Carrot cake cupcake with Orange/Cranberry marmalade butter cream cheese frosting…. whew! Taste so good! Btw… My frosting skills need work, I know. 😉
As a kid, I liked carrot cake, but never loved it. Over the years I have had different variations, all of them having some good qualities but not leaving an overall great impression.
Most are too dry, and contain raisins, I am not a huge fan of raisins. The frosting can be good, but usually it is too sweet.
I want to share with you a recipe that I think is excellent! I’ve done this in jumbo cupcakes and mini loaf pans, it works great for either.
The frosting is really good, sweet but not sugary. It is a basic cream cheese/butter cream frosting, with the addition of a homemade orange/cranberry marmalade. The flavors work so good with the carrot cake, yum!
For the carrot cake itself, I used coconut instead of any nuts or raisins. Perfect! The recipe uses crushed pineapple which keeps it very moist, even several days later, this cake is moist like the day you baked it.
Give it a try and let me know what you think.
*Don’t forget to click the Yum button! ?
Ingredients
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 1/8 cups white sugar
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups shredded carrots
- 1/2 cup crushed pineapple
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 cup sweetened coconut
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, slightly softened.
- 4 ounces cream cheese.
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract.
- 1-2 cups confectioners’ sugar, to taste.
- 2-3 tablespoons orange/cranberry marmalade, to taste.
- 1 medium navel orange
- 2-3 tablespoons dried cranberries
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1/2 cup sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Prepare muffin pan or mini loaf pans
- 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. Fold in coconut. Transfer to the prepared pans or muffin pan.
- Bake 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool completely on wire racks before frosting.
- Using an electric stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, or handheld mixer and large bowl, beat butter on medium speed until creamy. Add cream cheese and vanilla; beat until fully incorporated. Gradually increase mixer speed to high and continue beating until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of bowl as necessary with rubber spatula.
- Gradually add 1-2 cups confectioners' sugar, beating on low speed (stir), until well combined. Add additional confectioners’ sugar until desired consistency for spreading and level of sweetness is reached. Add marmalade, and mix well. Beat on high speed until well combined and while scraping down sides of bowl as necessary, about 1 to 2 minutes. Before frosting cake layers, rebeat buttercream to ensure smoothness.
- If the orange is large double the amount of water and sugar.
- Wash the orange thoroughly.
- Using a zester, zest the entire orange and set aside. Peel the remaining white part of the peel off and discard.
- Cut off both ends of the orange.
- Cut the orange in half, cut each half in about eight sections.
- Place the orange sections in the food processor and pulse until it is like a pulp.
- In a medium saucepan place the orange pulp, orange zest, cranberries, water and the sugar and bring to a gentle boil. Boil for 15 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Let cool, then place in a glass jar with a tight fitting lid.
- Refrigerate to store.
- When it is cold it is ready to eat.
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