carrot cupcake

One of my favorite cakes to eat (and make) is carrot cake. I guess it makes me feel like you get a little of the good and a little bad in one cup. Now that I have a juicer, its so easy to simply take the carrot pulp and throw it into some cake batter to bake into some luscious carrot cupcakes.

carrot cake
adapted from the complete america's test kitchen cookbook
ingredients

• 2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1-1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1-1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp ginger
• 1/8 tsp cloves
• 4 large eggs, room temperature
• 1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1-1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2-3  cups carrot pulp
• 4 cups cream cheese frosting, recipe below

directions

1. preheat oven to 350 degrees F. whisk the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves together in a medium bowl. 
2. in a large bowl, whisk the eggs and sugars together until the sugars are mostly dissolved and the mixture is frothy. continue to whisk, while slowly drizzling in the oil, until thoroughly combined and emulsified. whisk in the flour mixture until just incorporated. stir in the carrots.
3. give the batter a final stir to insure it is thoroughly combined. divide the batter into cupcake liners.
4. bake the cake until toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached 12-15 minutes.
5. cool the cupcakes completely. spread the frosting evenly over the cupcakes.

cream cheese frosting
ingredients

• 2 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, softened
• 10 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into chunks and softened
• 2 tbsp sour cream
• 1-1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 cups confectioners' sugar

directions

1. beat the cream cheese, butter, sour cream, vanilla, and salt together in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until smooth, 2-4 minutes.
2. reduce the mixer speed to medium-low, slowly add the confectioner's sugar, and beat until smooth, 4 to 6 minutes. increase the mixer speed to medium-high and beat until the frosting is light and fluffy, 4 to 6 minutes.