Carrot Cupcakes - Eggless - With Yummy Mascarpone Cheese frosting

I love carrots - the versatility that it offers, the beautiful orange color, the sweetish yet not overly sweet taste, the health benefits adds up to the wonderfulness of this vegetable. I always was a fan of carrots halwa so i was sure that I would love them in baked goodies too.



Carrot cupcakes are American favorites and although usually served with Cream cheese frosting, I made a change by going for Mascarpone Frosting - well mostly cos, I ran out of cream cheese and thought to use up some of the Mascarpone cheese lying in my fridge. Am glad that I did. This cupcake - made eggless - with this frosting is to die for. Dont take my word for it. Try it. I have made it more healthy by cutting unnecessary fats.

Ingredients


• 3/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
  
  
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
  
  
• 1/4 tsp salt
  
  
• 1/4 tsp all spice
  
  
• 1 tsp Baking soda
  
  
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  
  
• 1/2 cup Carrot juice
  
  
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
  
  
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
  
  
• 1/2 cup demerara sugar ( use brown sugar instead in case of non availability )
  
  
• 1/2 cup applesauce
  
  
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
  
  
• 1-1/2 cup grated carrots
  
  
• 1/3 cups finely chopped walnuts
  
  
• 1/4 cup dry coconut
  

For the Mascarpone Frosting


• 1/4 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
  
  
• 1/2 cup mascarpone
  
  
• 1/2 cup confectioner sugar
  
  
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
  
  
• 1/2 tsp lemon zest
  

Method

1.Sift together all the dry ingredients.



2.Mix applesauce,vanilla,oil,coconut,applesauce,carrot juice along with carrots and mix well.



3.Now add both wet and dry ingredients together and stir in walnuts.




4.In a lined muffin pan, divide the dough into the cups. This recipe makes approx 10-12 cupcakes.



5.Bake for 20-25min until a skewer comes out clean when inserted in the middle. Cool it in a rack.



6.To make Frosting : Add the butter and cheese together and whisk it until it is smooth. Add the sugar,vanilla and zest and whisk somemore. Now top it on the cupcakes and serve. :)



1.Since this is an American Speciality I am sending this to my own Event : AWED - American

2. Sending this to JFI Carrots hosted by The Cooker

3. Since I just replaced 2-4 eggs usually accompanying this recipe by using 2-3 ingredients including pureed fruit (applesauce) am sending this to Madhu's Egg replacement Event - Pureed Fruit

The use of Mascarpone cheese is myriad. You dont have to worry about the amount remaining in your fridge after having used up for this recipe. I am updating the other uses of Mascarpone upon request of a dear reader Purnima

Uses of Mascarpone

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1.For your evening snack - when you want something special, take out your special bowl, fill it up with yummy berries - like strawberries,blueberries - put a spoonful of Mascarpone cheese on top and lose yourself to its sensations in your tongue.

2. Next time you reach out for your butter to spread on your toast - stop. Use Mascarpone instead. Not only does it enhance the taste of your toast making it special, but its also lower in fat content compared to butter or margarine.

3.For that secret richness and taste in your soups, use Mascarpone as a thickener.

4.It tastes absolutely delicious with dishes like Risotto.

5.You can use it for stuffing for your pasta shells. Or else if you like me are particular about making home made pasta sauce, then next time add a little mascarpone to the sauce. The richness is mind boggling.

6.Needless to say, you can use Mascarpone for many desserts -cheesecakes,tarts,cupcakes and for famous Tiramisu.

7. They can be added to dips or used as a topping to any dessert instead of using whipping cream.

Hope you enjoy the bucketful and bucketful of mascarpone :)

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The deadline for AWED - American is Nov 30th - So don't forget to send me the entries.