Valentine’s Day CuppyCakes!

This is my first Valentine’s Day as wife ::insert teenaged giggle here:: so I wanted to make something special for John.  He isn’t a huge sweets person but he loves carrot cake.  So, I decided to take a break in our Weight Watchers meetings and splurge on some real carrotcake cupcakes.

This was kind of a late decision yesterday, so I had to scamper around and find a recipe.  I scoured All Recipes and finally found what looked like good recipes.  I was a little scared at the first recipes I found, who knew carrot cake had pinapple in it?  But since all the recipes contained it, I figure it must taste ok.  The recipe claimed it’s the Best Carrot Cake Ever  and Cream Cheese Frosting recipe.

 Before I made the cupcakes, we had to go to Walmart.  We were completely out of almost everything!  John made the remark “We are so out of bread, we don’t even have bread crumbs!” hee hee.  So, after a little coaxing, off to Walmart we went.  An hour and a half later and many dollars poorer, we made it back home.  As soon as we got home, I all of a sudden got exhausted, like I could barely more to put the groceries up.  But with John’s help, we managed to get everything put away.  John made me a yummy “the best ever” grilled cheese and turkey sandwich.  I was feeling sad since I didn’t think I’d be able to make the cupcakes.  But after I sat down and watched some tv, I was good as new.  I think I just needed some food in me.  So, I started to make the cupcakes.  I was about 1/2 way through and I looked at the clock, it was 9:45!  Now, this may not seem to late for most people, but John and I are early bed-goers.  We are normally in bed at this time. Oh well, I thought, it’s too late to stop now.  So, I continued to bake.  I almost made a couple of big mistakes (such as forgetting to add the FLOUR to the batter!), but luckily I caught all the mistakes before it was too late.  And we have yummy cup cakes now.  Hopefully they’ll make CB proud.

The pink hearts a made with marshmallow fondant (so tasty!).

Warning: This recipe makes a bunch!! I ended up with 32 cupcakes!  I am hoping my coworkers will take lots home with them!

The cinnamon in these cupcakes are so wonderful.  I had forgotten how much you can really taste, so I would like to enter them into Nikki’s Master Baker Contest.

Semi-off Topic, but kind of not ; this cupcake holder is my favorite!  (Well, it’s working it’s way to be my favorite, since this is the first time I’ve used it.)  It’s a cupcake carrier with a dome, but the bottom holder is also a cupcake pan!  I just thought that was so cool!  Here’s a picture of the entire caboodle.

Recipes after the break

Marshmallow Fondant

1 16 oz bag of mini marshmallows
1 2 lb bag of powdered sugar
2 Tablespoons of water

Melt marshmallows and powdered sugar in microwave until they are able to mix together, stir in water. Once everything is mixed, use your hands to knead the dough. Mix in food coloring as desired. Store in airtight container. If the fondant is hard when after you save if, microwave it for 30-45 seconds and it will be workable again.

Thanks Zebe for your help with all my questions! 

Best Ever Carrot Cake

6 cups grated carrots
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup raisins (I omitted)
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup crushed pineapple, drained
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 cup chopped walnuts

In a medium bowl, combine grated carrots and brown sugar. Set aside for 60 minutes, then stir in raisins. I omitted this step too.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour two 10 inch cake pans.
In a large bowl, beat eggs until light. Gradually beat in the white sugar, oil and vanilla (and the brown sugar). Stir in the pineapple. Combine the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon, stir into the wet mixture until absorbed. Finally stir in the carrot mixture and the walnuts. Pour evenly into the prepared pans.

Bake for 45 to 50 minutes in the preheated oven, until cake tests done with a toothpick. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan. When completely cooled, frost with cream cheese frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Mix in the vanilla, then gradually stir in the confectioners’ sugar. Store in the refrigerator after use.