cupcakes

we were inspired to make cupcakes when we saw these adorable paper liners from martha stewart crafts at michael's recently. almost too precious to use! we love most flavors of cupcakes - chocolate, vanilla, red velvet, coconut - but one of our favorites is definitely carrot cake. we even had them at our wedding! this carrot cake cupcake has a traditional cream cheese frosting (my favorite part) but a few nontraditional additions like banana and chopped candied ginger. hope you like it as much as we do!

Carrot Cake Cupcakes

makes 1 dozen

2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup chopped candied ginger

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp salt

3 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil

1/4 cup applesauce

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups shredded carrot, about 4 carrots

1 ripe banana, mashed

preheat oven to 350 degrees F. in a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, ginger, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. in another bowl, combine eggs, oil, applesauce and vanilla . add carrot and banana and stir until smooth. mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients, stirring just until moistened and combined. fill lined muffin cups about 3/4 full, using all the batter. bake for 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. let cool completely before frosting.

cream cheese frosting

8 0z. cream cheese, at room temperature

6 tbs unsalted butter, softened

1 tsp vanilla

1 3/4 cup confectioner's sugar, sifted

with an electric mixer, whip cream cheese and butter together until combined. add vanilla. add sugar 1/2 cup at a time, scrapping down the sides of the bowl. use frosting immediately.