Amazing carrot cake baked into cupcakes with cute M&M toppers make a festive Easter dessert!
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Best Carrot Cake Recipe
Are you a fan of carrot cake? Carrot cake was always so-so for me. Especially the carrot cake filled with nuts, pineapple, and all sorts of other random ingredients. Sure, I’d eat it, but it was never a dessert that I would intentionally make. Until now.
I came across this best carrot cake recipe from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe. She claims that this recipe is her all-time favorite and she’s tried quite a few. So I trusted her judgement. I used her recipe as the base, but decreased the sugar and increased some of the spices. Instead of baking it into a cake, I knew these would make darling Easter cupcakes.
You guys! I’m a huge fan now! I think this dessert will become an Easter tradition!
I mean, the cupcakes are adorable and all with those cute carrots on top, but they taste delicious, too! And if my husband says they get presentation points and taste points, well, we know we have a winner!
Don’t let this “carrot cake from scratch” scare you. I’m all about simple, but this cake really doesn’t take much more effort than a box-cake would. There’s just a few extra ingredients to add. Plus, you can make this cake in advance, so you can bake it a few days early and pull it out for your Easter dessert.
How to Make the Carrot Toppers
For the carrot cupcake toppers, all you need is orange and green-colored M&M candies. You will need both the large size and mini size to make the carrots.
If you have a store that sells these candies in bulk, that might the best way to buy them so you can get exactly the colors and sizes you want! You can always buy a regular-size bag if you don’t have a bulk option.
For each carrot, you’ll need 1 large green, 1 small green, 1 large orange, and 2 small orange M&Ms.
Once the cupcakes are frosted, simply place one large M&M just above the center. Place 2 small orange candies below, to create the carrot topper. Then add one large and one small green M&M for the carrot top! Seriously, it doesn’t get much easier than this! Kids could even help make these!
Carrot Cake & Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon table salt
- 1 10-oz bag shredded carrots, then diced small
- 3/4 cup white granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 1 1/2 cups canola pil (or 3/4 cup applesauce and 3/4 cup oil)
- 8 ounces cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 4 tablespoons butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 tablespoon sour cream
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position.
- Line cupcake tins with cupcake papers or spray lightly.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt; set aside.
- In a separate bowl, beat the sugar, brown sugar, and eggs on medium-high speed until well combined.
- Reduce the speed to medium and with the mixer running, add oil (or oil and applesauce) carefully not to splatter.
- Increase the speed to high and mix until the batter is light in color.
- Stir in shredded, chopped carrots and dry ingredients by hand until incorporated and no streaks of flour remain. Be careful not to overmix.
- Pour the batter into the cupcake tins and bake for about 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- Let the cupcakes cool for 5 minutes and then remove them to cool completely.
- To make the frosting, whip the cream cheese, butter, sour cream and vanilla together until well combined. Slowly add in the powdered sugar. You may want to add more depending on how thick you want it.
- Once frosted, use green and orange M&Ms to make the carrot toppers.
Notes
If you use 2, 9-inch pans, bake for 32 minutes and double the frosting recipe. For 9x13 pan, bake for 40 minutes. Single batch of frosting
Original recipe from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe, but I’ve altered the recipe.
