I love carrot cake and so does my husband. I’ve never actually made one myself before. I’d always thought it was too much work. Then I became so obssessed with macaron baking that attempting a carrot cake seemed so easy. It actually is pretty easy though. If you cam bake a standard cupcake you can bake these! The only hard part is grating the carrot. Many people have told me they like to use food processors and other tools to help speed the process up. I personally like to keep my gadget use low. I am firmly in love with my Kitchen Aid Mixer and my Kitchen Aid Hand Mixer, but other than that I prefer to do the rest of my prep work by hand.
A couple fun things about this recipe. One, it’s nearly fool proof. You don’t have to worry about what order you put things into the mixer. Yes, it’s standard practice to always mix wet ingredients first and then add the dry ingredients, but if you end up making a mistake it will be just fine. The second is the carrots themselves. If you grate them with a fine grater as I have you will end up baking the carrots to a point where they don’t even taste stringy or solid they become “one” with the cupcake. Whereas if you do decide to use a larger grater you’ll have a chunkier consistency. Which I personally don’t love but I know many people enjoy that. So play with the recipe a little bit and if your one to be averse to spice feel free to omit the cayenne. I do think it give a fun little kick to an otherwise very traditional cake.
Carrot Cake
Equipment
- Fine Grater
- Assorted Bowls
- Stand Mixer with Paddle Attatchment or Large Bowl and Spoon
- Cupcake Pan
- Spatula
- Cupcake Liners (optional)
- Piping Bag and Tips (optional)
Ingredients
Cake
- 2 cups All Purpose Flour
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- ½ tsp Salt
- 2 tsp Cinnamon
- 4 large Eggs
- 1¼ cup Canola Oil
- 1 cup Granulated Sugar
- 1 cup Brown Sugar
- 3 cups Carrots peeled and grated
- 1 tsp Bourbon I used Elijah Craig - optional
- ¼ tsp Ginger
- ¼ tsp Nutmeg
- ¼ tsp Allspice
- 1 pinch Cayenne
Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting
- ½-1 cup Powdered Sugar to taste
- ½ cup Butter
- ½ cup Cream Cheese
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract Increase or decrease to taste
- 1 tsp Bourbon optional
Instructions
Prep
- Peel and grate carrots.
- Add oil and sugar to mixer on low speed.
- Add eggs and remaining liquid ingredients.
- Add grated carrots to mixer.
- Add dry ingredients to mixer.
Bake
- Bake in the oven for 35 minutes at 350 degrees F.
- Remove cakes when toothpick comes out clean.
- Flip cakes out of pan and allow to rest on cooling rack until completely cool.
Frost
- Mix Butter and cream cheese together with hand mixer or bowl and spoon.
- Slowly Add powdered sugar stopping when desired sweetness is reached.
- Add vanilla extract and bourbon.
- Fill the piping bags with frosting.
- Frost the cupcakes as desired.
If you try this sweet little number at me in your instagram comments @chakablanford or comment below or email me! I love seeing how your bakes turn out!
