*This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclaimer here. While we may use affiliate links, we would never allow this to influence product listings or recommendations.

These individual carrot cakes are totally delicious yet pretty simple to make. And since they are in single-serving form you can make as few or many as you like and enjoy one as and when you feel like it. They are great for an afternoon snack with a cup of tea!

How do you store them?

Once topped with the cream cheese these need to be stored in the fridge in an airtight container (without the frosting they can be stored at room temperature). They will keep for up to 4 days (providing the date on the cream cheese was longer than that).

These are also great for freezing (without the cream cheese). Wrap in cling film to prevent freezer burn and then pop them in a freezer proof lidded container. Freeze for up to 3 months.

How to decorate carrot cupcakes

I’ve included a simple cream cheese frosting in the recipe which is optional, although in my opinion is essential – the creaminess go so well with the fluffiness of the cakes!

I decorated these with candied carrot swirls and have included the directions below (trust me, it’s easier than it looks!) You could alternatively top with some chopped nuts or some hundreds and thousands (sprinkles) to jazz them up a bit.

Ingredients

To make these individual carrot cakes you’ll need a few simple ingredients:

For the Cakes:

• Butter – unsalted and softened
• Egg
• Dark brown sugar – you can also use light brown sugar although dark is richer and will give a deeper colour and flavour
• Plain flour
• Baking Powder
• Carrot – peeled
• Nutmeg

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:

• Thick cream cheese (full-fat)
• Butter – unsalted
• Icing (confectioners) sugar

For the candied carrot swirls:

• Carrot
• Sugar (any kind of white granulated sugar is fine)
• Water

Equipment

• 85ml / 1/3 cup pudding tins (or muffin tins)

How to make them

If you are planning on eating the individual carrot cakes straight away then I recommend making the candied carrot swirls first as they take a little more time.

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F and mix all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl (the sugar, flour, baking powder and nutmeg).

In another bowl, whisk together the egg and the butter. It will look a bit like scrambled egg but don’t worry – it comes together nicely!

Whisk the egg and butter mixture into the flour mixture until you have a nice thick but smooth consistency.

Grate the carrot and then add this into the mixture and stir everything together until well combined.

Grease the pudding tins with some butter or oil and then spoon the mixture evenly between them. Place in the oven for around 20-25 minutes. To test if they are done you can insert a skewer into the middle and pull it out – if it’s clean then they are done, if it’s got batter clinging to it then leave them a little longer.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Next make the cream cheese frosting. Simply whisk all the ingredients together until smooth in consistency. You can store the mixture in the fridge until you are ready to use it (you can make this a day in advance to save time!) To serve spoon the mixture into piping bags and then pipe over the top of the cakes (or you can just spoon it onto the top).

Candied Carrot Swirls

You can make these a day or two in advance.

Preheat the oven to 100C / 225F. Peel the carrots and then use a speed peeler to make nice long strips of carrot. Cut the edges away on each piece to leave a 1cm neat strip.

In a small saucepan, bring the water and sugar to the boil and then place the carrot strips in the water. Leave to simmer for 15 minutes.

Carefully remove the carrot strips with some kitchen tongs and spread them so they lay flat and aren’t touching in a fine-mesh sieve. Leave to cool for 5 minutes.

Place the carrot strips on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Place in the oven for 30 minutes.

Remove from the oven and wrap the carrot strips around the handle of a wooden spoon (or a thick chopstick if you want tighter curls). Gently pull them off the stick, sprinkle with a little sugar and leave to cool for 30 minutes, during which time they should crisp up. Work quickly as you don’t want the carrot strips to start to dry up before you have curled them or it will be difficult to do!

If the curls are still too soft then place them back in the oven until firm, checking on them every 10 minutes or so.

Serve the individual carrot cakes with the cream cheese piped (or spooned) on top with a candied carrot swirl placed in the middle of the frosting. Yum!

If you are looking for more great dessert and snack recipes then you might also be interested in the following recipes:

• Individual Chocolate Cheesecakes
• Freezable Yorkshire Parkin
• Dark Chocolate Flapjacks
• Individual Yogurt Cakes
• Strawberry English Scones

Products that work great for this recipe:

Print