Carrot Cupcakes with St Clements Icing

Carrot cake normally comes with a thick cream cheese topping which, although deliciously indulgent, does make the whole thing quite heavy and calorific.  These carrot cupcakes are topped with a fresh orange and lemon icing and have a moist, fluffy interior, so totally guilt-free! (in the land of denial that is, where I like to spend much of my time)  

I don't put nuts in my carrot cake as I prefer it without and I like to add a touch of cinnamon but if you're not a fan, try substituting it with nutmeg.  You could also put some orange zest in either the cake or the icing if you want it more orangey, it's a personal thing.... 

Makes about 16 fairy cakes or 12 larger cup cakes

Ingredients  

250g Carrots, peeled and grated on a coarse grater

150ml Sunflower Oil

2 Large Eggs

200g Caster Sugar

200g Self-Raising Flour

2 tspn Baking Powder

1 tspn Cinnamon (or nutmeg)

2 tbsp Freshly Squeezed Orange Juice 

For the Icing

Approx. 200g Golden Icing Sugar

Juice of 1 orange

Approx. 100g White Icing Sugar

Juice of 1 lemon

• Pre-heat the oven to 175C (fan) and put fairy cake or cup cake cases into a cup baking tray.
• Put the eggs, sugar and oil into a mixing bowl and whisk until pale and bubbly.
• Add the grated carrot and gently mix.
• Sieve in the flour, baking powder and cinnamon (if using) and add the orange juice. With a spoon, mix together quickly but thoroughly to make quite a runny mixture.
• Spoon into fairy cake/cup cake cases, leave about 1cm at the top of each case.
• Bake in the pre-heated oven for about 12 minutes or until puffed and dried on the top and a skewer comes out clean when poked in.
• Leave to cool completely.
• To make the icing, put the golden icing sugar in a bowl and slowly add enough orange juice to make a thick icing. Then put the white icing sugar in another bowl and drip in enough lemon juice to make a thick icing. 
• Spoon the lemon icing into a piping bag with a small round nozzle.
• With a spoon, ice the cupcakes with the orange icing then immediately pipe swirls (or whatever pattern you like) of the lemon icing onto it.
• Of course if you don't want to be bothered with the piping, just make one icing with orange and lemon juice together.  Either white or golden icing sugar can be used....I'm just quite keen on the golden at the mo!