June 6, 2010: Carrot Cupcakes

paneer was compressing, I railroad train well-nigh making carrot cake using a recipe from Green Kitchen Stories.  I've ever liked - though never been wild well-nigh - carrot cake.  Done well, it's hearty too delightful for afternoon tea (even ameliorate if there's cream cheese icing involved!).  But it's never every bit nutritious every bit I powerfulness similar to mean value and, let's aspect upward it, it's no tally for chocolate cake inwards the care for stakes.

This recipe showed existent promise, using wholemeal flour too kokosnoot (like my ain recent snack baking), bananas too dates for sweetness (no refined sugar!) too exactly the same reveal of eggs every bit I had inwards the fridge.  In fact, I entirely needed to add together iv ingredients to my shopping listing too I was skillful to go!  Instead of making 1 large cake every bit Johanna did, I divided the batter into a dozen cupcakes.  Then every bit a take-'em-to-work fob I sandwiched the agave-sweetened cream cheese into the middle instead of spreading it on top, making them slowly to twine too pack. 

The 1 challenge was achieving the smoothness they need, both inwards blending the dates for the cake batter too whipping the cream cheese for the icing.  There's likely no involve to fuss well-nigh the dates every bit a piffling chunkiness plant nicely alongside the freckly mix of carrot, sultanas too walnuts.  The few lumps remaining inwards my cream cheese didn't spoil my day, but it's worth getting the cream cheese correct downward to room temperature earlier beating.  Regardless, these get got been everything I desire inwards a carrot cake - a pleasing combination of wholesome too treatsome.

Carrot cupcakes
(based on a recipe at Green Kitchen Stories)

cake
1 1/2 bananas
fifteen dried dates
1/2 loving cup sunflower oil
iii eggs
1 loving cup wholemeal flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
iii teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cardamom
iii medium carrots, grated
1/2 loving cup shredded coconut
1/2 loving cup walnuts, roughly chopped
1/2 loving cup sultanas

icing/filling
200g cream cheese
juice too zest of 1 lime
iii tablespoons agave nectar

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Lighty grease a muffin tray.

Blend together the bananas, dates too crude inwards a nutrient processor until every bit smoothen every bit possible. Add the eggs too blend briefly.

Sift the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg too cardamom into a large bowl. Stir the mixture from the blender into the dry out ingredients inwards the bowl.

Fold inwards the carrots, coconut, walnuts too sultanas. Scoop the batter into the muffin tray (I made a dozen muffins). Bake until cooked through, well-nigh xx minutes.  Allow the cakes to cool on a rack earlier icing them.

To brand the icing, thoroughly crunch the cream cheese until fluffy too every bit smoothen every bit possible.  Gradually crunch inwards the remaining ingredients.

Slice each cupcake inwards one-half horizontally too spread it alongside the cream cheese, thus gently sandwich the halves together again.  Alternatively, slather the icing on superlative of the cupcakes.