Carrot Cake Cupcakes (Vegan)
I simply adore carrot cake! I have used the same ingredients to make a carrot cake many times before. However, for a change, I wanted to use the mixture to make cute cupcakes that are easy to transport, say for a picnic, or even when gifting to people.
My carrot cake recipe is totally vegan. I haven’t used eggs, the almond milk replaces the dairy milk & I have used oil in place of the butter. I have also used a little bit of bicarb & baking powder to ensure that the cupcakes have a nice rise. It has taken some experimentation and trial & error to ensure that the end result is a delicious, moist cake crumb that is also light in texture too.
I decorated the little carrot cakes with piped mascarpone frosting & homemade candied orange peel - but to keep it 100% vegan just use a vegan mascarpone (there are some good brands on the market). You can, of course, top them with vanilla icing instead of the mascarpone & then finish them off with a sprinkling of chopped walnuts or almonds. You’ll find my recipe for vanilla icing below.
I added quite a bit of ground cinnamon & ginger too, as I love the spiciness it adds, but remember to add as much or as a little as you want.
They are so easy to make & are the perfect sweet treat.
The mixture is enough for 6 muffin size cakes or 12 cupcakes.
Mangia, mangia! 👩🏻🍳
Carrot cake cupcake recipe:
2-3 medium carrots grated
250g plain flour (sifted)
125ml almond milk
125ml vegetable oil
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 1/2 to 2 tsp ginger
1 1/2 to 2 tsp cinnamon
Pinch of salt
150g caster sugar
50g raisins
50g chopped walnuts or almonds
Mascarpone frosting
250g vegan mascarpone
2 tbsp icing sugar (sifted)
1 tsp vanilla extract
or
Vanilla icing
125g icing sugar (sifted)
1 tsp vanilla extract
2-3 tbsp almond milk
Makes 6 muffin size cakes or 12 mini cupcakes
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C fan. Add paper muffin/cupcakes cases to either your 6 hole muffin or 12 cupcake tin.
2. In a large bowl mix together the sifted flour, baking powder, bicarb & sugar. Add the ground cinnamon & ginger, carrots, oil & milk and stir, finally adding the raisins, walnuts or almonds & a pinch of salt, making sure it’s well combined.
3. Using an ice-cream scoop - which is what I use to ensure an even distribution of the mixture in the cases. Use a large spoon if you don’t have a scoop.
4. Bake in the oven for approximately 25 minutes , but check one with a skewer & if it comes out clean its cooked, otherwise bake for a little longer.
5. Take out of the oven & let cool completely. Make your frosting or icing in the meantime.
6. For the mascarpone frosting, mix all the ingredients in a bowl then transfer to a large piping bag with a large nozzle, pipe the frosting on each cake. If you don’t want to pipe the frosting, just spread with a knife instead.
If using vanilla icing instead then, put all the ingredients into a bowl & mix until smooth - add more milk if you want runnier icing. Pour the icing on top of each cake & scatter over walnuts or hazelnuts or candied orange if you prefer.
7. Keep the cakes in airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days.
