Mini Carrot Cakes

I'm back! Having a baby is an amazing experience, but it took me a while to feel normal and capable again. Baby Thomas is almost 3 months old now and he seems so big already. I love him so much!

Born February 27, 2013 at 8:08 pm

Our family of 3! James, Cami, and Thomas

Okay now to get to the point... a Dish & Serve post! Courtney from baxtronlife.com is behind this wonderful experience. Check out her blog, she is very down to earth and blogs about a variety of things. Courtney, thank you for finding a way to do a Dish & Serve and for taking so many great photos, too! Courtney's words:

Our little family loves to spend time cooking and baking together in the kitchen. When DeAnn from the S.I.P. Project asked me to share a recipe for her Dish & Serve series on her blog, I was delighted. Now, since we've been away on an extended business trip in Alaska, it wasn't a matter of finding a great recipe to share, it was figuring out who to give the treats to once they were made. Luckily we've become friends with two other business travelers who work for my husband's company. Since one of them isn't big on sweets, we decided to find out what kind of things the other one would like --- carrot cake was her choice, and Zion loves cooking cupcakes, so it was easy to decide on making mini carrot cakes!

After we got our cupcakes cooking in the oven, it was time to make a delicious cream cheese frosting. Now, anyone who makes frosting from scratch will tell you that it is no easy task to do by hand. Since we don't have a hand mixer up here where we are staying, I used the next best thing --- my strong husband! After much elbow grease and a slight variation on the ingredients to make it easier, we finished our delicious frosting.

We taste tested a few of the cupcakes to make sure we weren't going to be sending over any disasters to our friend, and then packed up several to bring to her. We knew she'd love them and couldn't wait to see her reaction!

She was thrilled to receive some home made goodies, especially since she has been away from home much longer than we have been! I loved seeing Zion proudly hand over the cupcakes she had made.

I loved the pictures, but loved Courtney's adorable little girl helping her daddy make the cupcakes even more. That is just too sweet. Courtney, great job capturing the surprise on the face of the cupcake recipient! I am wishing I had a carrot cupcake now! Please email me if you have a Dish & Serve experience you would like to share, I would love to post it! Cami at dish.n.serve@gmail.com

Mini Carrot Cakes (Variation of recipe from paleomg.com)

Prep- 10 min, Cook- 20 min, Serves- 10-12

Ingredients
For the carrot cupcakes

3 large carrots, shredded (about 1.5 cups worth)
1 cup almond flour/meal
2 eggs, whisked
¼ cup Virgin Coconut Oil, melted
1 tablespoon raw honey
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon ginger
¼ teaspoon cloves
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
¼ cup chopped walnuts (optional)
¼ cup raisins (optional)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Put your shredded carrots in a bowl, mix in almond flour, follow with remaining dry ingredients except for raisins and walnuts.

Whisk your eggs in a small bowl, add honey and vanilla and stir until mixed.

Add egg mixture to other ingredients and mix together.

Fold in raisins & walnuts if using.

Place cupcake ingredients into a muffin tin lined with paper liners . Should fill 10-12 muffins depending on size.

Bake for 18-20 minutes.

Easy Mixer-free Cream Cheese Frosting (Recipe from spinachtiger.com)

12 ounces whipped cream cheese (1 1/2 containers)

5 tablespoons pastured butter, softened

5 1/2 - 6 cups confectioner’s sugar

3 tablespoons of heavy cream 

2 teaspoons real vanilla extract

Cream butter and cream cheese together.

Add in confectioners’ sugar, one cup at a time until about 5 cups have been added.

Add in heavy cream and vanilla.

Add an additional 1/2 to 1 cup of confectioners' sugar

Beat until fluffy.