“Easter Nest” Carrot Cupcakes With Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting
Apr 08, 2014, Updated May 07, 2023
Moist carrot cupcakes topped with caramel cheese frosting. Decorated with sprinkles, coconut flakes, M&M eggs to form a nest - Perfect for Easter!
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The first time I made carrot cupcakes was around 2 years back and actually that was the first time I had carrot cupcakes too. One bite and I knew they are going to be one of my all time favorites. Over the years I have baked them several times and they never disappoint when it comes to flavor and texture.
Carrot cupcakes can be made for any occasion but this particular batch I baked for Easter. With so many Easter dessert recipes around, I chose the simplest one – carrot cupcakes and topped them off with creamy caramel cream cheese frosting. I decorated them with some sprinkles and because these were for Easter used some coconut flakes and M&M eggs to make a nest. They looked very colorful & pretty and made me super happy : )
For the cake I used oil and that’s the main ingredients which makes this cake so moist. I used granulated white sugar in the cake but you can use half brown and half white as well. Cream cheese frosting is the no.1 pick for carrot cupcakes and I just added some caramel sauce to turn it into caramel cheese frosting.
I love caramel but I had no store brought caramel sauce in my fridge so obviously I needed to make one. I took the easy way out here – dumped the sugar, butter and cream in a heavy bottom saucepan and cooked till it became thick. Of course it’s not caramel sauce in the real sense because there’s no caramelizing of the sugar but it tasted great and worked with the frosting.
I decorated these carrot cupcakes using rainbow sprinkles, some coconut flakes and M&M eggs. These days whenever I visit grocery stores all I see is Easter goodies. There are so many candies, eggs, sprinklers it’s really difficult to pick one and if you are like me you would probably want to buy everything! There were so many candy eggs in the store but I picked these milk chocolate M&M eggs because well simply because I love M&Ms!
Also check out my colorful cupcakes liners. Aren’t they cute? Perfect for spring!
Method
Cupcake
Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Line a muffin tray with 12 cupcake liners or coat it with a non-stick spray. Set aside.
In a bowl sift together all purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Set aside. Grate the carrots, now I took the easy way out and used my food processor. The carrots were not very finely grated but it worked for me.
In the steel bowl of your stand mixer or using your hand mixer beat together oil, vanilla and eggs till smooth. Add sugar and beat for 3-4 minutes till the mixture turns thick and pale. Add the dry ingredients and mix till the batter is smooth. Do not overmix.
Fold in the grated carrots using a spatula and mix till combined. Pour the batter into the cupcake liners till they are 3/4 full.
Bake at 350 F degrees for 18-20 minutes or till a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Please note that every oven is different so keep an eye on your cupcakes after 15 minutes.
Transfer the cupcakes onto the wire rack to cool completely.
Caramel Sauce
This is a quick and easy caramel sauce recipe which tasted great in the frosting! Be careful though the caramel is very hot and bubbles a lot.
Mix heavy cream, brown sugar, salt and butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir till butter and sugar is completely melted. The caramel will starts to bubble, cook till it thickens [around 5-7 minutes]. Switch off heat and add vanilla. Mix and let it cool slightly.
Recipe paused to have a look at my Easter Cupcakes. Prettiness!
Ok moving on to the recipe!
Frosting
Sorry I forgot the click pictures of the first few steps here.
In the steel bowl of your stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment or using your hand mixer beat together softened butter and cream cheese until creamy.
Add sugar, 1/2 cup at a time and mix till it’s well incorporated. Add the prepared caramel sauce and mix till smooth and creamy. I did not add vanilla or any cream here because the caramel sauce already had both.
As you can see the frosting that I had was spreading consistency. This was perfect for me because I was not going to pipe or make flowers using the frosting. In case you want to make swirls/roses etc. add more sugar till frosting becomes stiff. The given recipe will yield a spreading consistency frosting.
Decorating the cupcakes
I cored and filled the cupcakes with cream cheese. Here’s how.
So first I need to core the cupcake. I don’t have a cupcake corer so I used a large decorating top and placed in the center of the cupcake. Press lightly, twist and pull out the center piece of the cupcake.
With a knife or spatula apply some frosting on the entire cupcake ring. Now take sprinkles in a bowl and dip your cupcake into it.
The cupcake is now coated with the sprinkles. Using a spoon fill the core with some frosting. Place coconut flakes on the sides of the core to make it look like a nest and then place 2-3 M&M eggs in the center.
And there you have it, cute and colorful “Easter Nest Cupcakes”!
* If you are not planning to frost the cupcakes, you might want to increase the sugar to 1 cup. If frosting the cupcakes 3/4 cup is fine.
* Do use oil in this recipe, it is the oil that makes these cupcakes soft and moist. The frosting makes up for the lack of butter flavor.
* Let the caramel sauce cool down a bit before using it in the frosting. Don’t add it to the frosting straight out of the pan.
* Make the caramel sauce using a pan with high sides because it bubbles a lot so make sure you don’t burn yourself.
"Easter Nest" Carrot Cupcakes With Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1.25 tsp cinnamon powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2 eggs
- ⅔ cup oil [i used canola oil]
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla [optional]
- 1.5 cups shredded carrots
Caramel Sauce
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- ½ cup heavy cream or half n half
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 tsp vanilla
- salt a pinch
Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting
- 4 oz cream cheese softened
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1.5 cups confectioners sugar
- 4 tbsp caramel sauce
- ¼ tsp salt
Decoration
- rainbow sprinkles
- coconut flakes
- M&M eggs
Instructions
Cupcakes
- Preheat oven to 350 F degrees.
- Line a muffin tray with 12 cupcake liners or coat it with a non-stick spray. Set aside.
- In a bowl sift together all purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Set aside.
- Grate the carrots using a grater or use a food processor.
- Using a mixer beat together oil, vanilla and eggs till smooth.
- Add sugar and beat for 3-4 minutes till the mixture turns thick and pale.
- Add the dry ingredients and mix till the batter is smooth. Do not overmix.
- Fold in the grated carrots using a spatula and mix till combined.
- Pour the batter into the cupcake liners till they are 3/4 full.
- Bake at 350 F degrees for 18-20 minutes or till a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Transfer the cupcakes onto the wire rack to cool completely.
Caramel Sauce
- Mix heavy cream, brown sugar, salt and butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir till butter and sugar is completely melted.
- The caramel will starts to bubble, cook till it thickens [around 5-7 minutes].
- Switch off heat and add vanilla. Mix and let it cool .
Frosting
- Beat softened butter and cream cheese together until creamy.
- Add sugar, 1/2 cup at a time and mix till it's well incorporated.
- Add the prepared caramel sauce and mix till smooth and creamy.
Decorating the cupcakes
- Press a large tip or cupcake corer in the center of the cupcake, twist and pull out the center piece of the cupcake.
- With a knife or spatula apply some frosting on the entire cupcake ring.
- Take sprinkles in a bowl and dip your cupcake into it till it's well coated.
- Using a spoon fill the core with some frosting.
- Place coconut flakes on the sides of the core to make it look like a nest and then place 2-3 M&M eggs in the center.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Easter Nest Carrot Cupcakes
