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carrot cake cupcakes with cream cheese frosting topped with tiny carrot fondant on a cake stand
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Carrot Cake Cupcakes

These carrot cake cupcakes are moist, perfectly spiced, and topped with a thick cream cheese frosting that pipes into beautiful swirls.
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword carrot cake recipes, carrot recipes, Cupcake Recipes
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 18 minutes
Total Time 38 minutes
Servings 18 cupcakes
Calories 457kcal
Author Kathleen

Ingredients

  • 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
  • 3/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup light brown sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 cups carrots grated
  • 8 ounces cream cheese room temperature
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter softened
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 6 cups powdered sugar sifted
  • 2 ounces orange fondant
  • 1 ounce green fondant
US Customary - Metric

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350°F (177ºC).
  • Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, spices and chopped walnuts to a medium mixing bowl and mix together well with a whisk. Set aside.
  • In the bowl of a stand mixer (or a large bowl with a hand mixer) add the oil and sugars and beat well with the wire whip.
  • Add the eggs and vanilla next and beat again.
  • Add the grated carrots and mix together until combined.
  • Add the flour mixture, 1/2 a cup at a time while mixing. Do this until all the flour mixture has been added and the batter is now just combined (don’t overmix).
  • Line a cupcake pan with liners and spoon the cake batter into the cupcake liners, fill about ¾ of the way.
  • Bake in the preheated oven for about 18-20 minutes - just until a toothpick comes out clean, or when tops spring back lightly and internal temp is about 205–210°F (96-99ºC).
  • While the cupcakes are baking you can start creating your little carrots with the fondant, shaping just like you would playing with play-doh.
  • Remove from cupcakes from the oven and place on a rack to cool completely.
  • Add the cream cheese, butter, salt and vanilla to the bowl of your stand mixer and mix well until creamy and smooth.
  • Add the sifted powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, until it is all added. You want a thick cream cheese frosting (but not so thick you can’t pipe it).
  • Add the cream cheese frosting to a piping bag with a size 1M tip, pipe the frosting on top of each cupcake and place a little fondant carrot on the top of each.

Notes

  1. Grate your carrots finely. Thick shreds create pockets of moisture and can make cupcakes bake unevenly. Fine shreds melt right into the crumb.
  2. Stop mixing as soon as the flour disappears. Overmixing develops gluten and can make the cupcakes dense instead of tender.
  3. If your frosting feels soft when piping, refrigerate it for 10–15 minutes. That quick chill helps create those tall, bakery-style swirls.
  4. And remember — carrot cake has a naturally moist, slightly dense crumb. That’s what makes it so good!
  5. Dry cupcakes usually come from too much flour or overbaking—measure flour correctly and pull the cupcakes when a toothpick has a few moist crumbs.”

Nutrition

Serving: 1cupcake | Calories: 457kcal | Carbohydrates: 64g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 22g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 8g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 44mg | Sodium: 196mg | Potassium: 129mg | Sugar: 55g | Vitamin A: 2730IU | Calcium: 42mg