Melbourne, Australia is in lockdown for the fifth time since the pandemic begun. The mood across this lovely city is low and positive sentiment is few and far between this week, especially as the weather has graced us with what seems like endless rain and cold temperatures. Motivation is hard to muster and the enthusiasm I usually have to eat well, go outside for fresh air and find the silver lining of bad situations is noticeably less. BUT, I made these cute dessert mountains for my house and the activity of baking, the smell that filled the house and the yummy taste perked us all right up. Plus, we enjoyed a good giggle over what makes a cupcake a cupcake and a muffin a muffin (we decided muffins don’t traditionally have icing!). Best of all, these cupcakes include carrots, flaxseed, walnuts, and sultanas, so you can feel even better about getting some fibre and veggies into your day – and let’s be frank, in these times it is completely acceptable to include your daily recommended intake of five serves of veggies and two serves of fruit in the form of baked goods.
This week I will be appreciating and enjoying the things that make me happy and that will include a baby carrot cake cupcake for brekky or dessert if I feel like it.
I hope you enjoy making these little vegan delights and they give you the mood boost they lent me 🙂
Ingredients
115g of vegan butter (1/2 cup)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 flaxseed egg (1 tbsp ground flaxseed, 3 tbsp of warm water, mixed through)
2 3/4 cups of plain flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 tsp of baking powder
1 tbsp cinnamon
3 tsp ground ginger
3 tsp nutmeg
1/2 aquafaba (juice from the can of cooked chickpeas)
1 large carrot, grated
1 cup of crushed walnuts
3/4 cup of sultanas
Icing
500g of vegan cream cheese (I use Toffuti)
1 1/2 cups of icing sugar
Rind of 1 lemon
Juice of half a lemon
Recipe
- Pre heat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius (355 Fahrenheit).
- Place the cupcake liners (patty pans) in a 12 case cupcake tray.
- Cream the butter and sugars together using a large wooden spoon or a paddle attachment in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy (beat for at least 3 minutes).
- Add the flaxseed egg and mix through.
- Next, sift the flour, salt, baking powder and spices and continue to mix until the flour is well incorporated.
- While continuing to stir, slowly pour in the aquafaba and mix until combined.
- Add the grated carrot, crushed walnuts and sultanas to the mix and give the batter a final stir through.
- Evenly scoop the cupcake mix into each cupcake liner.
- Bake in a moderate oven for 30 minutes or until golden on top and cooked through (cooking time may vary depending on your oven). Leave the cupcakes to cool before removing from the tray.
- To prepare the icing, cream all icing ingredients together until smooth. Be sure to sift the icing sugar to avoid lumps.
- Scoop the icing mixture into a piping bag and pipe icing onto cool cupcakes (start from the outside and circle inwards to make the peaks on top).
This recipe makes 12 cupcakes. The cupcakes will keep well in the fridge for three days but are most delicious eaten fresh on the day!
