A moist and tender carrot cupcake with a lovely cinnamon spice flavor.
These cupcakes are decorated with a delicious white chocolate ganache.
It is such a perfect match, try these carrot cupcakes warm out of the oven with a scoop of white chocolate ganache on top, it melts like ice cream and creates the most yummy combination.
I hope you love it as much as I did.
Before you start
Read the recipe thoroughly, and make sure you have everything you need.
For all the step-by-step pictures, scroll to → Notes and click on the clickable link.
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Bakers Tip
First, peel the carrots and then grate them in a food processor; you should then weigh the grated carrots, so you end up having exactly 200-gram grated carrots. It is best not to use pre-shredded carrots as they are often extremely dry and hard.
Carrot Cupcakes
- 225 grams unsalted butter, cut into pieces, pliable but cool 16C° to 60,8C°
- 375 grams superfine sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
- 200 grams eggs ( from approx 4 large eggs) at room temperature 23 C°/73,4F°
- 250 grams of all-purpose flour, sifted
- 50 gram potato starch or cake flour, sifted
- A pinch of salt
- 3 teaspoons baking powder, sifted
- 1 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 100 grams boiled water + 2 tea bags of cinnamon tea, warm 50C°/122F°
- 200 grams of finely grated fresh carrots, remove the skin first
- 100 grams of finely fresh grated apples, leave the skin on
- 100 grams of finely chopped pecans or walnuts, optional
White Chocolate Ganache
- 500 grams heavy cream 40 %
- 1 or 2 moist vanilla bean, split lengthwise
- 300 gram pure white chocolate 31 to 32%
- a pinch of salt, optional
*The un-whipped White Chocolate Ganache must chill in the fridge for at least 6 hours, preferably overnight before you whip it up into a fluffy cloud. So plan accordingly when making this ganache.
White Chocolate Ganache
- Bakers Note; For this ganache to work, make sure to use premium-quality white chocolate containing cocoa butter, such as Valhrona or Callebaut velvet 32%. The type of white chocolate is important in this recipe.
- Coarsely chop the 300-gram white chocolate; a serrated knife is best for the job. Be sure that your white chocolate contains cocoa butter; otherwise, it isn't really related to chocolate at all and won't whip up.
- Place the chopped white chocolate into a heat-proof glass, such as a high-measuring mug, and set aside for now.
- Pour 500 grams of heavy cream into a medium saucepan. Use a sharp knife to split one or two fresh vanilla beans lengthwise; Put both the vanilla pod and the vanilla seeds and a pinch of salt, into the saucepan together with the cream and heat to 50C°/122F°. Remove from heat and let infuse for 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes: discard the vanilla bean, scrape flavorful gooey vanilla seeds back into the cream, and bring to a simmer about 80C°/176F°.
- Quickly pour the warm cream over the chopped white chocolate. Make sure to scrape all the flavorful gooey vanilla seeds into the bowl that is at the bottom of the saucepan.
- Let the mixture sit for about 1-2 minutes before stirring. Then stir slowly with a spatula until smooth in the middle and emulsify the cream and chocolate. The chocolate will often settle on the bottom of the bottom or the sides of the bowl, so make sure to scrape the side and the bottom to make sure it is all incorporated.
- If you have an immersion blender, emulsify the mixture until smooth.
- Pour the warm white chocolate ganache into a clean bowl or container; make sure to get all the flavorful gooey vanilla seeds back into the cream. For extra flavor, you can add the vanilla pod back into the white chocolate ganache mixture overnight for an even better flavor.
- Cover it with plastic wrap pressed directly against the surface of the ganache to prevent skin from forming. Refrigerate overnight.
- Unwhipped frosting can be stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container with plastic wrap against the surface of the cream. If made with super-fresh cream, it will last for 3 to 5 days.
- Bakers Note; Make sure that the white chocolate ganache is cold. If it is at room temperature, it won’t whip up. Due to the added cocoa butter in white chocolate, it whips up fast. Do not overbeat this mixture, or it will become grainy, taste buttery, and will look more yellow in color instead of white.
- Pull the cold white chocolate ganache out of the fridge, and pour the mixture into a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Mix on medium speed until just thick- About 10 to 30 seconds. It will start to leave marks from the whisk in the white chocolate ganache. Do not overbeat this mixture, or it will become grainy, taste very buttery, and will look more yellow instead of white. To be on the safe side it is best to remove the bowl from the mixer after 10 or 20 seconds to check the consistency, and then continue to whip by hand for several seconds using a spatula or the whisk attachment until the white chocolate ganache reaches the desired consistency; this way, you can ensure the mixer won’t take it too far.
- Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator with plastic wrap against the surface of the cream, until the carrot cupcakes are 100 % cool to the touch.
- If made with super-fresh cream, the white chocolate ganache it will last for 3 to 7 days. No need to re-whip before using.
Carrot Cupcake
- 30 minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 175C°/350F°. Line two standard pans with 24 medium-size cupcake liners.
- Baker's note: These carrot cupcakes use pliable but still cool butter. (16°C / 60.8F°). Using cold butter produces a better final cupcake texture. Your stand mixer can quickly overheat the whipped butter by quickly beating it too long. If the butter is too soft when you start mixing the cupcake batter, the butter essentially melts into the flour, and your cupcake will not be as tender and moist as you'd like. That said, the eggs should all be at room temperature (23°/ 73,4°F.) as cold eggs can cause the fat to separate and break the emulsion of fat and water in the butter. I highly recommend using a Thermapen or a digital thermometer laser to be sure how warm the whipped butter and eggs are.
- In a medium bowl combine 250-gram all-purpose flour, 50-gram potato starch ( or cake flour), a pinch of salt, 3 teaspoons of baking powder, and 1 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon, combine with a whisk, then sift twice and set aside for now.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or whisk attachment, cream 225-gram semi-cold unsalted butter, 375 grams of superfine sugar, and two teaspoons of vanilla bean paste on medium speed until light and fluffy; About 5 minutes. Remove the bowl from the mixer, and scrape the paddle attachment, and the side and the bottom of the bowl.
- Add one egg and place the bowl back on the mixer, attach the scraped paddle attachment mixing slowly for about 30 seconds after each addition of egg. If you add the eggs too quickly, the emulsion will become unstable and "break" A broken cupcake batter will look curdled and separated, and you could end up with a cupcake that has a denser crumb and drier texture instead of a fluffy and tender cupcake. Repeat this step 3 more times, make sure to scrape the side and the bottom of the bowl after each addition. Set aside for a few minutes while you make hot cinnamon tea.
- Prepare strong hot cinnamon tea, using 2 tea bags and 100 grams of boiled water, and leave to steep for 2-3 minutes; remove the tea bags, squeeze out all of the hot cinnamon flavors, use a scale, and weigh 80 grams of hot cinnamon tea. Discard the rest.
- Add one-third of the flour mixture to the butter/mixture and one-third of the hot cinnamon tea with the mixer on low speed, and mix on low speed for 20 seconds each time. It is important to mix on low speed only. Scrape down the sides and the bottom of the bowl and repeat this step twice. Remove the bowl from the mixer.
- Using a spatula, carefully fold in 200-gram grated carrots, 100-gram grated apples, and 100-gram finely chopped pecans. Let the batter rest for 20 minutes if time permits.
- Using your ice cream scooper with a trigger release, scoop the batter into the cupcake liners until each is ¾ full. Be careful not to overfill.
- Bake in the middle of the oven for 18 to 23 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out mostly clean but still moist. Depending on what size liners you use, mine took 23 minutes; start checking after 18 minutes.
- Carefully remove the cupcakes from the pan immediately, put them on a wire rack, and let cool completely.
- Once the carrot cupcakes have cooled completely, Pull the white chocolate ganache out of the fridge. Fit a pastry bag with a Wilton 1G piping tip or any other tip of your choice, scoop the white chocolate ganache into the piping bag, and make a pretty swirl.
- Enjoy immediately or store the frosted carrot cupcakes in the fridge for up to 2 -3 days.
For step-by-step pictures of how to make
→ Carrot Cupcakes
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