Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Candied Carrot Curls

For the cupcakes:
Preheat oven to 350ºF. Prepare cupcake tins by placing a cupcake liner or cupcake baking cup in each well and lightly spraying the insides with cooking spray.

Peel and the grate the carrots. I use a food processor with a grating blade to make it faster.

In the large bowl of a mixer, mix dry ingredients: sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, salt and baking soda. Mix in oil and eggs until fully incorporated. Add carrots and mix. Place an even amount of the batter in each cupcake liner.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes (in my oven, they took 22 minutes). Allow the cupcakes to cool in the pan for 5 to 10 minutes, then take them out to cool and decorate.

When the cake is completely cooled, they are ready to frost.

For the cream cheese icing:
Let cream cheese and butter sit out for about 1 hour so they soften and come to room temperature.

In the bowl of a mixer, cream the cream cheese and butter. Add powdered sugar, vanilla and milk. Mix on medium high speed until icing is smooth and fluffy. Then pipe a round swirl of icing on each cupcake using a large star tip or spread 2 tablespoons on each cupcake with a butter knife. If you want, you can decorate the tops with candied carrot curls.

Fot the candied carrot curls:
Preheat oven to 200ºF.

To make the carrot peel curls, take a vegetable peeler and peel 15 to 20 lengthwise carrot strips or ribbons. Bring 1 cup sugar and water to a boil in a small sauce pan. Add carrots and turn the heat down to medium low and cook for 15 minutes. Remove peels from pan with a slotted spoon.

Lay carrot ribbons flat on a parchment-paper-lined baking sheet or jelly roll pan. Bake for 25 minutes. The carrots will begin to look translucent and be firm enough to hold a shape.

While carrots are still warm, work quickly to curl carrot ribbons around a wooden spoon handle. You can adjust how tight you want the curls. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup granulated sugar. Use to garnish frosted cupcakes.

Note: If you want to watch how to make these carrot curls, click on related blog link to see a short video that gives you a step-by-step guide.