On another occasion, to jazz up some chocolate cupcakes for my grandson’s first birthday, I bought some African paper patterns online, printed them on card stock, cut them out and taped them into decorative rings for the cupcakes to slip into. This idea is great for customizing them for any event!
Carrot Cake Cupcakes
3-1/2 cups (450 g) grated carrots
3-1/3 cups (400 g) all-purpose flour
2 cups (400 g) sugar
1 cup (240 ml) vegetable oil
3 large eggs (171 g)
1/2 cup (120 ml) buttermilk (or add 1 tsp. lemon juice to 1/2 cup whole milk and allow to stand for ten minutes)
1/2 cup (50 g) chopped pecans or walnuts
1/2 cup (85 g) golden raisins
1 T orange zest
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground cardamom
Toast the pecans (or walnuts if you prefer): Preheat the oven to 350°F. Toast the nuts for five minutes and set aside to cool. (Set a timer! It’s easy to forget them and easy to burn them if you do). Leave the oven on.
Line three 6-well cupcake pans with tulip style liner papers (Tulip papers allow you to get more cupcake batter in each one).
In one bowl thoroughly mix: buttermilk, oil, sugar, eggs, vanilla and orange zest. Stir in grated carrots.
In another bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cardamom and cinnamon.
Fold dry ingredients into the wet, being careful not to overmix. Fold in the nuts and raisins and mix until evenly incorporated.
Fill a piping bag with 2-3 cups of batter (use a 1” piping tip). This is the cleanest and easiest way to fill the liners. (You can also use a spoon, but it’s more time consuming to do neatly). Pipe the batter so that it’s level with the top of the cupcake pan when the tulip paper is sitting in it. If you go with conventional cupcake papers, fill them 2/3rd full (you’ll get 24 cupcakes rather than 18).
Bake at 350°F for 25 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through the bake. For even baking, the cupcake pans should be on the same oven rack. NOTE: Your baking time will be less if you use conventional cupcake papers (between 19-22 minutes). When a toothpick is inserted and it comes out clean, they’re ready.
Allow them to cool for five minutes and then transfer them to a wire rack to fully cool.
Cream Cheese Frosting
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
16 oz. Philadelphia cream cheese, softened
2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
Beat the cream cheese and butter on medium speed until well combined. Sift the powdered sugar and mix. Spread or pipe onto cooled cupcakes.
Inspired by and adapted from the cupcakes at Simplyrecipes.com.
Beloved Recipe Box 
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