Seattle Seahawk Cupcakes - Carrot Cupcakes with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting

Yes, this is entirely free-handed using food color markers!

GOOOO SEAHAWKS!

I had my *first* real order of cupcakes!  I usually make them unsolicited for friends, family, and just for sweets and giggles :-P but when a friend asked me to make some for her boyfriend's birthday, I was thrilled.  His favorite flavor cake is carrot.  Also, he's a huge Seattle Sea Hawks fan.  So the flavor was set, the decor ideas were running through my head and I was ready to bake!

Mike (birthday boy) doesn't like nuts and she (Jessica) preferred his cupcakes without raisins, since his liking for them was unknown.  Sounds like he really likes his carrot cake to be uber carrot-y!  So I searched for a recipe with a substantial amount of carrots as well as spices.  I found the Carrot Cupcake recipe from AllRecipes.com and just removed the 1 cup of walnuts.  I adapted the recipe for Orange Cream Cheese Frosting from the book Cupcakes from the Primrose Bakery.  The combination of both was fantastic!  I will definitely be using this in the future!  And I topped the cupcakes of delish off with decor made of homemade marshmallow fondant.


Carrot Cupcakes
Makes about 18 cupcakes

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 1/8 cups white sugar

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon pur vanilla extract

2 cups shredded carrots [ I shredded about 1/4 extra a saved for the frosting]

1/2 cup crushed pineapple

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1 cup chopped walnuts

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line 18 muffin tine with cupcake liners.
2. Beat together the eggs, both white and brown sugars until light and fluffy.  Mix in the oil and vanilla. Fold in carrots and pineapple.
3. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. Mix flour mixture into the carrot mixture until evenly moist. Fold in 1/2 cup walnuts. Fill cupcakes liners using a spring-loaded ice cream scoop.
4. Bake 22-25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool completely on wire racks before topping with the icing and sprinkling with remaining walnuts.

The most timw consuming part? Shredding the carrots!!!

Orange Cream Cheese Frosting
Makes enough for 15-20 cupcakes

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, room temperature
4 1/2 cups powedered sugar, sifted 9 Tablespoons (1 stick plus 1 Tbs) unsalted butter, room temperature
Greated zest of 1 orange
1/4 cup shredded carrots

1.  Combine all ingredients in a stand mixer on medium speed, beating well until thouroughly combined and frosting is smooth and pale.  This can take several minutes.
2.  Frost cupcakes!  Frosting can be stored in the refridgerator.  Bring back to room temperature to use.

My favorite picture! 

You can see both the orange zest and carrots infused in the frosting.

I kinda wanted to just eat them all.  BUT they weren't for me!

The Carrot Cupcakes before they suited up in football gear...

For a true Seattle Seahawk Fan!

The 12th man: Not sure exactly the meaning, but its a 'Seahawk thing'

Tada! The cupcakes are complete!

GOOOOO TEAM!!

ConGRADulations! Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Buttercream frosting AND Cosmopolitan Cupcakes!!

It's that time of year my friends where years of hard work boil down to the final steps down the yellow brick road...GRADUATION!  My long time friend, Dorothy, graduated with her Master's in Social Work from Arizona State University.  CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

So in celebration, I baked her two delicious batches of cupcakes: Red Velvet Cupcakes, using the same recipe found in my previous post for CBRE's Softball Cupcakes. I was hesitant to make a pure Cream Cheese Frosting since I wasn't sure how long they would be out without refrigeration, so I looked to nifty ole Martha Stewart for a Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting which is basically the one I usually make, less the sour cream.  I finished these off with homemade ASU Graduation Caps made of Marshmallow Fondant!!

And if you knew Dorothy and I when we're hanging together, if it's not MAC, Marc Jacobs, or a Betsey Johnson product in hand, it's a cocktail :-P   So making Cosmopolitan Cupcakes for her was just the intuitive thing to do. I am proud to say that this recipe is my very FIRST fully personal recipe, so I'm going to be pretty stingy on this one and leave it just for me ;-)


Red Velvet Cupcakes
(Makes 30 cupcakes)

2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup milk
1 bottle (1 ounce) McCormick® Red Food Color
2 teaspoons McCormick® Pure Vanilla Extract
Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe follows)

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Mix flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt in medium bowl. Set aside.

2. Beat butter and sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed 5 minutes or until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Mix in sour cream, milk, food color and vanilla. Gradually beat in flour mixture on low speed until just blended. Do not overbeat. Using an ice cream scoop with tradition release handle, scoop into 30 paper-lined muffin cups, filling each cup 2/3 full.

3. Bake 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted into cupcake comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire rack 5 minutes. Remove from pans. When completely cooled, frost with Vanilla Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting.

Vanilla Cream Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, room temperature

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 box (16 ounces) confectioners' sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Place cream cheese and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat until creamy, about 30 seconds.

2. With the mixer on low, slowly add sugar, scraping down the sides of the bowls as necessary.

3. Add vanilla and increase mixer speed to medium. Blend until frosting is fluffy, about 1 minute. Now FROST!

Cosmopolitan Cupcakes made with Vodka and Cranberry Vodka Buttercream Frosting
(Sorry Friends! This one is going to have to stay in my cupcake diary!)

Maroon & Gold for ASU:

Red Velvet Cupcake with Vanilla Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting and Gold Glitter

NOW it's a party!

Grad Hat Cupcakes accompanied by Cosmopolitan Cupcakes .

Pose #1: Vogue with your Cupcake.

Pose #2: Devour your Cupcake.