makes
9
prep
20 minutes
cook
50 minutes
difficulty
Easy
makes
9
serves
preparation
20
minutes
cooking
50
minutes
difficulty
Easy
level
Ingredients
Cupcake batter
- 2 cups self-raising flour, sifted
- 250 g sugar
- 160 ml milk
- 150 g butter, softened
- 3 eggs, beaten
- 1 tsp natural vanilla essence
Cottage cheese frosting
- 200 g creamed cottage cheese
- 70 g butter
- 300 g sifted icing sugar
Roasted carrot version
- 10 ml olive oil
- 1 large carrot (for 100g of roasted carrot)
- 35 g chopped walnuts
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tsp ground cardamom
Beetroot and chocolate version
- 1 medium sized beetroot (for 70 grams of roasted beetroot)
- 1 tbsp Dutch cocoa
- 50 g chocolate buds
Ginger and leather wood honey version
- 2 tsp ginger, ground
- 1 tbsp leather wood honey
Makes 3 of each flavour.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 160°C. Lightly grease a metal muffin tin and fill with 9 paper cupcake bases.
- Roasted carrot version: Take the large carrot, peel and slice it on a diagonal, toss in a little olive oil and roast until the carrot browns and has a slight burnt tinge. Once the carrot has cooled, blend in a food processor or use a stick blender to combine with one portion with the muffin batter mix (see below – make the batter while the carrot and beetroot are cooking). Add chopped walnuts, maple syrup and cardamom and mix together.
- Beetroot and chocolate: Take the beetroot, slice it in half and toss in olive oil. Cook in oven for approximately 20 minutes until a knife can easily pierce the beetroot (you can cook it at the same time as the carrot). Once cooled, peel and grate the beetroot then mix into the batter. Add the cocoa (sifted) and chocolate buds.
- Ginger and leatherwood Honey version: simply mix the ground ginger and honey into the batter.
- Meanwhile, for the cupcake batter: In a mixer, cream the butter and sugar together. Slowly add the eggs followed by the flour, milk and vanilla. Keep mixing until all combined. Separate into three equal amounts.
- Once you have created the three mixtures, spoon each mix into paper cases (each will make three cupcakes). Bake for approximately 25-30 minutes or until cooked through. Allow to cool.
- For the frosting: Whisk the cottage cheese to remove as many lumps as possible, cream with the butter then add the sifted icing sugar. Ice the cupcakes at room temperature.
Cook's Notes
Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.
