Carrot Cupcakes with Macadamia Nut Lemon Cream Frosting

I am having a very strange time at the moment and have developed a little bit of insomnia. I am not really sure why and it is something I have not suffered from for years. If I had to guess I would say it is all of the change that I am experiencing at the moment and worrying about whether I will get any more yoga classes, if I can get my case study sorted and whether I will be abel to be successful as a Yoga Sports Coach.

It is a bit crazy worrying about these things especially when I know if I put the effort in then I can achieve something. I need to sort out my relaxation and work out how to get my mind to switch off and then it will all be ok. One of the ways I relax is to cook, I find it therapeutic and is the perfect was for me to switch off. I find it quite a meditative process where I become completely absorbed in what I am doing and only focus on that and forget everything else. Plus the bonus is I usually have something lovely to eat at the end of it.

This recipe was definitely one of the really yummy ones and when I took them to my yoga class they just disappeared, which I have to say I was quite glad about because if they hadn’t I would have eaten them all. I could devour one of these little cupcakes in 2-3 mouthfuls and they were so good it was hard to resist going for another one.

One of the great things about these little cakes is they mainly have natural sugars in them with the sweetness coming from the carrot, some mango and xylitol which is a natural sweetener. All the fruit and nuts used in these cakes means they are packed with vitamins and minerals and in particular loads of Vitamin A. They are quite high on the glycemic scale with a GL value of 9 but if you are being careful, just have half a cake and it will still put a smile on your face.

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Carrot Cupcakes with Macadamia Nut Lemon Cream Frosting

Makes 12

Prep Time: 20 mins

Cook Time: 20 mins

Total Time: 40 mins (plus at least 12 hours soaking time)

Ingredients

75g/1 Cup Light Spelt Flour

75g/1 Cup Whole Grain Spelt Flour

2 tbs Cornmeal

1/4 tsp So Low Reduced Sodium Salt

1 tsp Baking Powder

2/3 tsp Cinnamon

85g/1/2 Cup Coconut Sugar

55g/1/4 Cup Xylitol

1 tbs Ground Flaxseed, soaked in 3 tbs water to make a Flax Egg

85g/1/3 Cup Coconut Oil, melted and cooled

3/4 tsp Vanilla Extract

80g/1/3 Cup Mango, crushed

2 Whole/1 1/4 Cups Carrots, grated

30g/1/3 Cup Walnuts, roughly chopped

For Frosting

75g/1/3 Cup Coconut Oil

25g/2 tbs Coconut Butter

150g/1 1/4 Cups Macadamia Nuts

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

40g/1/3 Cup Powdered Agave Nectar

2 tsp Lemon Zest

2 tsp Lemon Juice

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 190C/375F/Gas Mark 5 and line a muffin holder with liners (I use silicone ones but paper ones will be fine too).

2. In a large bowl, sift together the flours, cornmeal, salt, baking powder and cinnamon and then mix in the coconut sugar and xylitol.

3. Mix together the Flax Egg, coconut oil and vanilla extract.

4. Make a well in the dry ingredients and then pour the wet ingredients into the well. Use a wooden spoon to mix until just combined.

5. Stir in the mango, carrots and walnuts until it all comes together.

6. Spoon the mixture evenly into 12 muffin cases and bake in the oven for around 20 mins or until a toothpick comes out clean.

7. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes then remove from pan and allow to cool completely before frosting. 

For the Frosting

1. Put the Macadamia nuts in a large bowl and cover with 300ml of boiling water and soak for about 6 hours. 

2. Drain the Macadamia nuts, return to bowl and cover with another 300ml of boiling water and allow to soak for another 6 hours. 

3. Make sure all frosting ingredients are at room temperature and put them all in a food processor and blend until smooth.

To Frost Cupcakes

Fill a piping bag with an open plain tubePipe 2-3 tbs of frosting onto each cupcakeIf you don’t have a piping bag you can always spoon the frosting onto the cakes.

Nutrition

The highlights of these cakes are:

• Approximate GI of 49
• eGL of 9 per cupcake
• No cholesterol
• Very low in sodium
• High in vitamin A