Carrot cake muffins

Carrot cake muffins are lightly spiced individual carrot cakes, topped with a mascarpone frosting and chopped walnuts. They are perfect with a cup of tea or coffee, served as a dessert or for picnics or lunchboxes. This carrot cake muffin recipe will make around 24 muffins.

Ingredients

For the cake:

• 350g plain flour (all purpose flour)
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 350g light muscovado sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground ginger
• 2 eggs
• 175ml olive oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla essence
• 175g carrots (about 3 carrots)
• 75g pineapple
• 50g walnuts

For the frosting

• 250g mascarpone
• 250g icing sugar
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla essence

To decorate

• About 2 tablespoons broken walnuts

Equipment

In addition to common kitchen utensils you will also need:

• An electric mixer
• A muffin tin
• Muffin cases

To prepare the muffins

Start by preparing some of the ingredients:

• Mash the pineapple using a fork.
• Chop the walnuts into small pieces.
• Slice the carrots, steam or boil and then mash with the back of a fork or blend using a hand blender.

Weigh the flour into a large bowl. Add the muscovado sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger and chopped walnuts and mix.

Break the eggs into a separate bowl and beat.

Add the beaten eggs, olive oil, vanilla essence (or extract) mashed or puréed carrots and crushed pineapple to the bowl of dry ingredients and mix well either by hand or with an electric mixer.

Place muffin cases in a muffin tin. Spoon the carrot cake mixture into muffin cases finishing a few millimetres below the tops of the cases.

Bake in the centre of the oven at 170^oC, 325^oF, gas mark 3 for around 20 minutes or until the tops are firm when touched. Place the tray on a wire rack for around 5 to 10 minutes before removing from the tin. Leave to cool on a wire rack. If using a 12 muffin muffin tin you will need to bake in two batches.

To prepare the frosting

Place the mascarpone in a medium sized bowl and add the vanilla essence (or extract). Add the icing sugar a little at a time and beat with an electric mixer for about a couple of minutes.

To decorate

When the muffins have cooled, top with the frosting and add broken walnuts to decorate.

Tips

1. The muffins can be stored in an airtight container for a couple of days in a cool room. If you wish to store them for up to 4 days I recommend they are stored in an airtight container in the fridge and then taken out and brought to room temperature before serving. The muffins can also be frozen, either with or without the frosting.
2. If you wish to use self raising flour in instead of plain flour then omit 2 teaspoons of baking powder, ie, use 1 teaspoon instead of 3 teaspoons.
3. Either fresh or tinned pineapple can be used to make these muffins.