Carrot pistachio cupcakes with citrus frosting
POSTED ON May 31, 2010
cupcake!
There are many more of my favorite ingredients in these cupcakes that I wanted to fit into the title, but how long can a name for a cupcake be?
They are made with 100% whole grain spelt flour and, as with all my desserts, I used extra virgin olive oil and gently sweetened them with pure maple syrup. I have also added a good amount of freshly ground cardamom to the batter, and the frosting is made with a base of coconut milk. These are all delicious ingredients that would sound enticing in the title; you can choose which ones appeal most to you and name them what you like. Oh and they are dairy and egg free too.
Everybody enjoyed these, but to tell you the truth I found them a little dry and would bake them for 18 minutes rather than 22 minutes next time. For an even moister, sweeter cupcake, I might add some soaked and chopped golden raisins or whole currants to the batter.
I unequivocally love the frosting, it’s rich, thick and creamy like butter cream with a great tang from the citrus juice and zest. In this recipe, I add a pinch of turmeric to give it a slight golden-cream-like color.
This recipe makes a little extra frosting, which can be frozen and used later for a quick dessert topping.
Extended name: Vegan whole grain spelt cardamom scented carrot pistachio cupcakes (made with extra virgin olive oil) with coconut citrus frosting.
family of cupcakes
making frosting
frosting ready to be blended
in the oven
frosting cupcakes
view from above
first bite
Citrus frosting
2 cans coconut milk
6 tablespoons agar flakes
Pinch sea salt
Pinch turmeric
¼ cup brown rice syrup
6 tablespoons maple syrup, I used a light grade A
Zest and juice of one orange
Zest and juice of one lemon
Zest and juice of one lime
Pour coconut milk into a medium size saucepan. Add agar flakes, salt and turmeric, whisk to combine. Place over high heat and bring to a boil, lower heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Whisking every 5 minutes,
Add rice syrup and maple syrup, whisk and simmer another minute. Set all the zest aside and measure citrus juice; you should have 2/3 cup. Add juice to pot and whisk again. Remove from heat, pour into a shallow baking dish and allow to cool. Place in the fridge and chill completely for 1 to 2 hours or until completely set, it should be quite hard.
Cut into squares, place in a food processor and puree until smooth, this may take a couple of minutes. Add the reserved citrus zest and blend again. Return to the fridge and chill for another 30 to 60 minutes before frosting cupcakes.
Carrot pistachio cupcakes
3 cups whole spelt flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
3 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons freshly ground cardamom pods
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger powder
¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
3 cups grated carrots
¾ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 cup maple syrup
1 cup soymilk
1 teaspoon cider vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon sea salt
1 cup pistachios, lightly toasted and chopped, plus more for decorating.
Pre heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Line 16 muffin tins with paper cupcake liners and set aside.
Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and spices into a large bowl; use a whisk to stir well.
Place grated carrots in a food processor and pulse a few times, set aside.
In another bowl combine the olive oil, maple syrup, soymilk, vinegar, vanilla and salt, whisk until emulsified and stir in carrots.
Pour wet ingredients into dry and mix until just combined. Fold in pistachios and divide batter between 16 lined muffin tins. Fill each cupcake all the way to the top.
Place in oven and bake for 18 to 20 minutes. Insert a toothpick into the center of a cupcake; if it comes out clean they are ready.
Remove from oven and allow to cool a little before transferring to a wire to cool completely.
Frost each cupcake generously with the chilled frosting and sprinkle top with pistachios.
I like to chill them before serving…if I have time!
POSTED IN Baked Goods, Dessert
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Wow these look awesome. Thanks for the recipe.
The cupcakes look so beautiful. I love the recipe. Thanks for sharing.
they sound & LOOK absolutely delicious!!!
OMG… Yumo. Maybe that’s why a can of organic coconut milk jumped into my shopping cart yesterday. I’m making these for sure! Gorgeous photos too.
Had this cake at my friends daughters birthday party. think it’s the best I’ve ever had!
Thanks
Thank you, so glad you liked it!
Hi Amy!
Just to let you know the result – I gave up on the icing in the end, but it was ok because I ended up making a different icing with Philadelphia cream cheese, organic coconut milk, maple syrup, vanilla essence and the zest from an orange, lime and lemon and it was delish! So mine weren’t vegan unfortunately but it was effective and the cupcakes tasted amazing – one of the best I’ve ever eaten.
Thanks for all your help – I’ll definitely be making these again!
Marcie
Hi Amy
Here is a tip for preventing cakes having a “dry” texture, add to the cake batter a few drops of glycerine. By doing this you will have a nice moist cake.
This tip was given to my mother by a french pastry chef and she always put glycerine in her cakes and they were never dry
Great job! Amy. I can’t wait to try this – especially the frosting!
Hi, these look amazing, but I was wondering if it would still work if I substituted coconut oil for olive oil.(for the cupcakes)
Yes absolutely! Once they get cold they would become firmer, but I think even more delicious. Let me know how it goes!
Hi! I was wondering If I could make these cupcakes as a cake and if I could use pumkin instead of carrot! Thank you!
Hi Sofia,
Yes you could easily bake it on a cake pan. I guess you could use grated pumpkin instead….l’m sure it would be delicious but you may want to squeeze out the liquid after grating as a squash like butternut has lots of moisture compared to carrot. Let me know how it goes!
Amy
Hello! Such a gorgeous recipe. I would love to bake this in an 8 inch tin and make a tiered birthday cake for a friend, will a 50min-1hr bake be too long and dry it out? Will these quantities make two 8-inch cakes and enough frosting for in between?
Many thanks,
Claudia
Hi Claudia,
I think that would be fine and I would check it after 35 minutes and continue cooking if its not cooked in the center.
I’ve not tried frosting a cake with the frosting recipes but there should be enough….you could always double it and freeze whats left. You can then defrost and re blend it for a creamy dessert sauce. Hope it goes well!
Thanks,
Amy.x
I made this yesterday as a cake and it is delicious!! Small tweaks and info for reference: made using 2 x 7 inch cake tins (perfect amount); added 60g of currants; used 360g of carrots; took the chance to replace the olive oil with coconut oil (yum!); added 1/4 cup of grated coconut; added 60ml orange juice. To the frosting I also used 1tbsp of arrowroot dissolved in the citrus juice, and there was enough frosting for the sandwich middle, the top, and all over the sides. Decorated with some edible flowers! Amy you continue to impress and inspire and get all involved in whole food plant based eating! Thank you xx
Oh I took it out around 36 minutes. Next time I’ll take it out a few minutes earlier! The timer was set to 35, but I was faffing around. I checked it at 27 minutes and the centre wasn’t ready.