Cupcake Palooza: Tropical Carrot Cupcakes with White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

A couple of weeks ago, my friend Angela from Spinach Tiger asked if I would be interested in participating in Cupcake Palooza. At the time I had never heard of the event, but since it obviously involved cupcakes, I was intrigued. Who doesn't love cupcakes, right? The event invited professional cupcakers, as well as home bakers, to donate ten to twenty dozen cupcakes. Guests could purchase a $15 ticket, which entitled them to ten cupcakes of their choosing. A little more investigation revealed that the event would benefit Books from Birth of Middle Tennessee, an organization that is focused on increasing literacy and school readiness, which is an important and worthwhile cause.

Angela, Grishma from Zaika Zabardast, and I decided to share a table to lighten our individual baking loads. We each wanted to make different flavored cupcakes, but we wanted to stick to a theme. Since it's springtime and Easter is just around the corner, that seemed like an appropriate jumping off point. Angela made Coconut Cupcakes with Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting. Grishma brought Pina Colada Cupcakes filled with pineapple curd. I shared Tropical Carrot Cupcakes with White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting.

As I mentioned in my "Blue Ribbon" Peppermint Patty Brownie post, I won several ribbons at the Tennessee State Fair last year. One of them was in the "Vegetable Cake" category for my Tropical Carrot Cake with White Cream Cheese Frosting. Prior to Cupcake Palooza I had only ever made this recipe as a layer-cake, never cupcakes. I was a little concerned that the recipe may not translate as well in cupcake form, but fortunately they turned out great! As an additional challenge, I made a small batch of eggless cupcakes to share with Grishma and her husband, as they are lacto-vegetarians. For my first foray into eggless cake baking, I would say they were a smashing success. In fact, I could barely tell a difference between the two.

Tropical Carrot Cupcakes

Original Version
adapted from: King Arthur Flour and inspired by: Annie's Eats
Yield - approximately 70 mini cupcakes, 22-24 standard cupcakes, or one 2 layer 9-inch cake

1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
14 ounces (2 cups) sugar
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
8 1/2 ounces (2 cups) all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon clove
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups finely grated carrots
1 cup flaked coconut
1 cup pineapple tidbits
3 tablespoons crystallized ginger, diced
1 cup chopped macadamia nuts

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin tin with cupcake liners.
2. Beat oil, sugar, eggs, and vanilla extract together in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, spices and salt.
3. With mixer on low, gradually add dry ingredients to wet ingredients until just incorporated. Stir in carrots, coconut, pineapple, and ginger.
4. Fill liner 2/3 full with batter. Bake for 15-20 minutes for mini cupcakes (longer for regular cupcakes), or until they test done using a toothpick.

Eggless Version
adapted from Renu's Kitchen
Yield - approximately 36 mini cupcakes

1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup Greek yogurt
1 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 1/4 ounces (1 cup) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/8 teaspoon clove
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup finely grated carrot
1/2 cup flaked coconut
1/2 cup pineapple tidbits
1 1/2 tablespoons crystallized ginger, diced
1/2 cup chopped macadamia nuts

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin tin with cupcake liners.
2. Beat oil, yogurt, sugar, and vanilla extract together in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, spices and salt.
3. With mixer on low, gradually add dry ingredients to wet ingredients until just incorporated. Stir in carrots, coconut, pineapple, and ginger.
4. Fill liner 2/3 full with batter. Bake for 15-20 minutes for mini cupcakes (longer for regular cupcakes), or until they test done using a toothpick.

White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

4 ounces white chocolate
2 tablespoons heavy cream
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
4 cups powdered sugar

1. Melt white chocolate together with heavy cream in either a double boiler or in the microwave in 15 second increments. Set aside to cool.
2. Beat together cream cheese and butter until thoroughly combined. Beat in melted white chocolate. Add powdered sugar in batches, beating with each addition. If a stiffer frosting is desired, add additional powdered sugar.

Linked to: Ingredient Spotlight, Mrs. Fox's Sweet Party, Midweek Fiesta