Carrot Cupcakes

Ingredients

Cupcakes

• 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Pinch ground nutmeg
• 3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups finely shredded carrots (about 2 medium peeled carrots)
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• (Makes 12 cupcakes)

Cream Cheese Icing

• 4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup confectioners sugar, sifted
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 Tablespoon milk
• 1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

Marzipan Carrot

• 1/2 cup marzipan
• red, yellow and green food coloring
• 3 Tablespoons reserved cream cheese icing
• 3 Tablespoons icing sugar

Directions

Cupcakes

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
2. Prepare 12 piece muffin tin by greasing or lining with paper cupcake liners.
3. Sift together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.
4. Combine the brown sugar, oil and eggs in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix until well combined.
5. Mix in the carrots, applesauce and vanilla.
6. Using a wooden spoon, gently fold in the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Be careful not to over mix.
7. Gently fold in 1/4 cup of the chopped walnuts, if using.
8. Evenly divide the batter among the prepared muffin cups.
9. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the centre of a muffin comes out clean.
10. Transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool completely before icing.

Cream Cheese Icing

1. Beat together cream cheese, confectioners sugar, vanilla, milk and lemon zest using a hand blender or electric mixer until creamy and smooth.
2. Once the cupcakes are completely cooled, spoon over the cream cheese icing. If topping the cupcakes with marzipan carrots, reserving 3 tablespoons of the icing to be used as the carrot stems.

Carrot Marzipan

1. Add 1 drop of the red food coloring and 3 drops of the yellow food coloring to the marzipan and knead until it is well blended and the marzipan is a carrot-like orange color. Adjust color by adding more yellow food coloring, in desired.
2. Divide marzipan into 12 pieces and shape each piece into a little carrot shape.
3. Put the reserved cream cheese icing in a small bowl and mix in 2 drops of green food coloring. Add icing sugar, a little bit at a time, until you have a thicker icing.
4. Spoon icing into an icing bag fitted with a star nozzle.
5. Squeeze a little bit of icing onto the end of each marzipan carrot to form a little stem.
6. Put one little carrot on top of each muffin, pressing slightly to allow it to stick to the cream cheese icing.