Moist, fluffy carrot and orange cupcakes with a touch of spice and plenty of juicy raisins, finished with zesty cream cheese frosting and orange wedges.
These cupcakes are dangerously addictive. After sampling a few, I sent the rest to work with Chris — we were at risk of eating them all within 24 hours.
I originally developed this recipe for my friend Lucy at Craftberry Bush. Lucy is a wonderfully talented artist and kindly lets me share recipes I create for her site here as well.
These cupcakes feature raisins soaked in orange juice, warm spices, and three whole carrots — so you can pretend they’re healthy, at least until you consider the butter, cream cheese and sugar. The frosting is creamy, lightly sweet, and flecked with orange zest for brightness.
Serve them with a strong cup of coffee — I’d happily eat one for breakfast. If you’d like a slightly healthier version, swap the plain/all-purpose flour for whole wheat: the cupcakes will remain moist, thanks to the soaked raisins and orange juice.
Enjoy the weekend — I’m planning to get my trainers on and go for a run to balance out any extra cake consumption!
The Carrot and Orange Cupcakes Recipe:
Carrot and Orange Cupcakes
Ingredients
Cupcakes:
- 90 ml orange juice
- 113 g raisins
- 230 g plain/all-purpose flour (or whole wheat)
- 1 ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 ½ tsp mixed spice (or pumpkin pie spice)
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- 150 g light brown sugar
- 120 ml coconut oil (melted) or vegetable oil
- Zest of 1 orange
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 195 g peeled and grated carrots (about 3 medium carrots)
Frosting:
- 195 g butter, softened
- 300 g cream cheese
- 150 g powdered/icing sugar, sifted
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Zest of 1 orange, chopped very finely
- Orange slices, to decorate
Instructions
- Place the orange juice and raisins in a small bowl and leave to soak for 1–2 hours, or up to overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C). Line a 12-hole muffin tray with cupcake cases.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, mixed spice and salt.
- Add the eggs, sugar, coconut oil, orange zest, vanilla extract, grated carrots and the soaked raisins with their orange juice. Stir gently until just combined.
- Divide the batter between the cupcake cases. Bake for 5 minutes at 425°F, then reduce the oven to 350°F (180°C) and bake for a further 15–17 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.
- Cool the cupcakes completely on a wire rack.
- To make the frosting, beat the butter until soft, then add the cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla. Beat until smooth and creamy, then fold in the finely chopped orange zest.
- Fill a piping bag with a wide plain nozzle and pipe the frosting onto cooled cupcakes, starting at the outside and working inwards. Garnish each cupcake with a small wedge of orange and serve.
Notes
These cupcakes are best eaten the day they’re made. Store in a sealed container in the fridge for 1–2 days; remove an hour before serving as the frosting will be firm when cold.
Nutritional information is per cupcake and should be used as an approximation.
Nutrition
Calories: 496 kcal | Carbohydrates: 48 g | Protein: 4 g | Fat: 32 g | Saturated Fat: 22 g | Cholesterol: 89 mg | Sodium: 430 mg | Fiber: 1 g | Sugar: 26 g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated and should only be used as an approximation.
