Easter is a very special holiday for my family. This year will be the first that I will not be at my Mom Mom's Easter brunch - a tradition. I will miss being with the family, watching my niece, nephew, and cousins searching for eggs, and I will miss the delicious french toast casserole, danish, bagels, fruit salad, bacon, peanut butter eggs, list goes on. BUT, I decided to bring the brunch to Miami for me and Zach. No egg hunts, but there will be bacon...there usually is, almost every weekend. We also, of course, need a dessert or two ;) These hippity hoppity carrot cake cupcakes are perfect for Easter and any Spring time occasion. I chose the flavor based on the bunny theme and decided to search Pinterest for the most moist and tasty sounding recipes I could find. I picked a good one! Recipe below and link HERE for original from American Heritage Cooking. Hoppy Easter! xo RCN
Carrot Cake Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour
¾ teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon baking powder
1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3 eggs
1 2/3 cups granulated sugar
1 ¼ cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 cup shredded & chopped carrots, packed
½ cup walnuts, chopped
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350˚F and line muffin tins with cupcake liners (I filled 22 liners). Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl and set aside. Combine lemon juice to the vegetable oil and set aside. Shred and chop carrots into small shavings, set aside. Chop walnuts, set aside. In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip together the eggs and sugar on medium speed until fully combined. Turn mixer to high speed and add in oil/lemon juice mixture. Mix until combined. Remove bowl from stand and fold in dry ingredient mixture, followed by walnuts and carrots. Fill liners using a small baking scoop - the best! I used two scoops per liner. Bake at 350 F for about 18-20 minutes. Remove from oven and let sit for a few minutes. Remove cupcakes from tin and let cool on a rack until room temperature before frosting and decorating.
Frosting Ingredients:
4 Cups Powdered sugar, sifted
1 Cup Softened unsalted butter, 2 sticks
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1 Tablespoon Vanilla extract
4 tablespoons Milk
Malted milk eggs + shredded coconut (for decorations)
Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix thoroughly until frosting is smooth. Use a fork to help flatten out any remaining clumps. Remove half of the frosting and place in another bowl. Squirt 5-7 dashes of red food coloring in one bowl, 5-7 dashes of yellow in the other. Stir food coloring into frosting until completely combined. Place 2B Wilton Tip into 2 clear piping bags. Fill bags with frosting. Ice half cupcakes with pink icing and half with yellow. Add bunny toppers, malted milk eggs and a sprinkle of coconut onto cupcakes. Mix and match decorations on each cupcake and add a second contrasting liner to make all cupcakes a little extra special and individual.
