The Tongue Twister Cupcake
Candy Corn Carrot Cake Cream Cheese Cupcakes.
Yes, you read that right. The name says it all- DELICIOUS. I found this fabulous recipe when browsing Pinterest for Carrot Cake ideas. I made the mini cupcake version and they were as cute as they were yummy.
Here are some of the adjustments I made-
I greased the mini cupcake tins with coconut oil so that the carrot cake could shine on it's own, free of wrappers.
I baked these on 350 F for about 10 minutes, let them cool for 10 minutes, and popped them out to cool a bit longer.
My carrots were prebagged petite carrots (lots of moisture), ground in a nutribullet- this made the carrots super soft and easy to mix. A few bigger pieces snuck in, but they only made for happy surprises upon biting in!
I did use the cream cheese recipe that Lindsay included, but only used 1 cup of powdered sugar, instead of her suggested 2 cups. It made the cupcakes a bit more savory and offset the cupcake flavor in a lovely way.
I separated the frosting into two different bowls: 3/4 of frosting into one, and the remaining 1/4 in a smaller bowl.
To make the treat more festive for Halloween, I layered in Candy Corn colors and topped with the typical holiday treat.
First, I added yellow to the biggest batch of frosting, and piped a base (being sure to fill in the whole top, even though the middle would be covered) using a size 8 - 10 Wilton round tip. The important thing is to remember that you'll want height with these, which is why you cover the entire top with the yellow.
Next, I added just a little bit of red to my yellow batter, cleaned my bag and tip, and did the same piping techinque, just in a smaller circle. My partner in crime noted that the orange portion is usually the star of the show- if you look at a candy corn, you'll see that the orange section is the biggest. With frosting however, you have to be aware of height- will too much topple or melt? Will you be able to fit it in your box/carrier? Are you adding anything else on top of the frosting? In my case, I was, so I decided to keep each section equal in terms of height.
Finally, I used that last untouched frosting, and piped it as is to create the white portion. I topped each mini cupcake with a candy corn, so it wasn't necessary for the white piping to have a pointed tip, since it was going to be smushed anyway.
These little bite sized treats were such a hit, because they weren't too sweet (minus the actual candy corn, which is 100% sugar) and were just enough- two bites to savory satisfaction! The cupcakes themselves were the perfect amount of moist and very flavorful. 10/10 would make again, though I might try a more paleo friendly recipe next time.
Have you made carrot cake cupcakes before? How did they turn out?
