Basic? Probably. Still worth making? Obviously. Carrot cake is just one of those things that I’ve loved since childhood. It’s one of the few dessert recipes my mom can make repeatably well (her apple crisp is the other one that stands out in my mind), and we would have it every Thanksgiving growing up. My mom would make it as a sheet cake, but I updated the baking method for a cupcake application so that I could try to prolong eating a whole cake, maybe by splitting it into two or three sittings? Clearly I ate all the cupcakes the minute I was finished with their photo shoot; So much for goals.
That being said, I like this recipe as a cupcake. They come out pretty spongy and bouncy, but not dry. The most most most important thing is that the frosting ingredients are all room temp and completely softened before they are mixed, and that you don’t over-mix them before adding the sugar. It’s super easy to separate cream cheese frosting, but if you follow the instructions below, there shouldn’t be any problems. The other important part is the seasoning - If you leave out the salt, you might as well just throw everything in the trash. It’ll be wayyyyyyy too sweet without the salt, so the amounts below might seem high but believe me, they are totally essential. And remember, if you can, try not to eat them all in one go.
Butter Count: 8 Tbsp
CREAM CHEESE FROSTING:
8 Tbsp butter, completely softened at room temp
8 oz brick of cream cheese, completely softened at room temp
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
500g powdered sugar
Place the butter and cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer fit with a whisk attachment. Whisk at medium-high speed until the butter and cream cheese are completely combined with no lumps.
Add the vanilla extract and salt with the mixer still on, lowering the speed to avoid splatter.
Decrease the speed to low and add the powdered sugar, about 1 Tbsp at a time. When all of the sugar is added, scrape down the sides of the bowls with a rubber spatula and then increase the speed to high for about 30 seconds.
NOTE: If the mixture is still too loose, do not continue to mix on high - just add more powdered sugar about 1 Tbsp at a time with the speed on low until the mixture is your preferred thickness.
Cover and refrigerate the mixture for at least 2 hours.
CUPCAKES:
2 eggs
220g light brown sugar
150g canola oil
3 Tbsp buttermilk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
160g all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp ginger powder
260g shredded carrots
50g chopped walnuts
INSTRUCTIONS:
Butter and flour a 12-cup muffin tin. Place a paper liner into each cup.
In a stand mixer fit with a whisk attachment, whip the eggs and brown sugar on medium-high speed until the mixture has lightened in color and it is slightly thickened, about 3 minutes. Decrease the speed to the lowest setting.
Lightly whisk the oil, buttermilk, and vanilla in a small bowl, and slowly add it to the sugar and butter mixture. When the ingredients are all incorporated, stop the mixer.
Preheat the oven to 350F.
Sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and ginger into a bowl.Fold the dry ingredients into the wet using a rubber spatula. When the batter is uniform, divide it evenly into the prepared paper liners.
Bake about 50 minutes until a toothpick or a metal skewer inserted into the center of the largest one comes out clean. Remove the cupcakes from the oven and cool them completely in the tin on a wire rack.
ASSEMBLY:
Wait for the cupcakes to cool completely.
Fit a piping bag with a pretty large-diameter piping tip. Fill the bag with the cream cheese frosting, and pipe as much frosting as you can on each cupcake in whatever pattern you want.
Eat 12 cupcakes.