Made-Up in the Midwest : The Perfect Carrot Cake Cupcake Recipe

What a morning I had! You know those types of mornings where they literally start off so rocky that you are just like, is this joke? Yup, that was my morning! There were a few bumps in the road to say the least! I am a huge perfectionist and sometimes I just have to remember that I need to just chill the hell out and relax! What’s a good day without a few bumps, right? On the bright side, my day turned out pretty damn fabulous, I mean, I am having a good hair day, I ate Noodles and Company for lunch, and I got to spend the entire afternoon doing some major damage with my cousins at the Apache Mall in Rochester… Oh, and did I mention that I made over two-dozen scrumptious carrot cake cupcakes?

Yeah... See them scrumptious cupcakes right there? So fricken good!

Carrot cake cupcakes with homemade cream cheese frosting, sign me up! I wanted to make something carrot cakeish for Easter because for one, I live for carrot cake and for two, carrot cake screams Easter! I looked all over Pinterest for a recipe but sometimes I just don’t know if they really are going to be good. I’ve made plenty of things from Pinterest and they haven’t always turned out the best! Finally, I looked in all of the cookbooks at my house and found a classic recipe from the trusty old “What’s Cooking in St. George” cookbook. St. George is a tiny little town with just a Catholic Church. It is where my mom grew up and it's about twenty minutes from where my parents live now. This cookbook has some amazing recipes! I feel like sometimes we all get so wrapped up in Pinterest that we can forget how good the old cook book recipes are! Old recipes are still the best!

My mom made a layer cake using this recipe before and it was to die for! But, I have never made this recipe into a cupcake form before so I was a little unsure about how they were going to turn out! I will be bluntly honest, the first dozen of them turned out terrible! For one, I undercooked them and for two, I filled them too full! They were so ugly that I just threw them away! Yes, I know, it's a waste! But, if you know me then you know that I am all about the vision! People get so pissed when I throw things away and I get pissed when things don’t look perfect! I am who I am! Anyways, I tried another batch and let them in longer and didn’t fill them as much and they turned out pretty fricken perfect! They were so good! My perfectionist self was pretty happy. So, if you want to know how I made my lovely carrot cake cupcakes then just keep on reading!

P.S. If you make these then I hope the first dozen of them turn out for you! By the way, they are SO worth making!

How to Make the Carrot Cake Batter:

First, pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees! I always forget to do this step! I can be so forgetful sometimes… Oops.

Second, cream together the sugar, eggs, shortening, and vanilla (optional).

Third, add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg (optional).

Fourth, add the carrots and chopped walnuts!

This is how it should look when it is all done by the way!

If your making cupcakes; fill your cupcake liners a little less than ¾ of the way full and pop those babies in the oven for about 20-22 minutes. I know that seems a little long but I left the first batch in for 18 minutes and I would highly recommend cooking them for a longer cooking length! Take it straight from the source!

If your making cake; put your mix in a greased cake pan and bake for 70 minutes! This recipe makes a great round layer cake! Who doesn't love a good layer cake?

Church Clergy Carrot Cake

1¾ cups sugar

4 eggs

1¼ cups shortening (or vegetable oil)

1 ½ tsp. vanilla (optional)

Cream above ingredients together and then add the following ingredients:

2 cups flour

2 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

2 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. nutmeg (optional)

Mix together the ingredients above and then add the following:

3 cups grated carrots

1 cup chopped walnuts

Now, for the frosting! Whenever my cupcakes are in the oven that is when I usually try to start on the frosting! I like to let my frosting sit a little bit and in this case I made cream cheese frosting, and I always let my cream cheese frosting sit in the fridge for like ten minutes. The cream cheese frosting recipe I used is actually my mom’s! It is my favorite cream cheese frosting recipe ever! I may be a little biased but I am serious, it’s delicious! Go momma!

FYI… I doubled the frosting recipe because who doesn’t love a little extra cream cheese frosting? I usually don’t follow the recipe word for word, I add a little more cream or sugar here or there! Listed below is the single batch! Just double it all if you want more frosting like me!

How to Make the Frosting:

Momma’s Mary’s Cream Cheese Frosting

3 oz. pkg. cream cheese

¾ stick butter

1 tsp. vanilla

1-2 tsp. heavy whipping cream

1 1/2 -2 cups powdered sugar.

Mix all of the above together and spread on a completely cooled cake!

At the end of it all, I am super pleased with how these cupcakes turned out after I got the first batch out of the way! I am actually eating one right now as I am typing! They are so moist and so perfect! I even got the stamp of approval from my entire family! Yay! The “What’s Cooking in St. George” cookbook never fails, I’m telling ya!

Try it yourself!

Have a very Happy Easter everybody!

I hope that your day is full of lots of love, food, and family!

Xoxo,

Clarissa

Here's the Entire Recipe: