Gingerbread carrot cupcakes

One of my all-time favourite holiday flavours is gingerbread. All those spices? That molasses? Mm! And while I’ve been known to make a gingerbread house or two in my time, let’s be honest, that gingerbread is mainly just a construction material. Instead of that cardboard vibe, these are like the best gingerbread house you’ve ever had, with a hint of sticky toffee pudding-meets-carrot cake, not to mention an amazing chocolate cream cheese buttercream.

Gingerbread carrot cupcakes. Credit: Mary Makes It Easy / Geoff George

• makes

  18

• prep

  20 minutes

• cook

  20 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

Cupcakes

• 1¾ cup (228 g) plain (all-purpose) flour
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• ¼ tsp ground cloves
• ¼ tsp nutmeg, freshly grated
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda (bicarbonate of soda)
• ¼ tsp salt
• ⅓ cup (80 ml) vegetable oil
• ¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar
• ½ cup (168 g) molasses
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 2 medium carrots, grated (about 2 cups)
• ¾ cup (175 ml) apple juice or water

Chocolate cream cheese buttercream

• ½ cup (113 g) cream cheese, room temperature
• 227 g butter, room temperature
• 3 cups (375 g) icing sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 100 g semi-sweet chocolate, melted and cooled slightly

Cooling time: 1 hour.

Instructions

1. Heat oven to180°C (350°F) and set out two standard muffin tins. Line 18 of the wells with cupcake liners and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, spices, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, beat together the oil, sugar, molasses, vanilla and eggs. Stir in the carrots and juice or water. Add the wet mixture into the dry ingredients and whisk just to combine, scraping down the bowl a few times to ensure that everything is evenly mixed.
3. Divide the batter into the cupcake liners, filling them about ¾ of the way to the top. Bake the cupcakes for 20 to 22 minutes or until springy to the touch or a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.
4. Set the cupcakes aside to cool completely to room temperature.
5. Prepare the buttercream by beating the cream cheese and butter together in a large bowl with a hand mixer. Beat in the sugar 1 cup at a time followed by the vanilla. Beat the buttercream for about 1 minute until fluffy. Add in the melted chocolate and beat just until combined.
6. To decorate, transfer the buttercream into a piping bag fitted with a large round tip and pipe a large dollop of the buttercream onto each cupcake. Alternatively, you can just use a butter knife or the back of a spoon to ice the cupcakes.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.