In the kitchen with Elisa
Carrot Mug Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting & Walnuts
Flavourful carrot cake with cream cheese frosting & caramelized walnuts
Carrot cakes are so underrated! Whenever I tell someone who has never tried a carrot cake, that I absolutely love carrot cake and that it is one of my favorite cakes of all time, the reaction I often get is a doubtful face and "Really?". I wish I had carrot cake with me for every time I get this, so I could prove all of these wrong :) *evil laugh* No, no, I am joking of course :) However, if you have tried carrot cake, I am sure you know what I mean. It is so soft and moist, full of flavor and with some creamy frosting just what you want from a perfect cake.
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I have ​another delicious carrot cake recipe for a Carrot Cake with Cream and Peaches, this is a proper cake that you can decorate to look like a cute bunny for the Easter Holidays :) But you know, there are days when you don´t want to bother making a cake or you just don´t have the time to make a cake, or you just rather want some little personalized desserts to serve to your guests, then these little carrot mug cakes are perfect for such occasions. I took the best bits from a carrot cake, the flavourful cake, the soft cream cheese frosting, added some crunchy caramelized walnuts on top and my oh my, heaven on a plate was made! Don´t jugde me, but I had 3 of the 4 of these little cakes when I made them :D And I don´t even feel bad about it :D
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A very important flavour component in this recipe is the brown sugar that you use. I have recently discovered raw unrefined cane sugar and I have absolutely fallen in love with the amazing scent and flavour it has. If you have this kind of sugar available in your local shop, give it a go and you might be positively surprised :) However, I use this sugar for all cake recipes apart from light (white) cake recipes as the color of the sugar affects the color of the cake.
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Before I go, if you are reading this today, I want to wish you happy Easter Holidays!​ :)
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Happy Baking lovelies!
Step by Step Video
RECIPE
Carrot Mug Cake
Flavourful carrot cake with cream cheese frosting & walnuts
​INGREDIENTS
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50g brown sugar
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40g soft butter
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1 egg
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90g flour
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½ tsp baking powder
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½ tsp baking soda
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1tsp cinnamon
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100g Greek yogurt or any other thick natural flavoured yogurt (10% fat)
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120g carrots (grated)
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100g cream cheese (natural flavour) at room temperature
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100g whipping cream
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1tsp vanilla paste
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10-20g sugar
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50g brown sugar
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50g walnuts
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DIRECTIONS
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To make the carrot cake beat the soft butter with the sugar with a hand mixer for a couple of minutes until soft and pale. Add the egg and beat for another minute.
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In a separate bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon.
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Add about 1/3 of the dry ingredients to the bowl and mix shortly, then add about 1/3 of the yogurt and mix again shortly. Repeat until you have used up all of the dry ingredients and the yogurt. Then add the grated carrots and fold them in carefully with a spatula just until combined.
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Butter 4 small ovenproof mugs and divide the batter evenly between them. Bake the carrot cakes in 180°C in the middle shelf of the oven for 30-35 minutes. Check with a wooden skewer that the cakes have baked through before removing them from the oven. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 10-15 minutes before removing from the mugs. Then allow to cool completely before proceeding to the next step.
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While the cakes are baking you can make the caramelised walnuts. Start melting the brown sugar in a medium pan. Once the sugar has melted add the walnuts and mix to cover all walnuts with the sugar (do this quickly so that the sugar and the walnuts don´t start to burn). Remove from heat and transfer into a piece of baking paper. Try to spread the walnuts as much as you can and leave to cool completely. NOTE! Work very carefully and don´t touch the hot sugar, it can burn your skin very badly.
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Once the walnuts have completely cooled and are cold to touch, crush them with a knife into bite size pieces.
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To prepare the cream cheese topping, soften the cream cheese lightly with a spatula in a medium bowl. Then add the sugar and vanilla paste to it and mix well until combined. In a separate bowl, whisk the whipping cream until stiff peaks. Add about half of the whipping cream to the cream cheese and fold in carefully until combined, then add the rest of the cream and fold in until you have a smooth cream cheese frosting.
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Serve the carrot cakes with some cream cheese frosting on top and decorated with the caramelized walnuts.
