Little Ivy Cakes

CRAZY CARROTS

Carrot Cake, Apricot filling, Mascarpone Frosting and Candied Carrots

Okay, so I am addicted to making cupcakes. I make a batch once or twice a week either for a special occasion or just extra special boredom. Of course my tasters always love what I make but, perhaps they may be getting a bit burnt-out on my cupcake creations. So, after this I will try to take a break from making cupcakes for at least a few days -we will see how it goes. Maybe I will move onto something savory.

Crazy Carrots:

I made these cupcakes for a Birthday at work. We will call the birthday girl, “Girdy”. I made Girdy’s favorite, carrot cake. It ended up not being the classic carrot cake you might expect but, it was really tasty. Maybe a different recipe for the cake if you want that classic taste but, everything else turned out perfectly nice and yummy.

The Candied Carrots:
1/4 Cup water
1/2 Cup sugar
Approximately 2 hand-full peeled carrots that have been made into thin zest strips or thin shavings

In a small saucepan boil water and sugar-it looks like a lot of sugar for water but it will dissolve.
Add in carrot shavings then turn to med heat
Let simmer for 10 minutes
Then take saucepan off heat and let sit for another 10 minutes
Place carrots on a wire wrack and let dry (usually takes 12 hours so be prepared, having a small fan right on them helps)
Then gently take dried carrots and store until ready to use
To keep ultimate crunchiness, try to wait until the very last moment to put them on the cupcakes before you have to serve cupcakes.

The Carrot Cake:
1/3 Cup butter at room temperature
1 Tablespoon maple syrup
1 tablespoon finely grated orange zest
¾ Cup granulated sugar
2 Eggs at room temperature
1 Cup grated carrots
1 Cup self-rising flour
¼ Cup fresh squeezed orange juice-warmed in the microwave for 15 seconds
Thick Apricot Jam

Cream the butter, sugar, maple syrup and orange zest
Add eggs one at a time and beat lightly
Lightly mix in carrots with a wooden spoon
Mix in orange juice
Then sprinkle flour in and mix well but lightly
Spoon into regular size cupcake papers and bake 20 minutes at 350 F.
Let cool
Then fill with apricot jam, I took a small knife and cut a small circle of cake out in the middle of cupcake so I could cover with frosting, then I spooned jam to fill the hole in the cupcake.

The Yummy Yummy Mascarpone Frosting:
6 Tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
1 Teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1 Cup powdered sugar
8 oz mascarpone cheese (I got mine at Trader Joes’s for 2.99)

Cream butter and lemon zest until fluffy
Sprinkle in powdered sugar and mix well
Then mix in cold mascarpone cheese until smooth

Once frosted, you should keep the cupcake in the fridge, then when 10-20 minutes before serving take them out and put the crispy carrot garnish on the cupcakes.

The End