LULLY LITTLE CARROT CAKES

Did you know there is a national carrot cake day every year? Well there is and it's on the 3rd of February. Who knew! This year when I spotted this celebration of all things carrot cake was about to swing by I decided to honor the occasion by baking these little carrot cake cupcakes. I filled my cake batter with crunchy pecan nuts and chewy raisins and topped them with a delicious lemon cream cheese frosting. They make the perfect little mouthful to pop in your mouth of a lully afternoon treat!

I've gone all out traditional with this recipe by using both pecans and raisins to give the full carrot cake experience to these cupcakes. If you're are allergic to nuts you can leave out the pecans and if you just don't like raisins you can leave then out as well. The pecans can also be replaced with some other crushed nuts if you can't get hold of pecans and of course you can use sultanas or currents instead of raisins if you wish.

Recipe below will make a batch of around 28-30 cupcakes. Plenty for a party or if you just really love carrot cakes. Make sure you have plenty of those paper cupcake holders to line your cupcake trays with before you start and be prepared to have to bake the cakes in batches. This will increase the amount of time you spend in the kitchen but trust me it's totally worth it;

Carrot Cake Cupcakes

400g Self Raising Flour

2 Tsp Ground Cinnamon

450g Grated Carrots

400ml Vegetable Oil

200g Brown Sugar

170g Chopped Pecans

100g Raisins

8 Large Eggs

400g Cream Cheese

200g Icing Sugar

2 Tsp Lemon Juice

1 Tbsp Lemon Zest

1. Place your oven on to 180 degrees (160 fan) and grease and line the holes of enough cupcake trays for around 28 cupcakes with cupcake papers.
2. Place the flour, cinnamon, carrots, vegetable oil, brown sugar, pecans, raisins and eggs into a large bowl and give everything a big massive mix together until everything is well combined. 
3. Dollop roughly 1 heaped tbsp of the cake batter into each of the lined cupcake tray holes. If you have any left over batter then line some extra holes (bonus!). 
   
4. Pop the baking trays in the middle of your oven and bake for 25 minutes. Only put two trays in your oven at a time. If you have any more trays then bake your cakes in batches. The cakes should have risen slightly and be firm and golden brown on top. Remove them from the oven when baked and leave to cool.
5. When the cakes have cooled make the cream cheese frosting by mixing together the cream cheese, icing sugar, lemon juice and zest until combined and smooth. Don't over beat or the frosting will become to runny! Dollop a tsp of the frosting on the top of each cake or pipe it on if you're handy with a piping bag. 

If you have any left over pecans you can crush them and sprinkle them over the top of the cream cheese for a little final flourish otherwise, if you are ready to tuck in then remove the carrot cakes from the tray and get to it. All those classic carrot cake flavors teaming up with the textures of the chewy raisins and the crunchy pecans make for a little mini mouthful of baked yumminess made all the more special by that dollop of lemony cream cheese frosting on top. These little carrot cakes are the definition of lully; just be careful you don't scoff them all in one sitting!