Carrot cake cupcake recipe

Since the cupcakes I made for Jennifer's birthday were such a huge success, I thought I'd share the recipe (and the modifications I made from the Barefoot Contessa's).

The biggest change I made to this recipe were adding a lot more carrots, baking at 400 degrees for the whole time, and... the coup de sucre... injecting frosting into the carrot cake cupcakes.

I've put up a food porn photo set from the making of.

Here was the finished product (sorry for the fuzzy but the photo was taken *after* the party):

Here's the recipe, with my modifications. Pretty shamefully ripped off of the Food Network's site, but I hate how URLs can disappear.

2 cups sugar
1 1/3 cups vegetable oil
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 extra-large eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
3 cups grated carrots (less than 1 pound) Use a whole pound
1 cup raisins
1 cup chopped walnuts

For the frosting:
3/4 pound cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 pound unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 pound confectioners' sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Beat the sugar, oil, and vanilla together in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add the eggs, 1 at a time. In another bowl, sift together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer on low speed, add 1/2 of the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Add the grated carrots, raisins, and walnuts to the remaining flour, mix well, and add to the batter. Mix until just combined.

Line muffin pans with paper liners. Scoop the batter into 22 muffin cups until each is 3/4 full. Bake at 400 degrees F for 10 minutes then reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F and cook for 35 45 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool on a rack.

For the frosting, cream the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add the sugar and beat until smooth.

When the cupcakes are cool, poke a hole in them. Put cream cheese frosting into a baker's bag and inject the frosting in until it begins to ooze out. Frost and serve.

The recipe makes A LOT of frosting. I only decided to try injecting it when I realized I'd have way too much frosting just for the tops of the cupcakes. Even after injecting, you'll still have enough, in fact, that after your cupcake party you'll come home a little tipsy and find a little frosting in the fridge waiting for drunken consumption. PERFECT.

I made the frosting to taste, adding little bits of confectioner's sugar until it met my exacting sweet tooth. I went ahead and added all the carrots because #1: have you ever had carrot cake that's too carroty? I haven't. And #2: Who wants a stray carrot or two rotting in their fridge, turning gray and limp and lonely?

One note on the bakers bag: you can make it yourself. I rolled up a piece of cardboard into a cone and taped it to the corner of a heavy-duty freezer bag. I taped it to make sure it was secure and that precious frosting didn't ooze out all over the place.

The best things about this recipe: The tops of the cupcakes get slightly crunchy. The raisins and walnuts are delicate and not overpowering, which raisins and walnuts can certainly be. And there's frosting inside!