A bake sale

Today, Adrian had a bake sale at work.  People brought all kinds of baked goods, they sold them for $1 apiece, and the money was donated to a charity.  I couldn’t let my darling husband go empty handed, so I decided to bake something lovely. 

Thus, yesterday morning at 9:00 AM I was already baking away my carrot cupcakes with cream cheese frosting before I went to my weekly racquetball workout.  (After you satisfy your sweet cravings you’d better do some cardio).  By 10:00 AM the entire apartment was infused with warm aromas of cinnamon, carrot, ginger and vanilla.  However, the combination of aromas was brought to glory by the rich smoky bouquet of my hot French press coffee that was impatiently waiting for me on the coffee table.  Suddenly, I realized I was surrounded by autumn scents.  I guess autumn is just around the corner anyway.  

The cupcakes looked gorgeous in their colorful polka dots paper liners, smelled amazing, and, most importantly, were delicious.  I couldn’t help myself, so I tasted one before my workout and enjoyed it with my cup of French Roast coffee.  Yum!  The carrot cupcakes were moist, crunchy, and scrumptious.  They were ready for the bake sale.  There was a little bit of leftover frosting, but I was generous enough and left it for Adrian.  Just as I expected, he cleaned up the bowl.
 

Carrot Cupcakes

Adapted from Food Network Magazine (June 2011)

Makes 12 cupcakes

For the cupcakes:

·         1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour

·         ½ cup sliced almonds

·         1 teaspoon baking powder

·         ½ teaspoon baking soda

·         ½ teaspoon salt

·         1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

·         ½ teaspoon ground ginger

·         1 ½ cups grated carrots

·         2/3 cup vegetable oil

·         1 cup granulated sugar

·         3 large eggs

·         1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the frosting:

·         2 ½ cups confectioners’ sugar

·         8 ounces cream cheese, softened

·         2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

·         1 teaspoon lemon juice

·         ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

To make the cupcakes

Raise the oven temperature to 350°F.  Line one 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners.  In a medium bowl, combine the flour, almonds, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and ginger.  Whisk the eggs, granulated sugar, vegetable oil, grated carrots and vanilla extract in a large bowl.  Stir in the flour mixture.  Fill each paper liner with the dough three-quarters of the way.  Bake until a toothpick comes out clean, 30-35 minutes.  Transfer to a rack and let cool for 5 minutes, then remove the cupcakes from the pan to cool completely.

To make the frosting

Beat the confectioners’ sugar, cream cheese and butter with a hand mixer until fluffy.  Beat in the lemon juice and vanilla extract.  Pipe or spread on the cupcakes.
 

My carrot cupcakes were sold out before noon.  They were a total hit at the bake sale!  I hope you will enjoy making and especially eating these superb carrot cupcakes.