Carrot Cupcakes

I was having a party for Tokio's birthday and asked Chris, in jest, if Tokio, who loves carrots, would like a carrot cake. Chris replied, independently looking at the Smitten Kitchen recipe I was considering, she (he!) would love one! The recipe that follows is loosely based on this recipe. The SK recipe calls for 3 cups of grated carrots but does not specify loose or packed. Unpacked a cup weights approximately 3.9 ounces, packed, 4.9. I give weights for carrots along with flour and sugar.

Per SK suggestion, I did grate the carrots by hand. Planning on having hummus and carrots as an hors d'oeuvre, I saved my knuckles and one end of the carrot to use for carrot sticks.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 24 cupcake molds with papers, or butter and flour them. Whisk in a small bowl until well blended: 

      10.5 oz flour

      2 t baking soda

      1/2 t salt (I omit)

      2 t ground cinnamon

      1 t ground ginger

Whisk in a large bowl until well blended: 

       14 oz sugar

       1 1/4 c canola oil

       4 eggs, 1 at a time breaking into a small dish first.

Add flour mixture to the wet mixture and whisk until well blended

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Add and mix until well blended: 

        12.5 oz grated carrots

        1 c coarsely chopped walnuts 

        1 c raisins.

Distribute batter among the 24 cups. Bake for 14 - 18 minutes or until a small metal skewer inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean.

MAPLE CREAM CHEESE FROSTING 

SK does a piped frosting that puts a lot of frosting on each cupcake. I planned on a more modest amount of less sweet frosting and modified the recipe accordingly. Because I cut down on the sugar but not the maple syrup or butter the frosting is not as firm and would probably not lend itself to piping. If you like things on the sweet side you may want to increase the sugar up to 1 1/2 c per the SK proportions. No raw eggs, so taste and adjust accordingly!

 Mix together in a stand mixer or a food processor (my choice):

    12 oz cream cheese, softened 

    6 T unsalted butter, room temperature

    1 c confectioners sugar

    3 T maple syrup

When blended smooth, frost the cooled cupcakes .If desired, decorate with carrot shapes or grated carrots. (If I make some cupcakes with raisins and some without. I put a carrot decoration on top on the ones with raisins.) 

Revised 13 April 2024: reduced sugar