Carrot Cake Cupcakes (Vegan + Gluten-free)

Instructions

Carrot cake cupcakes

1. Preheat the oven to 170c / 350f and line 2 muffin tins with 20 paper cases.
2. Combine the brown rice flour, gram flour, baking powder, spices and salt together in a large bowl. In another bowl, whisk together the coconut oil, water, maple syrup and vanilla. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Once mixed, fold in the grated carrot, dessicated coconut, nuts and raisins.
3. The batter will be quite thin but don't worry! Pour the batter into the prepared muffin tin and bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown on top and a toothpick inserted into the centre of the cupcake comes out clean. Allow the cupcakes to cool fully before adding the frosting.

Coconut "Cream cheese" frosting

1. Whilst the cupcakes are baking, make the coconut cream cheese frosting by simply mixing all the ingredients together in a high powered blender or food processor. Make the mixture as smooth as possible. You may need to add a little more liquid to get your blender going but don't add too much as you need a thick mixture.
2. Once blended, keep in the fridge to cool and thicken some more until later.

Marzipan carrot decorations

1. You can use shop-bought natural orange food colouring but if you would rather make your own... take 1 tbsp of the carrot juice and mix it in a cup or small bowl with the arrowroot powder until smooth. Pour the rest of the carrot juice in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Once boiling, whisk in the arrowroot mixture and stir until thickened and concentrated. Lower the heat and cook for a further couple of minutes and then remove from the heat and leave to chill in the fridge.
2. To make the marzipan, stir together the ground almonds and maple syrup in a bowl until it forms a firm but malleable dough. Add a tsp of the carrot juice and arrowroot mixture at a time until you have the desired colour. Add more ground almonds as needed to make the dough firm and smooth (not sticky.)
3. Now you have orange marzipan! Roll a thumb-sized piece of the marzipan into a small ball and then into a sausage shape, tapering at one end to create a carrot shape. Use a sharp knife dipped in cocoa powder to create lines around the carrot.
4. Finally, flatten the top of the carrot slightly and pierce it with a rosemary sprig or parsley leaf.

Assembling the cupcakes

1. Once the cupcakes are fully cooled, pipe the chilled frosting on top. Adorn with the marzipan carrots and serve!