Free-form Carrot Cupcakes

When I wrote this post a couple weeks ago, I mentioned that I didn't love the carrot cake recipe I had used. Since then, my aunt and my mom both sent me this really delicious recipe!

Carrot Cake

From Crafty Penguin's Mom's High School Home Ec Class

Ingredients:

2 cups flour

2 cups sugar

2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp cinnamon

a dash of salt

1-1/2 cups vegetable oil

4 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

3 cups raw grated carrots (grated medium to small, not big size on box grater)

Prep. Line a 9 x 13 inch sheet cake pan with foil and grease foil. Grate carrots (easiest just to do this with the food processor.)

Step 1. Sift dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, salt) three times.

Step 2. Put dry ingredients in bowl of stand mixer. Add oil slowly while mixer runs. Beat for 8-10 minutes on medium.

Step 3. Add eggs one at a time. Stir in vanilla. Fold in carrots.

Step 4. Bake for 50 minutes at 350 degrees F. 

Step 5. Let cake cool on rack, then cut out circles with circle cookie cutter.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:

4 oz. Cream Cheese

1/4 cup butter

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 lb powdered sugar

Instructions. Cream butter and cream cheese, add vanilla and sugar. Beat until creamy.

Frosting the cupcakes. Cut each circle-shaped cake into two layers. Pipe frosting between layers and on top using an Ateco #806 tip.

Decoration. These are decorated with gum paste carrots. The gum paste was colored with Spectrum Orange and Spectrum Green. 

The carrots can be sculpted using a knife and a toothpick. Use the knife to make the intents on the carrot, then use the toothpick to make a hole for the stalk.

Refrigerate free-form carrot cupcakes (they taste best cold!)