Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

For as long as I can remember, carrot cake has been one of my favorites cake flavors. Of course, paired with cream cheese frosting. When I was younger I would just buy the mix out of the box, and sometimes buy one from the bakery. For some reason the bakery carrot cake is always a much different texture than the boxed variety. And the frosting was always much sweeter, almost to the point where you couldn't eat it unless you scraped most of it off! These are kind of in between, it's a bit richer and more decadent than the boxed cake, but not as sweet and heavy as some of the bakery carrot cakes I've had. It's a nice, happy medium.

Last year I made a carrot cake for Thanksgiving, and it was delicious. This year my husband requested a 7-Up Cake. I still wanted to make my carrot cake, so I decided to halve the recipe and make cupcakes*. I also had some maple extract I bought a few months ago, it was at a super clearance price at Target and I decided to pick it up. I bought it with the intention of making a maple cream cheese frosting someday for my carrot cake. It was a great idea, and they turned out wonderfully. I think I like them even more as a cupcake than a cake. I hope you love them as much as we did, they didn't last long!

*If you do want to make a cake out of it, just double the recipe and don't let the cream cheese frosting get as fluffy, you would want it a little thinner to spread over the top of the cake and between the layers.



Cupcake Ingredients:

• 3 cups grated carrots
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 3-4 tablespoons Brandy
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup crushed pineapple, drained
• 1-1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• handful of crushed and whole almonds for garnish, if desired

Frosting Ingredients:

• 8 ounces cream cheese, cold
• 7 tablespoons unsalted butter or margarine, room temperature
• 2 teaspoons maple extract
• 4 cups powdered sugar

Directions:

Use a cheese or vegetable grater and grate the carrots. Place carrots directly into a large measuring cup, and fill it to about 3 cups. Add the brown sugar, and let sit for about an hour. The brown sugar will help to release most of the water in the carrots, and will help them to get much softer. It will also help release the natural sweetness, as well as add to that sweetness with a brown sugar flavor.

Measure about a 1/2 cup of raisins, and pour brandy in just to the top of the measuring cup. Place in a bowl, and let that sit for about an hour right along with the carrots. The liquid wakes up the raisins to plump them back up. You don't want dried out raisins in your cake, you want to taste that sweetness and when you bite into them they're moist. I use brandy because it's the holidays and it gives it a nice little taste. 

While the carrots and raisins are soaking, it's a good time to start preparing your batter.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Beat both eggs in a large bowl on medium until they are light and fluffy, as seen here.

Gradually add the sugar in small increments while continuing to beat at medium speed.

Now add in the oil, still gradually, while beating on medium.

Vanilla extract, again beating on medium.

Once the batter is mixed sufficiently, fold in the crushed pineapple until just blended with the batter. 

In a separate bowl, combing the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg.

Once the dry ingredients are mixed sufficiently, slowly fold it into the wet batter.
Mix until just blended together.

By now, the carrots and raisins should be just about done soaking.
Lay a folded cheesecloth inside of a mesh strainer over a bowl.
Drop in the carrots first, then the raisins. Let sit a few minutes over the bowl as the liquid strains out.
Then carefully remove the edges of the cheesecloth from the strainer, and bring the edges together, forming a ball in the center out of the carrots and raisins. Squeeze the ends to make the ball tight, and continue to squeeze the ball until most of the moisture has squeezed out.
I highly recommend this technique, as one of the first times I made this I didn't use a cheesecloth, and was never able to get most of the moisture out. It does change the texture of the cake, and this will help the cake mix stay light. The added moisture will take longer to cook and make the cake/cupcakes heavier.

Now add in your measured chopped walnuts, and the carrots and raisins.
See how plump and juicy the raisins look?

Fold the carrots, raisins and walnuts into the mix until they seem pretty evenly distributed.
Get your cupcake pan ready, I use foil liners and spray the insides as well as the top of the pan just in case the cupcakes rise a little over the top they won't stick.
If you're making a cake and doubling the recipe, you need two 10 inch cake pans, and you may have a little batter left over for a few cupcakes. It makes a lot!
I didn't fill the cupcake tins too high, but the batter only rises just a bit. I probably could have filled the tins just a bit more, and made a few less cupcakes out of it and they would have been larger.
This made 20 cupcakes.

Pop the cupcakes in the preheated oven, and bake for about 30-40 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Some ovens vary, so I'd stay on the low side to be safe and check every so often.

While the muffins are cooling down, start mixing the frosting. First place the refrigerator temperature cream cheese in a bowl, and beat it first on low, then working your way up to medium.
Add the butter until it's blended together, then add the extract.
Add the powdered sugar a little bit at a time while still mixing. I ended up using about 4 cups of sugar because that consistency felt right to me. I kept beating at a medium speed until it was a fluffy consistency, but the frosting shape held together well.
Pipe the frosting on with your favorite frosting tip, I used a star shaped one here.
Garnish with some whole almonds and sprinkle with crushed ones, if desired.

Refrigerate any leftover cupcakes, since it is a cream cheese frosting.
When you're ready to eat more, just take them out of the fridge about 20 minutes before serving, and they will be perfect. Enjoy!