Russell turned 40 on Wednesday!!!
Carrot cake is his favorite.
I have a little experience with making cupcakes,
so I thought I'd try that instead of the traditional cake.
I found a Martha Stewart recipe, and I figured
she knows what she's doing - so I'll try it.
Pretty, huh?
A few years ago, on Russell's birthday, I made him
the most beautiful and delicious carrot cake ever.
I had it on a cake stand. When we were about to sing
Happy Birthday - I grabbed the cake plate too fast
and the whole thing plopped upside down on the floor!!
It was awful. We scraped it up and ate it anyway.
My kids will NEVER forget when I
dropped daddy's cake on the floor!
Memories :)
So, you gotta start with some carrots.
My recipe called for a pound of shredded carrots.
This isn't quite a pound, but I thought it would be enough.
Shredding is a lot of work!!!
My recipe called for 1/2 cup toasted walnuts.
Toasted? Really? Whats the point?
So, I stuck them in my toaster oven, and in less
than 3 minutes, half of them were burned.
Trash.
Suddenly, toasted walnuts didn't seem so important.
I set these aside for later.
I also needed these ingredients.
Recipe called for 1 1/2 cups of vegetable oil!!!
wow
That's a lot!!!
This is the eggs, oil, sugar, buttermilk, and vanilla.
I was so happy I found a recipe that used buttermilk
because I still had some left over from my
buttermilk chicken recipe and it wasn't expired yet!
I got to use a little more, and then the rest went
into the trash with the burnt walnuts.
Then, I had to add the carrots.
My pound of carrots yielded about 4 cups!!
That seemed like way too much.
So, I added slowly. But, I used them all.
The recipe called for raisins.
Gag!!!
I skipped them. But, if you want them,
now is the time to add them.
Then, the flour, baking soda, baking powder,
salt, ginger, and cinnamon. The recipe
called for cloves too. Who has cloves?
I don't. I skipped this one too.
Then, the batter goes into muffin tins.
I did some mini ones too, cuz mini cupcakes are fun!
I made the cream cheese frosting while the
cupcakes were baking in the oven.
This is butter, cream cheese, vanilla,
and a LOT of powdered sugar.
Yum
Here's the minis when they came out of the oven.
They must cool completely before you ice them
or you will have runny icing. And that's not good.
I chopped up some non toasted walnuts
and sprinkled them on freshly iced cupcakes.
I didn't put nuts on the minis because my
kids like the minis and they don't like nuts.
It's such a pretty cupcake.
Unfortunately, I didn't like them.
When I gave one to Russell, I asked - Is it good?
His response - this icing could make anything taste good!
This means - No, the cupcake is horrible,
but the cream cheese icing is awesome.
Then he said it tasted a little like cornbread.
I had my Bible study group that afternoon, so
I took some for them to try. They all lied
and said they were good. A few said it was like cornbread.
I think it needed brown sugar or something like that.
Maybe you can try the recipe and tell me what it needs!!
So, out of the 2 dozen regular and 2 dozen mini
cupcakes I made, the birthday boy only ate 1 :(
But Jackie ate like 7!! Thanks Jackie.
You're such a great friend!!
So, now that I've made them sound so great,
here's how you do it:
Carrot Cupcakes
1 pound medium carrots, peeled and finely grated
3 large eggs, room temperature
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
1/3 cup buttermilk
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped, pod reserved for another use
or 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup golden raisins (optional)
1 cup walnuts or pecans, toasted and finely chopped
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 standard muffin tins with
paper liners. In a bowl, whisk together carrots, eggs, sugar,
oil, buttermilk, vanilla seeds, and raisins and nuts if desired.
In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda,
salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. Stir flour mixture into
carrot mixture until well combined.
Divide batter among muffin cups, filling each 3/4 full. Bake,
rotating tins halfway through, until testers inserted into centers
come out clean, 23 to 28 minutes. Let cool in tins on wire racks,
10 minutes. Turn out cupcakes onto wire racks, and let cool
completely. Frost with cream cheese frosting.
Unfrosted cupcakes can be stored overnight at room
temperature, or frozen for up to 2 months in airtight containers.
Cream Cheese Frosting
I found a Martha Stewart recipe, and I figured
she knows what she's doing - so I'll try it.
Pretty, huh?
A few years ago, on Russell's birthday, I made him
the most beautiful and delicious carrot cake ever.
I had it on a cake stand. When we were about to sing
Happy Birthday - I grabbed the cake plate too fast
and the whole thing plopped upside down on the floor!!
It was awful. We scraped it up and ate it anyway.
My kids will NEVER forget when I
dropped daddy's cake on the floor!
Memories :)
So, you gotta start with some carrots.
My recipe called for a pound of shredded carrots.
This isn't quite a pound, but I thought it would be enough.
Shredding is a lot of work!!!
My recipe called for 1/2 cup toasted walnuts.
Toasted? Really? Whats the point?
So, I stuck them in my toaster oven, and in less
than 3 minutes, half of them were burned.
Trash.
Suddenly, toasted walnuts didn't seem so important.
I set these aside for later.
I also needed these ingredients.
Recipe called for 1 1/2 cups of vegetable oil!!!
wow
That's a lot!!!
This is the eggs, oil, sugar, buttermilk, and vanilla.
I was so happy I found a recipe that used buttermilk
because I still had some left over from my
buttermilk chicken recipe and it wasn't expired yet!
I got to use a little more, and then the rest went
into the trash with the burnt walnuts.
Then, I had to add the carrots.
My pound of carrots yielded about 4 cups!!
That seemed like way too much.
So, I added slowly. But, I used them all.
The recipe called for raisins.
Gag!!!
I skipped them. But, if you want them,
now is the time to add them.
Then, the flour, baking soda, baking powder,
salt, ginger, and cinnamon. The recipe
called for cloves too. Who has cloves?
I don't. I skipped this one too.
Then, the batter goes into muffin tins.
I did some mini ones too, cuz mini cupcakes are fun!
I made the cream cheese frosting while the
cupcakes were baking in the oven.
This is butter, cream cheese, vanilla,
and a LOT of powdered sugar.
Yum
Here's the minis when they came out of the oven.
They must cool completely before you ice them
or you will have runny icing. And that's not good.
I chopped up some non toasted walnuts
and sprinkled them on freshly iced cupcakes.
I didn't put nuts on the minis because my
kids like the minis and they don't like nuts.
It's such a pretty cupcake.
Unfortunately, I didn't like them.
When I gave one to Russell, I asked - Is it good?
His response - this icing could make anything taste good!
This means - No, the cupcake is horrible,
but the cream cheese icing is awesome.
Then he said it tasted a little like cornbread.
I had my Bible study group that afternoon, so
I took some for them to try. They all lied
and said they were good. A few said it was like cornbread.
I think it needed brown sugar or something like that.
Maybe you can try the recipe and tell me what it needs!!
So, out of the 2 dozen regular and 2 dozen mini
cupcakes I made, the birthday boy only ate 1 :(
But Jackie ate like 7!! Thanks Jackie.
You're such a great friend!!
So, now that I've made them sound so great,
here's how you do it:
Carrot Cupcakes
1 pound medium carrots, peeled and finely grated
3 large eggs, room temperature
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
1/3 cup buttermilk
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped, pod reserved for another use
or 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup golden raisins (optional)
1 cup walnuts or pecans, toasted and finely chopped
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 standard muffin tins with
paper liners. In a bowl, whisk together carrots, eggs, sugar,
oil, buttermilk, vanilla seeds, and raisins and nuts if desired.
In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda,
salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. Stir flour mixture into
carrot mixture until well combined.
Divide batter among muffin cups, filling each 3/4 full. Bake,
rotating tins halfway through, until testers inserted into centers
come out clean, 23 to 28 minutes. Let cool in tins on wire racks,
10 minutes. Turn out cupcakes onto wire racks, and let cool
completely. Frost with cream cheese frosting.
Unfrosted cupcakes can be stored overnight at room
temperature, or frozen for up to 2 months in airtight containers.
1 stick of butter, room temperature
1pkg cream cheese, room temperature
4 cups confectioners' sugar
3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Beat butter and cream cheese with a mixer on medium-high
speed until fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low.
Add sugar, 1 cup at a time, and then vanilla; mix until smooth.
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