Carrot Cake Cupcakes

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I came across this recipe from Jane's Patisserie when I was looking for a recipe specifically for Carrot Cake Cupcakes for a meeting at work.

This is the first time I've made carrot cake cupcakes before, and it definitely won't be the last, especially with this recipe.

Let's get baking!

Ingredients:

Cupcakes:

125ml sunflower oil

2 medium eggs

175g grated carrots

125g light brown sugar

175g self-raising flour

1.5 tbsp mixed spice

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

Cream Cheese Frosting:

150g unsalted butter (room temp.)

150g icing sugar

300g full fat cream cheese (cold)

1 tsp vanilla extract

To start making your cupcakes, preheat your oven to 180C/160C Fan, and line a a cupcake/muffin tray with cupcake or muffin cases.

Peel your carrots and chop off the ends, then grate them. You need 175g of grated carrot. Once done leave to one side.

Next in a bowl, mix together the sunflower oil and eggs.

Add in the grated carrot and sugar, and mix again.

Add in the flour, mixed spice, ginger and cinnamon, and bicarbonate of soda. Mix again, but try not to over mix.

Split the mixture evenly between your cases and bake them in the oven for 20-22 minutes.

While your cupcakes are cooling, start making your frosting.

Start by beating your butter on it's own for a few minutes.

Next add in the icing sugar, and beat again, for at least 5 minutes.

Before adding the cream cheese, make sure any excess water is removed. The add in the cream cheese and vanilla extract. Beat for a few minutes, it may go lumpy at first but keep beating until it turns smooth and thick.

Pipe the cream cheese frosting onto your cooled cupcakes and decorate them if you wish to.

This recipe is really easy and quick to follow and make, the only time consuming part of this recipe I would say is grating the carrots.

These cupcakes are really nice, the flavour is stunning in both the cupcakes and the frosting. The even went down a treat with my work colleagues that tired them too.

I will definitely make these again, they've definitely become one of my favourite bakes.

If you would like to follow Jane's recipe, then head over to Carrot Cake Cupcakes on the Jane's Patisserie website.

See you soon!

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さようなら

(Sayonara)

再见

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Bye

Carrot Cake Overnight Oats

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I'm back with another recipe from the Pinch of Nom recipe book, I didn't know what to class this as as it's neither baked or cooked so I'm just going to include it for both. The Carrot Cake Overnight Oats are part of the Breakfast chapter.
This recipe requires a kilner jar or just a jar with a lid, which I don't have so I used a sandwich tub.

Ingredients:
40 g oats or 2 Weetabix crushed
1 x 175g pot vanilla-flavoured fat-free yogurt (or 175 g fat-free natural yogurt, 1/2 tsp vanilla extract and 1/2-1 tsp granulated sweetener)
1 small carrot, grated
1/4 tsp mixed spice
pinch of ground ginger
pinch of ground cinnamon

Start off by grating your carrot ready for use a little later on.

pour your oats or Weetabix into the bottom of your jar or tub.

Spoon on the yogurt.

Add three-quarters of the grated carrot and then add the spices.

Now give everything a good stir, until everything is completely combined and covered.

When completed, cover and chill in the fridge overnight.

The next morning, stir, then top with the remaining grated carrot and enjoy.

I had a full day at work a few weeks ago and was starting at 9am so thought this would be perfect to have for my first break for brunch. 
It's really quick, easy and simple to make, I honestly didn't think there would be enough to fill my tub or my stomach but I was left pleasantly surprised. With all the spices I did think I was eating a creamy take on a carrot cake.
I think this is definitely a lovely little recipe for a breakfast treat during the week, I'd happily create this again, it was delicious with the right amount of spice for carrot cake and it definitely filled a whole in my stomach and kept me going until my next break.

If you're interested in any of Pinch of Nom's recipe's then you can buy the recipe book in all major supermarkets as well as online retailers Waterstones and Amazon.

See you soon!

안녕
(Annyeong)
さようなら
(Sayonara)
再见
(ZaiJian)
Bye

Carrot Cake

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こんにちは 

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你好

(Ni Hao)

I've been wanting to attempt to bake a carrot cake for a while now, originally I wasn't a fan of carrot cake but as I've got older, I've really come to enjoy it, so I decided to attempt to bake my own carrot cake. I'm a fan of The Great British Bake Off, so when I saw a recipe from Paul Hollywood, I thought I'd give it a go.

If you would also like to follow his recipe, I'll link it at the end of my post.

Lets get baking!

Ingredients:

155 ml sunflower oil

230 g self-raising flour

1 tsp baking powder

1.5 tsp ground cinnamon

0.5 tsp mixed spice

0.5 tsp ground ginger

230 g light brown muscovado sugar

Finely grated zest of 1 satsuma

100 g pecans, halved

260 g carrots, grated 

3 medium free range eggs, beaten

50 g butter

200 g full fat cream cheese

100 g icing sugar

Finely grated zest of 1 orange 

Start off by pre-heating your oven to 180C/160CFan/Gas 4, and grease an 18 cm loose-bottomed round cake tin and line the base with baking parchment.

Next sift the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ground ginger and mixed spice into a large bowl.

Next add the sugar, zest, pecans and grated carrots, stir well until combined.

Next stir in the beaten eggs and oil, then mix well.

Pour the cake mixture into the prepared cake tin and bake in the oven for 1 hour or until a skewer comes out clean.

Transfer the cake to a cooling rack, leave in the tin for 5 minutes, then turn out and leave to cool completely.

For the icing, beat the butter in a large bowl with a hand mixer until really soft.

Next add the cream cheese and beat again until well mixed.

Next sift over the icing sugar, add the orange zest and eat until smooth. If not using straight away store, covered in the fridge until needed.

Carefully cut your cake in half, then spread half of the icing between the cake layers and the other half on the top of the cake. Then you're ready to cut and serve.

I pretty much ate all this carrot cake to myself as Skye wasn't a fan of it, I didn't used to like carrot cake but it's only been in recent months that I've come to enjoy it. The only thing I would change myself about this recipe is making the pecans smaller, instead of halving them. I also felt that my icing was too runny, so I think next time I will try using Philadelphia like the recipe recommends to see if it changes the consistency of the end product. I'll definitely try baking this carrot cake again, it was such a nice moist cake.

If you would like to follow Paul Hollywood's recipe including all the trimmings then head to Paul Hollywood's Ultimate Carrot Cake.

See you soon!

안녕

(Annyeong)

さようなら

(Sayonara)

再见

(ZaiJian)

Bye

GRAZE

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こんにちは 

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Google Images

It's time for another GRAZE unboxing.

Each box comes with 4 healthy portioned snacks, that is picked by the Graze team based on your preferences when you subscribe, you also get a little info card that tells you whats in each of your snack pots.

First up we have CACAO & ORANGE WITH DATES AND RAW ALMONDS, this snack pot contains chopped dates, cacao orange fruit pieces and almonds.

The Benefits - The cacao and orange fruit pieces are made with real fruit juice, orange puree and cacao nibs, all natural flavours with no refined sugar, they are high in fibre and a source of potassium. The almonds offer amazing levels of nutrients, which are needed to boost your metabolism, like copper and manganese, they are also known for their level of vitamin E, which is ideal for our cells, to give them the upmost protection from oxidative stress.

- High in fibre

- Source of potassium

- Source of manganese

- High in vitamin E

- No refined sugar

- Suitable for vegans

On first smell of this snack pot, I wasn't a fan. While I did like the almonds and really liked the cacao orange fruit pieces, as they had a really nice and tangy taste to them, I found the dates bearable as they're not something I would choose to snack on. I thought the flavours worked well together but, personally for me, it's just not a snack pot I think I would get excited over in the future.

Next we have WHITE CHOCOLATE BLUEBERRY BAGEL DIP, this snack pot contains white chocolate dip and wholemeal wild blueberry toasts.

The Benefits - All of GRAZE's dips are portioned perfectly, so you don't over indulge, the snack pot is 130 calories with the bonus of also being a source of fibre.

- Source of fibre

- Under 150 calories

- Suitable for vegetarians

This snack pot smells divine, the blueberry toast were gorgeous, while the white chocolate dip was mouthwatering. When the flavours were combined together they were sensational on the palette. This has to be my favourite dipping snack pot from GRAZE and a definite keeper for future GRAZE boxes.

Next we have CARROT CAKE WITH AN AFTERNOON INFUSION, this snack pot contains carrot cake and an afternoon infusion tea bag.

The Benefits - GRAZE's cakes are the perfect portion size to be the right indulgence for an afternoon snack. To make the cake butter was replaced with rapeseed oil, this is because it only contains 7% saturated fat while butter contains 51%, and is also a good source of omega 3 and and omega 6. To give the cake a source of fibre, it's packed with sultanas, currants and raisins, then flavoured with cinnamon and orange peel. Making this snack pot just 89 calories.

- Source of fibre

- Under 150 calories

- Suitable for vegetarians

I thought the carrot cake smelt gorgeous, I thought the cake was really nice and soft and very moreish. I really love this tea with their slices of cake, it seems to work with every cake they pair it with, making it a perfect break for an afternoon snack.

Lastly we have TRIPLE BERRY SMOOTHIE, this snack pot contains chewy banana coins, blueberries, mini strawberries and cranberries.

The Benefits - This snack pot is made by using real fruit, making it high in fibre.

- High in fibre

- Less than 150 calories

- Made with real fruit

- Suitable for vegans

As you would think with fruit, this snack pot had a fruity smell, which I wasn't really a fan of but thankfully the flavours were better than the scent. The blueberries were really nice, as were the strawberries, but I loved the cranberries and the banana coins. I really liked this snack pot and had a nice sweet and fruity taste, they flavours worked perfectly together and it's a perfect alternative to snacking on sweets.

Now it's time to get into the business side of the Graze box, each box comes with 4 snack pots with snacks had selected just for you from your preferences you give the Graze team from over 100 choices. Each box is £3.99, with your 1st box being half price on subscription, You can choose between having your personalised box delivered through your letterbox every week or fortnightly with also the choice of being able to skip a box or take a holiday if you're away when you box is due. You can also earn rewards by simply being a loyal grazer, by rating and and reviewing your box. If you are interested in making your own Graze subscription then head over to the Graze website.

Here is a code to help you on your way and get your 1st, 5th and 10th boxes for free:

LEANNM1KB

LEANNM1KP

See you soon!

안녕

(Annyeong)

さようなら

(Sayonara)

再见

(ZaiJian)

Bye