Carrot Cupcakes with White Chocolate Cream Cheese Icing
| 
 | 
      
Ingredients     
     -          For the icing:
 -          50g (2 oz) white chocolate
 -          1 (200g) tub cream cheese, softened
 -          100g (4 oz) unsalted butter, softened
 -          1 teaspoon vanilla extract
 -          1/2 teaspoon orange extract
 -          500g (1 1/4 lb) icing sugar
 -          2 tablespoons double cream
 -          For the cupcakes:
 -          2 eggs, lightly beaten
 -          225g (8 oz) caster sugar
 -          5 tablespoons dark brown soft sugar
 -          100ml (4 fl oz) vegetable oil
 -          1 teaspoon vanilla extract
 -          250g (9 oz) grated carrots
 -          125g (4 1/2 oz) crushed pineapple
 -          200g (7 oz) plain flour
 -          1 1/4 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda
 -          1/2 teaspoon salt
 -          1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
 -          1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
 -          1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
 -          100g (4 oz) chopped walnuts
 
           Preparation method     
     -   Preheat oven to 180 C / Gas mark 4. Lightly grease a 12-cup muffin tin, or line with paper muffin cases.
 -   In small saucepan, melt white chocolate over low heat. Stir until smooth, and allow to cool to room temperature.
 -   In a bowl, beat together the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Mix in white chocolate, 1 teaspoon vanilla and orange extract. Gradually beat in the icing sugar until the mixture is fluffy. Mix in double cream.
 -   Beat together the eggs, caster sugar and brown sugar in a bowl, and mix in the oil and vanilla. Fold in carrots and pineapple. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, bicarbonate of soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger. Mix flour mixture into the carrot mixture until evenly moist. Fold in 1/2 of the walnuts. Transfer to the prepared muffin tin.
 -   Bake 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a skewer inserted in the centre of a muffin comes out clean. Cool completely on wire racks before topping with the icing and sprinkling with remaining walnuts.
 
- Follow RecipesDream