Mini Carrot Cakes | 04.24.17
Ingredients:
1/2 cup coconut oil (in liquid form)
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup finely grated carrots
1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Frosting:
8 ounces cream cheese, softened at room temperature
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch of salt
1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
Directions:
Step 1: Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Step 2: In a large bowl, cream together oil, sugar and eggs.
Step 3: Add vanilla extract, applesauce and grated carrots and mix well.
Step 4: In a separate bowl, mix flour baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices.
Step 5: Add dry ingredients to the batter and mix just until incorporated.
Step 6: Pour batter into a greased 9×9 inch baking pan and bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Step 7: Cool completely, cut and then frost.
For the Frosting:
Step 1: With the whisk attachment on your electric mixer, whisk the softened cream cheese, vanilla extract and salt until smooth and creamy.
Step 2: Gradually add the powdered sugar as you mix until you have the consistency of icing.
Step 3: Reserve 1/2 cup of frosting for the carrot decoration and then spread the remaining frosting over the cooled cake.
Step 4: Divide the reserved frosting into two bowls and mix a few drops of green food coloring into one and yellow and red (to make orange) into the other.
Step 5: I didn’t have the right tip for my piping bag handy (if you do, use a small round tip), so I just spooned the icing into a ziplock bag and cut a small hole in the corner. Didn’t make perfection, but it worked well enough.
Step 6: Pipe your carrot and the stem onto the mini cake.
Notes:
I found these dry out pretty quickly if you leave them out, so refrigerate when completed. They rehydrate once they’re refrigerated, so no worries if you left them out a little too long.
These go from not being done in the oven to very done, so make sure you check them often when baking.
I halved the amount of icing that was called for in this recipe (the original was double the amount I listed above). If you need more, just make another batch. I made the original amount the first time and found I had enough for a second batch and still enough for a third batch. Maybe I just don’t uber ice my little cakes 🙂
If you don’t want to pipe little carrots on top, obviously that’s okay! There are a variety of other things you can do to make them look springy (little candies, edible flowers, a sprinkle of cinnamon) or just leave them plain. They’ll taste just as delicious!
recipe adapted from: Lovely Little Kitchen
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