Healthy (sort of!) Spiced carrot cupcakes
So here is the first recipe since my “diet” blog which has had a great response, thank you all so much for your comments. Please feel free to ask me any other questions about it - thats what the “Ask me anything” page is for :)
Anyway back to baking!
I am a huge fan of carrot cake but the thing with cakes is it’s pretty hard to transport and eat them if you want it on the go. This is why I love cupcakes. Not the cupcakes piled high with icing I am much more of a … less is more kind of girl when it comes to cupcakes. They are easy to grab and eat on the go and these ones are a great pre training snack.
I found a recipe that was specifically for spiced carrot & raisin cupcakes, I did change a few things on the recipe though to try and make it slightly healthier by using the honey as a substitute for the sugar and I also used less oil because the carrots give the sponge enough moisture. I also did do my own version of icing for some of the cupcakes by using greek style yoghurt instead of cream cheese - but I only iced them because I was giving them out to people and not eating them all myself.
For the sponge
100ml of sunflower oil
100g of soft brown sugar
1 tbsp of runny honey
3 large free range eggs
150g of plain flour
3/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
3/4 tsp of baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
220g peeled and grated carrots
75g of raisins
For the icing (I only used half the amount for a thin layer of icing)
90g of unsalted butter
75g icing sugar, sifted
2 tbsp of greek style yoghurt
1tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp of orange zest, plus extra for decorating
Pre heat the oven to 200 C or gas mark 6. Line two 12 hole cupcake tins with cupcake cases.
To make the sponge mix the sunflower oil, sugar, honey and eggs in a large mixing bowl and beat until well mixed. Then sift in all the dry ingredients ad stir well, then add the carrots and the raisins - make sure they are evenly spread thoughout the mixture.
Divide the sponge mixture evenly between all the cupcake cases and place in the over for 18-20 minutes, or until the sponge bounces back at the touch of your fingertip.
Cool the cupcakes by removing them from the tin and placing them on a wire rack.
For the icing, beat all the ingredients together using a hand mixer or an electric whisk until the mixture is completely smooth. Add more yoghurt if the mixture seems to dry or add more icing sugar if it seems too runny.
Finally when the cupcakes have cooled spoon the icing onto half or all of your cupcakes and enjoy with a nice cup of tea!
I took these cupcakes on the photo shoot I did today with British gas and they went down very well, I only came home with one which was perfect as I was starving after training last night :)
I hope you enjoy making these cupcakes they are so good. Please send me pictures if you make them to my twitter feed @keriannepayne
Keri-anne xx




