Mini Carrot Cake
For our anniversary this year I decided to bake us individual cakes. After looking through a few recipes, I decided to settle on a mini carrot cake(s). I stumbled upon this recipe and decided to give it a go!
After making the cakes, I do have a few takeaways:
If you are not a fan of nutmeg, either put a smaller amount or omit it altogether. I am not a fan but decided to try it so that what I made was true to the recipe. Needless to say, the nutmeg overpowered any other flavor for me.
The original recipe post had a few comments calling out the amount of oil and causing the cake to be a bit oily. Although I agree, it did make for an easy bake of the cake itself.
I do not like cakes covered in traditional frostings, buttercream, etc. I will always choose whipped up heavy whipping cream despite the fact that it doesn’t stick as well as the other frostings.
Stick to the amount of carrots it asks for. I used a little more, and it ended up being too much. If you love carrots, disregard #4 😁.
Ingredients:
1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour (162 g)
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon cinnamon
⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
¾ cup buttermilk (180 g)
½ cup vegetable oil (107 g)
1 large egg
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
¾ cup light brown sugar (lightly packed, 144 g)
1 ¼ cup shredded carrot (170 g)
¼ cup chopped walnuts (30 g)
More walnuts for topping if desired
Melted butter for pans
1 cup of heavy whipping cream (for the frosting)
Directions:
Toast the walnuts in a frying pan over medium heat for 3 - 5 minutes until fragrant. Let it cool and chop into smaller pieces.
Scrub the carrots clean, trim the end and peel the skin off. Cut them into smaller pieces and shred them in a food processor or shred them with a box grater. This should yield 1 ¼ cups.
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
If making cupcakes, line a regular size muffin pan with cupcake liners and set aside. If making mini cake, brush some melted butter on two 6” round cake pans. Line the bottom of the cake pan with a piece of round parchment paper and brush the parchment paper with butter as well. Set aside.
Add buttermilk, oil, egg and vanilla extract to a large mixing bowl and beat until smooth. Add brown sugar and mix until the sugar is completely dissolved. Add shredded carrot and mix until evenly distributed.
Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg into a medium mixing bowl. Add the salt and mix thoroughly with a whisk. Add the flour mixture to the liquid mixture and fold until incorporated. Fold in the chopped walnuts.
Divide batter evenly between two cake pans, about 425 g of batter per pan. Bake for 30 - 31 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean with just a few crumbs attached.
Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack for 10 - 15 minutes. When you can touch the cake pans, use a butter knife to loosen the sides, flip the pan over to remove the cake from the pan. Peel off the parchment paper, and allow the cakes to cool completely on a wire rack before adding frosting.
Mix 1 cup of heavy whipping cream and your choice of whipping cream stabilizer.
Decorate per your preference 😊.
