Cooking Cupcakes 101

Cooking!   

Cooking is something that can always bring a great,big smile to someones face. I especially like to bake cupcakes! The sweet aroma and better yet the sweet taste is guaranteed to make your mouth water. One of my favorite cupcakes in the whole wide world is a classic carrot cake with rich, creamy, cream cheese frosting.YUM!!! I first tasted carrot cake cupcakes when I was about six years old. The moment i took my first bite I knew i had fallen in love!

  The First Time I Tried To Make Carrot Cake Cupcakes

    I happily placed the pink cupcake liners in the cupcake tray.  I set the tray aside and went to add the ingredients into my blender. I added eggs,water,flour and all that other good stuff! Then pressed the MIX button on my blender. The blender was shaking like a cold dog,I could see it ratteling back and forth.Finnaly, the blender stopped and I dissattched the top section and walked over to the other side of the kitchen. I tried to pour some of the batter in the cupcake liners, but the top portion of the blender was so heavy from all of the batter inside. "Ok... now lets try again" I said to myself. I held on to the blender as tightly as i could grasp. But... instead of pouring the batter in the liners  I pourd the batter all over myself! It got all over my apron and then I had a puddle of cupcake batter all around my feet.    Obviously my first atempt to make carrot cake cupcakes was a fail. But I tried again and now i love making them! Here is a recipe for you to make carrot cake cupcakes at your house! Have fun and I tell me what your expirience making the cupcakes was like!

Ingredients

• 2 cups sugar
• 1 1/3 cups vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 3 extra-large eggs
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 3 cups grated carrots (less than 1 pound)
• 1 cup raisins
• 1 cup chopped walnuts

For the frosting:

• 3/4 pound cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1/2 pound unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 pound confectioners' sugar

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Beat the sugar, oil, and vanilla together in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add the eggs, 1 at a time. In another bowl, sift together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer on low speed, add 1/2 of the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Add the grated carrots, raisins, and walnuts to the remaining flour, mix well, and add to the batter. Mix until just combined.

Line muffin pans with paper liners. Scoop the batter into 22 muffin cups until each is 3/4 full. Bake at 400 degrees F for 10 minutes then reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F and cook for a further 35 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool on a rack.

For the frosting, cream the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add the sugar and beat until smooth.

When the cupcakes are cool, frost them generously and serve.

This recipe came from Carrot Cake Cupcakes Recipe: Ina Garden: Food Network