Adorable Alpaca Carrot Cake Cupcakes Recipes

CARROT CAKE CUPCAKES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, beat the sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla until well blended. Combine 2 cups flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt; gradually beat into sugar mixture until blended. Stir in carrots and pineapple. Toss the raisins with the remaining flour until coated; fold into batter., Fill paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full. Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely., For frosting, in a small bowl, beat cream cheese and butter until fluffy. Add confectioners' sugar and milk; beat until smooth. Frost cupcakes. Refrigerate leftovers.

LUSCIOUS CARROT CUPCAKES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Mix 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons oil, eggs, brown sugar, and grated carrots together, in that order, in a bowl.
• Mix flour, cinnamon, baking powder, vanilla sugar, and salt together in a separate bowl. Add flour mixture to oil mixture and stir to combine. Fill 12 cups of a muffin tin with the batter.
• Bake on the middle rack of the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 12 to 15 minutes; do not overbake. Cool completely before frosting, about 45 minutes.
• Mix confectioners' sugar, cream cheese, butter, lemon juice, and lemon zest together in a bowl; stir until the icing reaches a smooth, thick, and creamy texture. Cover icing with plastic wrap and refrigerate until set, at least 30 minutes, before topping cupcakes.

ADORABLE ALPACA CARROT CAKE CUPCAKES

Steps:

• Before you begin, you will also want to gather white fondant, pink icing gel color, and 1/4 cup black candy melts (or black decorating icing) for the alpaca decorations. You will also need toothpicks, wax paper, a piping bag, 12 foil baking cups, and a large round piping tip (I used a Wilton #12).
• This recipe can easily be modified for your preferences. The nuts can be removed or swapped for walnuts. The raisins can be replaced with all pineapple or vice versa.
• Preheat the oven to 325°F Line a 12 cup muffin pan with the foil baking wrappers. Set aside.
• Spread the pecans out onto a parchment lined baking sheet, and bake for 8-10 minutes. You will know they are done when they are slightly darkened and fragrant. Set aside to cool. Raise the oven temp to 350°F.
• Place the raisins in a small bowl and pour enough boiling water over them to cover them completely. Soak for 10 minutes, then drain and pat the raisins dry with a paper towel. Soaking the raisins rehydrates them so that they don't absorb moisture from the cake, while baking, and dry it out.
• Beat the eggs, oil, both sugars, and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer on medium speed, until lighter in color (about 3 minutes).
• In a separate, medium sized mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.
• Slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet, stirring to incorporate (be careful to only mix until combined).
• Use either a box grater or a food processor to finely grate the carrots. The food processor will give you an even finer consistency. To do this, wash and peel 3 carrots, and then cut the top off of each. Cut each carrot into about 1-2 inch sections, and chop in the food processor until they are finely chopped but not juiced. (You can dice the pineapple in the food processor as well - you don't need to rinse the machine out first).
• Fold the carrots and pineapple into the cupcake batter. Chop up the nuts and fold them and the soaked raisins inches.
• Place 3 tablespoons of batter into each baking cup, and bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
• Allow the cupcakes to cool for 10 minutes in the muffin pan before moving to a cooling rack to cool completely. (I like to then move them to the refrigerator while working on the frosting and decorations so they can firm up a bit to hold all the creamy, fluffy frosting ☺ ).
• To make RJ's (alpaca) face you can either use black candy melts (this is what I did), or you can pipe the faces onto the cupcakes, after they are finished, with black decorating icing. To make the candy designs you will want to place 1/4 cup of the melts into a small heat-safe bowl, and microwave for 30 seconds at 50% power. Stir, and then continue to microwave and stir at the same power and amount of time until smooth.
• Dip a toothpick into the candy melts, and draw the eyes, eyebrows, and noses/mouths onto wax paper (you can use a sketch of his face underneath the wax paper as a guide). Allow the candy melts to set completely before carefully removing them.
• To make the frosting, cream together the butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add the salt and vanilla, and mix inches Scrape the sides of the bowl, and slowly add in the powdered sugar and mix, on medium speed, until light and fluffy (about 3-5 minutes).
• Transfer the frosting to a piping bag fitted with a large round piping tip, and pipe large dots in rows starting at the top of the cupcake and working your way down (making sure to cover the entire cupcake). If the frosting is too soft you can refrigerate it for about 15-20 minutes to help it firm up. Do not worry about peaks from the dots, they will be smoothed after the cupcakes are chilled.
• Transfer the decorated cupcakes to the freezer for 15 minutes.
• Take about a 2 inch ball of the fondant and split it in half. Color 1 half with just a little of the pink icing gel and knead it in until it is evenly colored light pink. Divide the pink into 12 tiny balls, and split each ball in half. Roll the halves into small ovals on top of wax paper, for RJ's cheeks.
• Divide the white fondant into 12 balls, split each in half, and use your fingers to mold each half into a rounded triangle for RJ's ears (you can use more white fondant, if needed, for the size).
• Once the cupcakes are chilled remove them from the freezer. Put a little water into a mug and heat it in the microwave for 30 seconds. Dip a clean finger into the water, tap it on a paper towel or kitchen towel, and then tap the peaks on the icing dots to smooth them out. Repeat until all the peaks are smoothed (if you have any air bubbles in the icing you can fix it the same way).
• Place an ear on either side of the cupcake. Use a toothpick to carefully transfer the face details on top, and then add a cheek under each eye. Your cute cupcakes are now ready to enjoy! Store any leftovers in the refrigerator.

CARROT CAKE CUPCAKES

Steps:

• Position oven rack in the middle of the oven; preheat oven to 350°; line a standard 12-cup muffin pan with paper or foil liners.
• In a bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon together; set aside.
• In another bowl, whisk together the grated carrots, sugar, oil, eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla together to combine.
• Using a rubber spatula, fold the flour mixture into the carrot mixture until completely combined.
• Divide batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups, filling each about 2/3 full.
• Bake until golden brown and a pick comes out clean, 20-25 minutes.
• Let the cupcakes cool in the pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes.
• Transfer cupcakes to a wire rack to cool completely, about 1 hour.
• Make frosting--in a bowl, with an electric mixer on med-high speed, beat the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla together until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
• Gradually beat in the sugar and mix until thoroughly combined; scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed; use right away, or if the consistency is too soft, refrigerate until the frosting is spreadable, about 15 minutes.
• Frost cupcakes with the cream cheese frosting (the frosted cupcakes can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 5 days; bring to room temperature before serving) and serve.