Carrot Cake Cupcakes – Delicious spiced carrot cake cupcakes topped with smooth cream cheese buttercream.
I promised last week, when I shared my recipe for Cream Cheese Buttercream, that I would come back with my recipe for carrot cake cupcakes, so here it is!
I’ve made cupcakes as recipe testing is so much simpler using mini cakes than full-sized ones. It means I can make lots of small batches with little tweaks without ending up with far too much cake to eat. I made at least ten different versions of these cupcakes before settling on this as the perfect recipe.
I tried:
- Plain v self-raising v wholemeal flour
- Caster sugar v brown sugar
- Cinnamon v mixed spice
- Different ratios of each ingredient to get the balance just right.
Can these cupcakes be made as a full-sized carrot cake?
Yes.
If you’d prefer one big cake then take a look at my carrot cake recipe.
Should you have raisins or nuts in a carrot cake?
I’ve made my carrot cake cupcakes with raisins, as this is what I prefer. I like to soak the raisins in water before adding them to the cake mixture as this ensures they are nice and juicy in the cake and also prevents any on the top from burning when the cake is cooking.
If you prefer you could substitute in the same weight of chopped walnuts or pecan nuts, or use a combination of raisins and nuts if you like both.
Some carrot cake cupcake decorating inspiration
I couldn’t decide how to decorate my cupcakes for this recipe post, so I tried two ideas. This first uses little sugar carrots from Cake Angels. Be warned they look quite a bit redder in colour than they appear in these images, a slightly odd shade for a carrot in my opinion. Carrot shaped toppers are available in the baking section of most supermarkets.
For the other decoration, I’ve cut a thin slither of carrot and made it into a curl and then added the tips of the carrot leaves.
I asked in my Instagram stories which you preferred, and the result was pretty much 50:50 so I thought I’d share them both on here.
If you want to help me in choosing pictures for my recipes, then do check out my Instagram stories as I ask for help on there quite often.
Can you freeze these carrot cake cupcakes?
Yes, they freeze very well.
The easiest way to freeze them is undecorated, as you can pile them up in an airtight container and defrost them when you want to eat them. The cream cheese buttercream can also be made in advance and frozen, then used to decorate the cupcakes once defrosted.
If you realise you’ve made and decorated too many cupcakes and want to freeze them, then this is also possible. To keep your buttercream looking pretty I recommend putting them onto a tray and freezing for two hours. This will allow the buttercream to firm up so that it holds its shape. Then transfer them into an airtight container for longer storage. When you come to defrost them, remove them from the container so that as the buttercream softens you won’t find they all accidentally stick together.
FREE GRAMS TO CUPS CONVERSION CHARTS
Subscribe to the Charlotte's Lively Kitchen mailing list to get your FREE printable grams to cups and cups to grams conversion charts for twelve popular baking ingredients
Carrot Cake Cupcakes
INGREDIENTS
For the carrot cake cupcakes
- 2 large eggs
- 150 g carrots - One medium carrot
- 165 g self-raising flour
- 135 g brown sugar - I use soft dark brown sugar, but light brown or muscovado would also work well
- 150 ml vegetable/sunflower oil
- ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ⅓ tsp ground mixed spice
- 100 g raisins
- Water - enough to cover the raisins
Extras
- 12 cupcake or muffin cases
For the cream cheese buttercream
- 125 g unsalted butter
- 125 g icing sugar
- 250 g cream cheese
- ¼ tsp vanilla extract
- A little milk - This may be needed to ensure the buttercream is the right consistency
INSTRUCTIONS
Carrot Cake Cupcakes
- Pre-heat your oven to 180°C/160°C fan.Line muffin tins with 12 cupcake cases.
- Put the raisins (100g) into a small bowl or jug and cover with water. Leave to soak while you prepare the rest of the cake mixture.
- Coarsely grate the carrot (150g).
- Beat together the oil (150ml) and brown sugar (135g) until combined.
- Beat in the egg (2 large) until combined.
- Sift in the self-raising flour (165g), bicarbonate of soda (½ tsp), cinnamon (1 tsp) and mixed spice (⅓ tsp). Fold the dry ingredients into the egg, oil and sugar mixture until combined.
- Drain the water from the raisins and add the raisins and grated carrot into the cake mixture. Fold together until combined.
- Divide the mixture between the 12 cupcake cases. Bake for 20 minutes. Check the cupcakes are cooked through by inserting a skewer into the centre. If it comes out clean they are ready, if not, pop them back into the oven for a couple more minutes.
- Move them to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Cream Cheese Buttercream
- Cut the butter (125g) into cubes and beat (either by hand or using a mixer on a slow speed ) until soft.
- Sift the icing sugar (125g) and beat it into the butter until fully combined and smooth.
- Add the cream cheese (250g) and vanilla extract (¼ tsp) and beat until thoroughly combined and smooth.
- Check the consistency of your buttercream. It should be firm, but soft enough to pipe. If it is too firm, then beat in a little milk (no more than a teaspoon at a time) until you have the right consistency.
- Pipe your buttercream onto your cupcakes and serve.
NOTES
NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION
Any nutritional information provided is the estimated nutritional information per serving. Please refer to my guide to Charlotte’s Lively Kitchen nutritional information if you would like to learn more about how this is calculated.
Free From/Suitable For
The ingredients I used to make this recipe are all free from the following allergens. However, please check any labels carefully for allergens you need to avoid as brands can vary, and product recipes can change over time.
- Suitable for Vegetarians
- Tree Nut-Free
- Peanut-Free
- Sesame-Free
- Soya-Free
- Lupin-Free
The cupcake sponge is dairy-free, but there is dairy in the buttercream.
Christina Hart says
My new favourite cup cake, l have walnuts instead of fruit, l didn’t realize carrots could taste so good. I also have vanilla butter cream instead of cream cheese on top of mine.
Judy says
Lovely cupcakes, thank you for the recipe. Could this recipe be cooked as a Traybake?
Charlotte Oates says
I haven’t tested it as a traybake however in theory it should work. You should be able to bake the sponge from my large carrot cake recipe in a 30cm x 20cm tray (or similar) for the same time and at the same temperature.
Sarah J says
Delicious soft & fluffy but also moist cupcakes. I added a little bit more of the spices, and added a little bit of orange extract and vanilla extract, and didn’t add raisins as I didn’t have any in. I cooked them hotter for the first 5 minutes or so and then turned the oven down for the other 15 mins, to get muffin tops.
I would probably make less icing next time- very nice but very sweet and feel like that much was not needed. (Also added a little orange extract to the icing.)
I sprinkled a little cinnamon over the top for decoration.
Jojo says
I only made the cake and I made 1 cake rather than cupcakes but so light and fluffy! Next time I’ll double the recipe and I’ll ice it!
Donna says
The cupcakes came out perfect unfortunately the buttercream was all runny, there was no way I could pipe anything.
Charlotte Oates says
I’m sorry to hear that. What brand of cream cheese did you use? Some can be more watery than others which could have affected the consistency of your buttercream. I always recommend full-fat Philadelphia.
Sam says
Normally a fan of your recipes, but, these seemed quite bland. Spices new at Christmas so I know they’re ok. Not sure I’ll try again
Cerys Hall says
Hands down.. best carrot cake cupcakes around. I’ve just finished another load of them. The ones I made yesterday didn’t last the day. Charlotte I’ve tried many of your recipes and they have all come out perfectly and soo yummy. This one though is definitely a favourite in my house so thank you
Siân says
Great cupcake recipe. Thank you for perfecting it!
Jane says
Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe. The cupcakes are so light and fluffy and the icing is the perfect balance of sugar and cheese, that they are simply divine!
Lily says
WOW!!!!! I have made so many cakes in the past, I love baking but these are by far the best cupcakes (and cake) that I have ever made, they are light, fluffy and sooooo tasty. I made these with my friend and we ended up making another batch as soon as they were ready to eat. I cannot recommend these enough, the icing is also beautiful and goes perfectly (we found there was a lot of icing as we don’t like a lot but it was a perfect amount for 24 cupcakes!) If you’re planning on making carrot cake cupcakes definitely use this recipe!
Toni says
Thank you Charlotte, for your carrot cake cupcake recipe. They turned out perfectly the first time! You are my go-to for baking! Your recipes always receive high praise in our family.
Laura says
I made without raisins, substituted oil for rapeseed and added a couple more minutes on to cooking time. Superb recipe, definitely one to make again.
Zoe Murphy says
I’ve made these twice and they are so nice! They are light and fluffy and the flavour is amazing. With the icing I 3/4 it as otherwise it makes too much. These are also super easy to make.
Lily Wilders says
The latest and fluffiest cakes ever
Rosalind ODowd says
Hi Charlotte, I love this recipe and have made it several times. For your UK audience, it may be worth adding that the quantity makes 24 fairy cakes. These are smaller than cup cakes and more suited for small children.
Ellie says
Best carrot cup cakes I have ever made and tasted. Thanks for the tip about the raisins as previously mine sank to the bottom but this time they were plumb, juicy and mixed right thru the cup cake. Thank you.
Polly says
Really easy to make and very yummy
Polly says
Really easy to make and very yummy
Mhairi says
Amazing cupcakes! I used 50g raisins and 50g walnuts instead. They were fab!
Lucy Vernon says
These are delicious, definitely going to make them again. I used walnuts instead of raisins ☺️ Thank you for the recipe!Xxx