Carrot Cake Cupcakes and a review

I've been getting repeated requests for carrot cake at work so I decided to bake some but in a cupcake form instead of a layer cake. I wanted to give some away as a gift and it's much easier to present cupcakes as a gift than slices of cake. I used the recipe that I made up previously with a few minor changes. The first is a tip from my mum which was to soak the raisins in fresh orange juice overnight. The raisins were really plump and juicy and tasted great! I also added in a banana as I had one brown banana on the counter begging to be used and I think it adds to the moistness of the cake. I also omitted the nuts as one of my colleagues is allergic to walnuts. Overall, the cake got great reviews - it was moist, juicy and not too sweet. The cream cheese frosting was the perfect complement and the little carrot chocolate decorations were literally the icing on the cake. 

The cupcakes looked great after baking and decorating and were screaming to be presented in a lovely cake stand. I decided it was the perfect opportunity to use my new cake stand from dotcomgiftshop and to tell you a little about it. It's the Petit Four Botanical Cake Stand made of ceramic with a scalloped edging and glass top. It fits 3 cupcakes perfectly and will fit a small layer cake. It would also be good to display whoopie pies, cookies or mini cakes. The cake stand is surprisingly light but sturdy. The flowers on the glass stand are beautiful and I've taken pictures from different angles to give you an idea of what it looks like in 3D. 

My verdict - It's a great little cake stand to display your baked goods. It's light and easy to wash and keeps your baked goods fresh. It is petit as the name suggests so don't expect to fit a large layer cake in there! A perfect gift for the baker in your family or a treat for yourself. 

 wholemeal flour, olive oil, muscovado sugar, ground cinnamon, ground mixed spice, orange, cream cheese, carrots, raisins soaked in fresh orange juice 

 adding in the ingredients to the flour mixture 

 ready to go in the oven 

 fresh from the oven 

 rows of pretty carrot cake cupcakes 

 cake stand 

 different view of the glass cover 

 yet another view of the glass cover 

 fits 3 cupcakes perfectly 

  view from the side 

 view from the top 

For the carrot cake
150ml olive oil
150g muscovado sugar
3 eggs
240g wholemeal flour
1.5 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon mixed spice
zest of 1 orange
100g raisins soaked in fresh orange juice overnight and then drained
300g carrots, peeled and grated
1 ripe banana (optional)

For the orange cream cheese frosting
300g cream cheese
150g icing sugar
zest of 1 orange
1-2 tablespoons fresh orange juice (depending on consistency of icing requred)

• Preheat the oven to 180C. 
• In a large bowl, whisk the olive oil, sugar and eggs until the sugar has dissolved and the eggs are slightly fluffy. 
• In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, bicabonate of soda and spices and add to the egg mixture.
• Add in the remaining ingredients and mix well. 
• Spoon the mixture into cupcake cases and bake for approximately 10-12 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. 
• Allow to cool in the tins for 5 minutes before turning out to a wire rack to cool completely. 
• Meanwhile make the frosting by beating all the ingredients in an electric mixer until smooth.
• Spread the frosting on top of the cupcake using a palette knife and finish with a chocolate carrot decoration or as desired. 

Disclaimer: I was sent the cake stand for review purposes free of charge. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are my own.