These are delicious spiced mini carrot cake cupcakes. Little ones will love being involved in making these and they make a nutritious alternative to typical carrot cake recipes, using wholewheat flour, which is less processed and higher in fibre and B vitamins. The cinnamon and ginger add delicious warmth to the recipe: cinnamon is a lovely spice, naturally sweet and helpful in balancing blood sugar levels. Walnuts are protein rich and full of good fats.
Butterfly Carrot Cupcakes
Makes 8-10 cupcakes.
Ingredients
- 100g butter, melted
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 130g wholewheat flour
- 60g maple syrup
- 60g dark brown sugar
- 100g carrots, grated
- ½ banana mashed to a paste
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- 80g walnuts chopped or smashed until small pieces
- Icing:
- 200g Philadelphia cream cheese (don't be tempted to use half fat as it doesn't work and in my experience Philadelphia is the best)
- 60ml maple syrup
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C.
- Line your muffin tin with 10 cupcake cases.
- Place your melted butter, dark brown sugar, maple syrup and egg into a large bowl and mix all together.
- Add your grated carrot, crushed nuts and mashed banana.
- Sieve over your wholewheat flour, baking powder, ginger and cinnamon. With a large metal spoon fold the mix together. Try not to over mix as it will result in a dense and heavier cake.
- Spoon the mix into your cases and fill three-quarters full.
- Place in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes until firm to the touch and if a skewer is inserted into the cake it comes out clean.
- Leave to cool on a wire rack.
- Meanwhile mix together the cream cheese and maple syrup until thick and lump free.
- Cut off the top, mounded piece of the cupcake and cut this in half. These are going to be your wings.
- Spoon a little of the icing on top of the cake and place the wings on top so you create what looks like a butterfly on your cupcake.
Notes
These are so much fun to make with children and freeze brilliantly (without the icing).
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