Carrot Cupcakes with White Chocolate Orange Cream Cheese Icing

          If you haven’t made any of the recipes I have written about yet, now is the time to start. I understand that carrot cake is generally more popular in the springtime, when Easter is around the corner, but I like it all the time. This is easily the BEST carrot cake I have ever tasted, and that includes store-bought, restaurant made, and other homemade recipes.  It is the perfect amount of moistness and sweetness, and not overbearingly carroty.

          I think that even people that don’t have the taste buds for carrot cake will like this recipe. The icing is superb. It has a secret ingredient of orange zest that gives it that perfect last kick.  Anyway, I hope if you haven’t starting cooking/baking yet, that you decide to after reading this recipe! I found the original recipe here, and I pretty much followed it perfectly.

 

·         Easiness---5---It is a bit time consuming, and it requires a lot of ingredients.

·         Yumminess---30!!!!---This is my favorite dessert that I have yet to make. It is also the dessert that my dad took to work with him and all of his friends went crazy over it.

·         Repeat---10---Well, this is the second time I have made it so….obviously yes.

INGREDIENTS

Cream Cheese Icing:

·         ½ cup white chocolate

·         1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened (I used 1/3 less fat)

·         ½ cup unsalted butter, softened

·         1 teaspoon vanilla extract

·         Zest of 1 orange

·         4 cups confectioners sugar

·         2 tablespoons heavy cream

Cake:

·         2 eggs

·         1 1/8 cups sugar

·         1/3 cup brown sugar

·         ½ cup vegetable oil

·         1 teaspoon vanilla extract

·         2 cups shredded carrots (I used a food processor)

·         ½ cup crushed pineapple

·         1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

·         1 ¼ teaspoons baking soda

·         ½ teaspoon salt

·         1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon

·         ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

·         ¼ teaspoon ground ginger

DIRECTIONS

·         Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease 12 muffin cups.

Icing:

·         In a bowl, beat together the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Mix in vanilla.  Gradually beat in the confectioners sugar until the mixture is fluffy. Mix in heavy cream. Zest 1 orange and add it to the mixture.

·         Microwave white chocolate in a microwave safe bowl for 1 minute. Stir, then add to mixing bowl.

Cake:

·         Beat together the eggs, white sugar, and brown sugar in a bowl, and mix in the oil and vanilla.  Fold in carrots and pineapple. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger. Mix flour mixture into the carrot mixture until evenly moist. Transfer to the prepared muffin cups.

·         Bake 25 minutes in the oven or until done. Cool completely before topping with the icing.