Carrot Cupcakes With Citrus Glaze

RECIPE TRIAL
I made an exciting discovery last week. I ventured to the garden to see what was greening up. I sat down for a moment and noticed orange little caps poking through the dirt.

I had been sure that the jack rabbits and deer had dug up my remaining carrots during the winter months. But lo and behold as I started digging up came handfuls of carrots.

Now that is some kind of beautiful surprise on a March morning. Well I thought these carrots deserved some special treatment and they became carrot cupcakes Sunday evening.

My 10 year old daughter loves carrot cake. I love cupcakes. Time to find a good cupcake recipe.

I found this relatively easy recipe at Epicurious and their orange glaze promised to be edible for my lactose intolerant 6 year old. Seemed perfect. I made some minor changes to the cupcakes. ( I replaced some of the oil with applesauce).

The gals and I got busy making cupcakes. I do love cooking with my girls.

The cupcakes were moist and tasty although without their glaze they seem more like muffins. I could have gone for a little more sugar, I admit it. Still, I have eaten 3 or 4 so they are tasty. I will grate the carrots more finely next time. The recipe calls for a coarse grate and I prefer a finer grating. Original Recipe here

However, the glaze was really the amazing part of these cupcakes. Absolutely finger licking good. We changed the original recipe just a bit too. We used both lemon juice and orange juice in our frosting. It was bursting with citrus brightness.

Cupcake Recipe

• 2 Cups of grated carrots
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup applesauce
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Icing Recipe

• 1 1/4 cups confectioners sugar
• 1 teaspoon grated orange zest
• 2 to 3 tablespoons fresh orange juice
• 1 to 2 Tb lemon juice. (more if needed)

Make cupcakes:
Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle. Line muffin cups with paper liners.

Grate enough carrots to measure 2 cups.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg in a bowl.

Whisk together oil, eggs, brown sugar, grated carrots, and vanilla in a large bowl, then stir in flour mixture until just combined.

Divide batter among muffin cups (about 3/4 full) and bake until golden and a wooden pick inserted into center of a cupcake comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes.

Cool in pan on a rack 10 minutes. Remove cupcakes from pan and cool completely on rack, about 1 hour.

Make icing:
Sift confectioners sugar into a bowl. Whisk in zest and 2 tablespoons orange juice and 1 TB lemon juice until smooth. If icing is too thick, add more juice, 1 teaspoon at a time. Dip top of each cupcake into icing, letting excess drip off (because that just adds to the sticky goodness) and let icing set, about 15 minutes. 

Makes 12 to 15 Cupcakes

Eat for dessert, snack or breakfast

Lemonade Cupcakes

RECIPE TRIAL & PANTRY RECIPE
Stock your pantry suggestion: Always have a few cake mixes hanging around your pantry.

I crave lemon flavored things all day. Maybe because it is winter and lemon is bright and yellow and sweet and tart and all things summer. And I crave summer come mid February. 

I have been really wanting to try a lemonade cupcake recipe and (here comes the confession) sometimes I am a way lazy baker. I didn't want to bake straight from scratch. Plus, I was trying to avoid butter and milk for my 6 year old lactose intolerant child.

So I came up with this bright and tasty recipe with a few extras. Yes, we used it for Valentine's dinner and the heart shape cupcake comes from a pinterest pin from this clever blogger. Muses of Megret.


But these really are good anytime.

Heart tip: Place a marble between the tin and the wrapper.

My Recipe for Easy Lemonade Cupcakes
 
1 lemon cake mix. (with water, oil and eggs per box directions)
zest of 1 lemon 
1 box of sugar free vanilla pudding.
1 packet of individual lemonade drink powder (the kind you put in a water bottle for an individual serving of lemonade)
1 extra egg
2 extra TB of oil.


Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix on low speed until moistened. Fill cupcakes about 3/4 full and bake according to package direction.

Remove from oven and place on cooling rack. Cool for at least 30 minutes and frost with strawberry frosting and top with white chocolate pretzels.