Rustic Carrot Cupcakes

 I love carrot cake, i really, really do and I resent the fact that i do not bake it enough to get to know it better so I still rely on online recipes however by luck I did find a good one and I kind of tweaked it to my taste so this I want to share with you. Made a batch of these beautiful carrot cupcakes and I love how they turned out, made mistakes along the way like- I ran out of oil so i used melted butter, too lazy to go out and buy cream cheese so i used sour cream instead...stuff like that :)  Anyway, still turned out gorgeous. Here it is if you wanna try- easy as 1, 2, 3...

INGREDIENTS:

4 eggs

vanilla

1 1/2 c oil OR instead of 1/2 c oil maybe melted butter? up to you :)

2 c brown sugar

+

3 c grated carrots

1 c crushed pineapple, drained

2 c all-purpose flour

2 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. cloves

1 tbsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda 

1 c roasted walnuts
pinch of salt

frosting:  3/4 of one philly bar, sifted icing sugar, vanilla

HOW TO:

1. Beat the first four ingredients in a large bowl. Making sure it's blended well.

2. Throw in the carrots and pineapple, making sure they are well incorporated. Add the rest of the dry ingredients including the nuts and spices and just mix the batter by hand, enough to blend them all in. Pinch of salt to bring out the taste.

3. Spoon into your muffin cups or trays or liners :) Bake 180 deg.C (380 F),  until center is firm to touch.

*Cool cuppies well  before frosting :)

FROSTING:

I love cream cheese so I can be quite generous with it- just a warning!

Using a balloon mixer, beat cream cheese til light, add 1-2 cups icing sugar (more or less as you prefer) and  a tsp. of vanilla. Beat some more, that's it, simple. I like my frosting with a bit of tang so I adjust my sweetness accordingly- it's a personal preference really. Yumm, cannot help from taking a teaspoonful of icing for myself, it's irresistible :)  

Now I was too lazy again to use my piping tubes and bag to create lovely, presentable swirls ( i've just woken up from a night shift ), so i just used a small spatula and literally slapped it on, that is why i called it 'rustic' (wink, wink) - ha,ha,ha... it's fun to take out my stress on cupcakes, Lol. Enjoy :)

“Cakes are like books: There are new ones you want to read and old favorites you want to reread.” 
― Ellen Rose