Featured Video: How To Make Vanilla Buttercream Frosting PLUS How To Decorate Cupcakes

I enjoy eating vegetables, in fact my meals are not complete without them. I nibble on them fresh, sometimes steamed, sometimes in a salad, in stews, in soup but nothing beats the enjoyment of eating vegetables when they are in dessert. Oh yeah! Veggies in baked goodies are becoming more and more common now and they are amazing!

The likes of Zucchini Chocolate cake, muffin or bread. The idea in adding veggies in baked goodies or replacing ingredients with healthier option is to introduce some healthy concept in baking. On top of that, it “somehow” made the pleasure of eating the dessert guilt free, or at least I feel less guilty. Then there’s moisture content from veggies. Most of the vegetables used for baking like zucchini, carrot, potato or yam doesn’t really leave a strong taste of the vegetable itself. It makes the baked product soft, moist and slightly compact or dense. And we all know that moisture is one good thing a bake product should have.

Although it could still be a debatable issue whether veggies and baked products are “yay” or “nay”. Some people find it weird, but for the likes of me, I love it. I have a friend who refused to eat any baked products with zucchini eventhough the zucchini taste is not even there. I was not surprised at all because I used to find zucchini and baked products weird, until I started making them. But carrot in baked product is a different story. Carrot is more accepted, loved and popular among people. They have presence in restaurant, cafe and bake shop long before the popularity of veggies were introduced in baking.

In general, carrot cake is on a heavier type of cake. The texture is mostly dense but moist, which makes sense for me to have small serving at a time. Not to mention the cake is best frosted with Cream Cheese Frosting, which is really not a light frosting. A dense and heavy cake, plus a rich and creamy frosting could be sometimes overwhelming. This made me decide even more to make it small batch. But of course if you want to make a huge cake of 8-9-inch size, who am I to stop you. I also adore huge cake, but I just cannot finish it even after sharing it with my friends. Anyway, I haven’t tested this recipe to 3 or 4 times the required ingredients, let me know if you decide to try it.

Most of the carrot cake recipes on-line are huge portion, and so it took a while for me to find a small one. This is actually a cupcake recipe from Gemma’s Bigger Bolder Baking. I doubled the size to come up with a 6-inch size cake. Half of the recipe could make a single serving cake or 4 medium size cupcakes. Whether you chose to make it just for yourself, or you intend to share it with friends, this recipe is the perfect fit for that. This is super easy and simple, and you don’t even need to take out your hand mixer. Everything can be mix manually, so easy! Let me show you how I made this. Let’s get started!♥

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup (4oz/ 100g) granulated white Sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon pure Vanilla Extract
• 1/2 cup (4oz/ 100g) flavorless Oil
• 1 Egg – room temperature
• 2/3 cup (4oz/ 100g)All-Purpose Flour
• 1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
• 1/4 teaspoon Cinnamon
• 1 cup (100g/4oz) Carrots, grated (about 3/4 of small carrots)
• 1/4 cup (30g/1oz) Raisins
• Classic Cream Cheese Frosting
• 1/2 cup toasted Walnuts – chopped

Substitution:

• Eggs: Replace the egg with the same amount of apple sauce/puree or banana
• Oils: sunflower, vegetable, coconut or canola are all good to use. Just not olive oil as it has too strong of a flavor.

Instructions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350F/180C
2. Whisk together sugar, eggs, vanilla and oil until thick. This can be done manualy or with hand-mixer.
3. Then add in flour, baking powder and cinnamon and mix gently.
4. Lastly, add in the grated carrots and raisins and fold in.
5. Pour the batter into a cake pan or cupcake pan.
6. Bake until they are firm in the middle and don’t appear damp. This recipe bakes fast so start checking 5 minutes before the minimum suggested time. Once baked, take them out of the tin and cool on a baking rack until cold.
   • Pan Size: 6-inch round cake : 30-33 minutes
   • Medium Cupcake: 15-17 minutes, makes 6 cupcakes
7. Chop and toast walnuts in toaster for 5 minutes, or until fragrant. Set aside.
8. Make the Cream Cheese Frosting.
9. Docorate. Spread cream cheese frosting all over the cake. Put chopped and toasted walnuts on top and on the sides of the cake. Decorate edge with more cream cheese frosting. Add shredded or ribbon carrots on the center of the cake.

Storage: Once decorated store the cake in the fridge for up to 4 days. Let them reach room temperature before eating.

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Enjoy! If you make this, share and tag me in Instagram #SweetNSpicyLiving. I would like to see your creations too.

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