I wanted to take a break from my current Thailand postings to bring you a recipe that I created for this month’s Royal Foodie Joust. The RFJ, for those of you who don’t know is in my opinion, the web’s most friendliest cooking competition. Run by the lovely Jenn from the Leftover Queen it allows bloggers to sign up and put their creative culinary caps on, to invent a dish using three ingredients. If you haven’t already joined, please head on over there and do so immediately! The ingredients are chosen by the previous month’s winner and this month we were presented with apples, cayenne pepper and maple syrup. As usual, I found myself thinking up all sorts of creations and in the end I decided to make these healthy-ish mini cakes/muffins.
In their simplest form these are basically mini carrot cakes. What I did was grate an apple into the mixture and add the cayenne pepper to the “spice mix” which also included nutmeg, cinnamon and ground cloves. I utilised the maple syrup by making a buttercream frosting that went on top. I tried doing “fancy swirls” but unfortunately the pastry chef in me wasn’t feeling it, so I simply spread the buttercream on top in a “rustic manner”…ahem! If you take away the frosting the rest of the cake itself is very healthy. I found the apples added an extra sweetness and I also used a little olive oil, Greek yoghurt and a combination of wholemeal flours and almond meal. Basically stuff I had lying around the pantry. If you plan on making these make sure you end up with a wet mixture and keep your oven at an even 170 deg C.
RECIPE FOR MINI CARROT AND APPLE CAKES WITH A BUTTERCREAM FROSTING
*Depending on your muffin pan you may end up anywhere between 8-12 of these. I used a thin one (I bought it at IKEA)*
For the cakes-Part 1
- 1 cup of wholemeal flour
- 1/2 a cup of plain flour
- 1/2 a cup of almond meal
- 1 teaspoon of baking powder
- 1/2 a cup of soft brown sugar
- 1 tsp of ground nutmeg
- 1 tsp of ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp of ground cloves
- 1 tsp of cayenne pepper
- 1 grated carrot
- 1 grated apple
- 1 cup of raisins or sultanas that have been softened in some boiling water
Part 2
- 1 cup of low fat milk
- 1/2 a cup of Greek yoghurt
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup of olive oil
- a splash of vanilla extract
(mix these together in a separate large jug or bowl)
For the maple buttercream frosting
- 125 grams of softened, unsalted butter
- 1 cup of pure icing sugar, sifted
- 4-5 tablespoons of pure maple syrup
- 1-2 tablespoons of milk
- In a large bowl, mix the ingredients form part one of the recipe quite thoroughly.
- Add the wet ingredients from part two and mix until just combined.
- Spoon the cake mixture into a pre greased muffin pan and bake in a 170 deg C oven for about 20 mins or until a skewer inserted through them comes out clean.
- Once cooked invert them onto a cake cooling rack and allow them to cool completely.
- For the maple buttercream frosting-using a mixer, cream the butter until it becomes completely soft and gradually add your icing sugar and maple syrup until well combined. Add your milk and allow the mixture to become soft and creamy. This can take anywhere up to 10 mins depending on the amount of butter used.
- Spread the buttercream onto the cooled cakes and serve.
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{ 33 comments… read them below or add one }
They look fantastic and so pretty! Lovely!
Cheers,
Rosa
He he, you spared me at this post! These are real cuties and I have a soft spot for cream frosting and carrot combinations. I guess one could bake a whole cake as well instead of mini cakes. I also have IKEA muffin cases but they are shorter and wider. IKEA is indispensable to the home cook.
They look beautiful and I am intrigued by the cayenne pepper added to these muffins.
Love the rustic feel of these cakes! So cute!
oouuhhh!!! cayenne pepper in these cakes, how fab must that taste?? i love the look of these and the ingredients you’ve used! lovely!!
Oh yum !! those look fantastic Peter !
Peter, I just had to drop in and say, that last pic (saw on foodie joust) is genius! I love it so much! The style is so remeinsent of the 50′s the composition to the colors and textures and lighting. Love love love.
oh and I could totally eat them as well
-christey
Lovely entry to the joust. Would be great for breakfast right now.
Pete, I like your addition of cayenne, a pinch goes well with sweets & treats. Bon chance in the Joust!
oh yum, these look and sound gorgeous. i love how the stand so elegantly especially with their little hat of frosting. i’m a little obsessed with maple syrup too, and i love that the cake recipe using yoghurt – sounds super moist!
Sounds like a fun challenge, such an interesting combination of ingredients to work with. I love grated apple in muffins and breads, it creates such a nice moist texture. Your choice of a maple buttercream as a topping is fantastic.
The RFJ is fun, isn’t it?
I like these a lot and “rustic” is good… I thought for sure you were going to say you made them in a popover pan.
What a fantastic shape of muffins this is! I love how high they are, but I can’t recall having seen them at Ikea… Gotta go and check that out again. The flavour combination sounds great too! I had already seen a couple of other entries for this months Joust… Maybe I should go and check it out, although I probably don’t have time for more challenges…
But it’s so much fun!
These are so cute, they’re like little popover cakes! Gorgeous!
These look gorgeous and right up my alley! And I’ve got plenty of lovely carrots from my farm share and apples from our local farmers right now. Woooohooo! Great creation for RFJ!
Those sound and look amazing!
Well Peter, you know these little cakes stole my heart when you said you made them using ingredients you just had lying around the kitchen! I l think they are beautiful and I love your interpretation of the ingredients! It is wonderful to have you back in the Joust!
What a cool muffin tin ~ love how tall and thin your little cakes turned out.
i’ve always loved cream cheese frosting on carrot cake – and those muffins od yours really do look cool standing so tall rather then the usual size!
i also made apple cake muffins last week, a definite hit
Healthy-ish is good enough for me. They look lovely.
Love these little mini’s Peter. All the flavours of fall in one little bite:D
Excellent idea to add cayenne – it would counterbalance the sweetness. All cakes are made divine with buttercream icing
Lovely! I can just imagine tyhe explosion of flavors and I am really liking those muffin tins you used. I will have to steel myself for another trip to IKEA. Everytime I go there I get completely overwhelmed and never buy what I went for but instead come home with all sorts of things I never knew I needed. But I have to have those muffin tins!
Yummy! I saw those on the forum and gave me a craving for something sweet.
So, so cute Peter! Those colours are rabious, so simple and bright
. One of my neighbours is travelling to Australia and silly me I said… Oh, I have a friend in Australia… as if maybe he could meet you there… his son works as a photographer and he is going to Perth, not really close to Sydney, is it?
What a great foodie event!
Love how tall your cupcakes are too. I always knew you’d do cupcakes with style 
have never done this event. don’t think am that good to join. these look so dainty and lovely with ‘casual’ icing look. will look forward to rosewater donut post
cheers, P.
I really enjoyed this post and want to grab one of those cupcakes!
Hi Peter !
Very nice and tempting recipe and beautiful photo !!
I have now posted my last recipe in english so if you want to visit you are welcome !!
cheers
Pierre
Absolutely adorable! Love the pop of color in the cloth and backdrop.
You know, I have never been a fan of traditional carrot cake, these little numbers chock full of goodies might just convert me. If not, I’ll make a batch of the frosting and just eat that.
Love the shape of these. The flavors are a perfect spin on something we are all familiar with. The “spice” sounds fabulous.
I sound like a broken record, but I love, love, LOVE your pictures. They’re the best. These cakes look scrumptious. I want.