Nigella’s Carrot Cake Cupcakes or Muffins

Nigella Lawson’s amazing carrot cupcakes or muffins with cream cheese frosting and walnuts.

MOIST CARROT CAKE MUFFINS

Amazing carrot cake muffins or cupcakes, the best recipe for carrot cupcakes I’ve made until now. Really moist and tasty and when eaten without the icing not overly sweet. The walnuts makes the carrot cake muffins a little crunchy while the topping makes them creamy and somehow luxurious.

MOIST CARROT CAKE MUFFINS

Although muffins are normally very easy to make, there are always a few steps you want to consider, if you wish your muffins or cupcakes to be perfect.

There are two kind of muffins in my opinion. This is probably not a scientific matter, but I feel that there are the soft, cake-like muffins, which are usually made with butter and the moist and slightly denser muffins, which are made with oil.

Me – I love them all! Carrot cake muffins like Nigella’s, sour cream muffins – my absolute favorite ones (basic recipe for muffins, if you need one), cinnamon apple muffins, cherry muffins… butter, oil, yogurt etc… it doesn’t matter, I have rarely met a muffin I didn’t like.

However, I noticed that when looking for a new recipe, I tend to choose yet another muffin with oil recipe.

The thing is that if there is a chance you might screw up a muffin recipe and get some dry, hard to swallow ones, you are more likely to do so with a butter muffin. Oil (or the addition of yogurt/sour cream etc) helps the muffins or cupcakes stay moist.

Another plus is that you can eat these carrot cake muffins or any other muffins or cupcakes made with oil the next day as well, which is rarely the case with butter muffins. Well, of course you can eat those too, they will not go bad or anything, but they will be dry, while oil muffins will still be moist and delicious.

INGREDIENTS FOR NIGELLA’S CARROT MUFFINS

Oil:

• We’ve already talked about the oil and its benefits when used in baking muffins or cupcakes. The oil helps the muffins be moist and just perfect.
• I used a very mild sort of sunflower oil. Make sure that the oil is rather neutral in taste, otherwise you will definitely be able to taste it and that is not the flavor you are looking for in a muffin.
• Alternatively, use neutral tasting canola oil.
• I’ve made the mistake of baking a cake with really good, organic sunflower oil once. That is not something I will do again. The cake did have the most wonderful and intense yellow color, but it only tasted of sunflower oil, which was really not nice.
• I’ve learned my lesson and now I only buy regular (cheap) canola oil when baking. I keep the really good oil for salads and cooking.

Carrots:

• I used 2 medium carrots, which weighed about 150 g/ 5.3 oz together.
• I grate the carrots with a hand grater, using the finer side of a grater box. I can’t be bothered to wash the food processor afterward for just 2 carrots.
• However, you can use the grate setting on your food processor for this, just make sure you don’t overdo it, the carrots should be just grated and not become juicy. A few pulses will suffice.

Spices and nuts:

• Nigella Lawson’s carrot cake cupcakes are perfectly spiced with lemon and orange zest (don’t skip, they really add a lot to the recipe) and cinnamon, which goes perfectly well with the carrots.
• The walnuts are just perfect in this carrot cake recipe, adding a touch of crunchiness which complements the creaminess of the cream cheese frosting.

HOW TO MAKE CARROT CAKE CUPCAKES?

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius/ 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Line the muffin tin with paper liners.
2. Grate the carrots finely. Chop the walnuts.
3. Mix the sugar and oil with the hand held mixer. Wear an apron if you don’t want to ruin your clothes, my t-shirt is full of little oil spots. My daughter’s the same. She helped.
4. Add the eggs one at a time and mix shortly, until creamy.
5. Mix together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt and zest.
6. Add to the egg mixture and then fold in the carrots and the chopped walnuts.
7. Spoon the mixture in the prepared muffin tin. Bake for 20 minutes.
8. Transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool completely before decorating with the cream cheese frosting.

HOW TO MAKE THE CREAM CHEESE FROSTING?

1. To make the icing beat the cream cheese until smooth, it will take a few seconds.
2. Beat in the icing sugar and add the lime or lemon juice.
3. Decorate the top of the cupcakes using a butter knife.
4. Place half a walnut on top and enjoy.

CARROT CAKE CUPCAKES RECIPE

I found the recipe in Nigella Lawson’s  How to Be a Domestic Goddess: Baking and the Art of Comfort Cooking, a wonderful book which I bought recently. I read it through already, but this is the first recipe I’ve made out of it. And it is great.

The only problem with the book is that I unintentionally bought the American version where all the measuring is done in cups. What a mess I had today in the kitchen. Flour on every surface and on the floor, thousand cups and little bowls to wash afterward, oil spots on the pages… I was really annoyed! It is so much easier with grams and milliliter.

So if anyone out there who measures everything in cups and unintentionlly has bought the metric version of this book, we could exchange!!!!!!!!!

In the meantime, here is the recipe, and I am telling you, if you like carrot cake, this is a must!

MORE CARROT CAKES OR MUFFINS:

Vegan Carrot Coconut Cake with Jam and Cinnamon

Carrot Cupcakes or Muffins with Blueberry Frosting

The Best Carrot Coconut Cake with Lemon Frosting

Easy and Spicy Carrot Cookies with Orange Icing

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Nigella's Carrot Cake Cupcakes or Muffins

Yield: 12

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes

Nigella'samazing carrot cake cupcakes or muffins with cream cheese frostingand walnuts.

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Ingredients

• Carrot cake muffins:
• 100 g/ 3.5 oz/ ½ cup light brown sugar
• 175 ml/ 6 fl.oz/ ¾ cup sunflower oil
• 2 large eggs
• 175 g / 6.2 oz/ 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• ¾ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• pinch of salt
• zest of ½ lemon
• zest of ½ orange
• 2 medium carrots, total weight about 150 g/ 5.3 oz
• 65 g/ 2.3 oz/ ½ cup chopped walnuts
• Cream cheese frosting:
• 115 g/ 4 oz/ ½ cup cream cheese
• 285 g/ 10 oz/ 1 2/3 cups icing sugar, sifted
• 1 teaspoon lime or lemon juice
• 12 walnut halves

Instructions

Carrot cake muffins:

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius/ 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Line the muffin tin with paper liners.
2. Grate the carrots finely (fine side of a hand grater or just a few pulses in a food processor fitted with grate setting, don't let the carrots become juicy).
3. Chop the walnuts.
4. Combine the sugar and oil with the hand held mixer.
5. Add the eggs one at a time and mix shortly, until creamy.
6. Mix together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, lemon and orange zest.
7. Add to the egg mixture and then fold in the carrots and the chopped walnuts.
   Spoon the mixture in the prepared muffin tin.
8. Bake for 20 minutes.
9. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.

Cream cheese frosting:

1. To make the icing beat the cream cheese until smooth, that will take a few seconds.
2. Beat in the sifted icing sugar and add the lime or lemon juice.
3. Spread the frosting on the cupcakes using a butter knife.
4. Place half a walnut on top.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1 muffin
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 400Total Fat: 23gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 18gCholesterol: 41mgSodium: 142mgCarbohydrates: 47gFiber: 2gSugar: 33gProtein: 4g

Nutrition information isn’t always accurate.