Carrot Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Had a few carrots sitting in the 'fridge, and had just watched the show 'Masterchef', where one of the contestants tried to make carrot cupcakes. Wasn't too much of a leap to making them myself...

The cool thing about cupcakes is there is no special technique - you can use any cake batter - you just pour the batter into the prepared pan and don't bake for as long (being smaller, they will obviously cook more quickly).

This recipe is adapted from one in Alton Brown's 'I'm Just Here For More Food', a great book on the hows and whys of baking.

Combine in a bowl: 8.5 oz flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 3/4 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp ground cinnamon and 3/4 tsp salt. Peel and grate 8 oz carrots. Add the carrots to the flour mixture. Combine in another bowl: 3/4 cup vanilla yogurt, 2 oz vegetable oil, 10 oz sugar and 3 eggs. Mix well, then fold in the carrot and flour mixture. Do not over-mix.

Prepare your cupcake pan - either use paper cupcake liners or liberally grease the inside of the cups with melted butter (a pastry brush would be good here). Pour your batter into the pan - cups should be about 2/3 full. This recipe will make about one and a half pans-worth. Bake at 350 F. Check for doneness (a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, and the tops spring back when pressed) after 20 minutes, and return to the oven if necessary. Mine took 20-25 min. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then remove to finish cooling on a rack.

Once the cupcakes are cool, make the frosting: beat 2 oz softened butter and 8 oz cream cheese in a mixer with the paddle attachment (or by hand with a wooden spoon) until creamy. Add a splash of vanilla extract and then gradually add 4.5 oz confectioners (powdered) sugar with the mixer on low speed. Once everything is nicely combined, refrigerate for 10 minutes before spreading on top of your cupcakes with a knife or spatula. Enjoy!

Note 1 - I used plain yogurt instead of vanilla, and added a splash of vanilla extract to the batter with it. It was not necessary to increase the sugar.

Note 2 - Metric Info: 8.5 oz = 240g; 8 oz = 225g; 3/4 cup = 175 ml; 2 oz = 55g; 10 oz = 280g; 350 F = 175 C; 4.5 oz = 125g.

Baked Cheesecake

Today, cheesecake. We had a lot of cream cheese sitting around in the refrigerator from a Christmas cookie making bonanza (we baked all night, 5 different cookies, several batches of each, but that's another story...), so why not?
I started yesterday. First, I greased a 9 inch springform pan (I used Pam, but butter would have been preferable - I find that I can taste the Pam in the crust), and preheated the oven to 350 F. Next, I took 8 oz of 'digestive biscuits' (a popular English cookie; graham crackers can be substituted), broke them between my fingers into my food processor, then pulsed until they resembled breadcrumbs. Meanwhile, I melted 2 oz of unsalted butter (this was all I had - I would have used more if I had it!) in a pan. I then combined the crumbs with the butter (if using more butter, do not add it all at once - you may not need it all), and pressed them into the prepared pan, covering the bottom and coming most of the way up the sides.
Then I made the filling. I beat 32 oz cream cheese with 1 cup of sugar in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment until smooth. I then added 1 tbsp of vanilla extract and about 1/3 cup of Bailey's and mixed again. I cracked 2 whole eggs and 3 yolks, and added them together, mixing just until combined. I then poured the 'batter' into the pan, and placed the pan in the middle of the oven. My cheesecake took about 55 minutes to bake. Check after 40 minutes, then occasionally, depending on how close it is. You are looking for the middle to be just set.
Once out of the oven, I allowed the cake to cool to room temperature, then wrapped it and chilled it in the refrigerator overnight. Tonight, I removed the wrap and the sides of the springform pan, leaving the cheesecake on the base, ready to slice and serve.
The cake sank quite a bit as it cooled, and it cracked in the middle. It was dense and rich, but I liked it.
Next time, I would like to use butter to grease the pan, and slightly more butter in the crust (although this crust came out well - delicate and not too thick). I need to figure out how to avoid the cracking of the cake...
Note that the original recipe called for pre-baking the crust empty for a few minutes before filling it. I forgot to do this, but the crust didn't seem to suffer as a result.