Carrot Cake Muffins

By Bakepedia on January 26, 2016

Carrot Cake Muffins

I have to admit I was slow to come to the spiralize craze. Probably because it required a tool – a spiralizer – but one day last summer I had to have zucchini noodles. Isn’t it funny (and inexplicable) when a craving strikes? If you haven’t heard of “zoodles” (zucchini noodles) or the spiralizer craze chances are you experienced it in a restaurant or have seem pictures of mounds of spiral cut fruits and veggies and wondered how the heck they were made? The machines work very easily and are fairly inexpensive – you can find good ones for $20 to $30 – and once you have one you will want to play. This is exactly what Denise Smart has done in SPIRALIZE Now! These Carrot Cake Muffins take advantage of the long thin strands of carrot produced by a spiralizer providing crunch, color and a pretty decoration. Check out the Salted Caramel and Pear Pudding as well, also from this new book.

Excerpted from SPIRALIZE Now! by Denise Smart. Published by Weldon Owen, 2016. Photos by William Shaw.

Prep time: 10 minutes

Carrot Cake Muffins

Author: Denise Smart

Makes: 12 muffins

Ingredients

For the Muffins:

1ó carrots, about 6 oz (175 g), peeled, ends trimmed and the whole carrot halved crosswise
6 oz (175 g) unsalted butter, softened
6 oz (175 g) superfine sugar
Grated zest of 1 organic orange plus
1 tablespoon orange juice
6 oz (175 g) self-rising flour
2 teaspoons ground apple pie spice
2 eggs
2 oz (50 g) walnut pieces, chopped

For the frosting:

7 oz (200 g) cream cheese
2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
2 teaspoons grated orange zest
1 tablespoon orange juice

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C).
Line a muffin pan with 12 paper muffin liners. Using a spiralizer fitted with a 3 mm (1 ⁄8 inch) spaghetti blade, spiralize the carrots.
In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat together the butter, sugar and orange zest until pale and fluffy. Sift over the flour and spices, then add the eggs and orange juice and beat just until well combined. Stir in three-fourths of the spiralized carrots and the walnuts.
Divide the mixture among the muffin cases. Bake for 18–20 minutes, until risen and golden brown. Remove from the oven, place on a cooling rack and allow to cool.
To make the frosting, in a bowl, using an electric mixer on medium high speed, beat together the cream cheese, confectioners’ sugar, orange zest and juice until smooth. Spoon the frosting into a piping bag fitted with a star-shaped tip and pipe the frosting onto the cooled muffins. (Alternatively, you can spread the frosting over the top of the muffins with a knife.) Decorate the muffins with the remaining carrot curls.