 cups flaked sweetened coconut
• 1 8- ounce can crushed pineapple drained
• 1 cup chopped walnuts

For Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 1 cup unsalted butter 2 sticks, room temperature
• 1 8- ounce cream cheese brick, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
• 6-8 cups powdered sugar
• 1-3 tablespoons hot water nn 6+l;[]7/*-+

For decorating:

• Toasted coconut about 1 cup
• Chopped walnuts about 1 cup
• Gel food coloring- green & orange
• Wilton tips #1M #12, #103
• 3 piping bags 1 large, two small

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line cupcake pan with liners.
2. Using your electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat vegetable oil and sugar until well combined. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat until well combined. Add vanilla and beat to combine.
3. In a medium size bowl, add flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt, and whisk to combine. With your mixer on LOW speed, add flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined (do not overmix).
4. With a spatula, fold in shredded carrots, coconut, crushed pineapple, and walnuts. Again, do not overmix.
5. Pour batter into each cupcake liner until ¾ full and bake for 18-24 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of one comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool for a few minutes in the pan, then remove to cooling rack to cool completely.
6. To make the frosting, beat the butter, cream cheese, and vanilla paste with your electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on medium speed for 1-2 minutes. Add salt and 3 cups of powdered sugar and beat on low speed until combined. Add an additional 3 cups of powdered sugar and beat on low until combined. If desired, add another 2 cups of powdered sugar, then add 1 or 2 tablespoons of hot water and mix on low to medium speed for 5-10 minutes, or until frosting is light and fluffy. If frosting is too thick, add another tablespoon of water. If frosting is too thin, add more powdered sugar.
7. To decorate, spread out toasted coconut and walnuts on a baking sheet. Add 75% of the frosting to the large piping bag fitted with tip #1M. Starting in the middle of the cupcake, make a circular motion around the top. Roll the edges of the frosted cupcake in the coconut and walnuts. Repeat with each cupcake.
8. Using the remaining frosting, divide into two small bowls. Add a few drops of green coloring to one bowl, and orange to the other. Add the orange frosting to a small piping bag fitted with tip #12, and add the green frosting to a small piping bag fitted with tip #103. In a back and forth motion (to resemble ridges of a carrot), pipe orange frosting on top of each cupcake to make a carrot shape (larger at top, smaller at bottom). With the green frosting, pipe two lines to resemble the top of a carrot.

Recipe Notes

Adapted from the Peach Tree Tea Room Cookbook by Cynthia Collins Pedregon