Carrot Cupcakes for Katie.

My sister requested that I make her favorite dessert for her birthday celebration: carrot cake. I'll be honest, I was never a fan of carrot cake (or so I thought) mainly because it contains nuts and so you know, I am not a fan of nuts at all.  I opted to make carrot cupcakes for the occasion and they were quite enjoyable to bake. Putting shredded carrots in a batter seemed so odd to me which I think is what added to the fun. Since I wanted to try them I was sure to leave a couple of cupcakes without nuts and let me tell you, I was pleasantly surprised. The cupcakes were the perfect degree of moist and not too heavy and the cream cheese frosting was absolutely delicious. This may have been the first time I made this dessert but something tells me it won't be the last!

Carrot Cupcakes

2 ounces white chocolate
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon orange extract
4 cups confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons heavy cream

2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/8 cups white sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups shredded carrots
1/2 cup crushed pineapple
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1 cup chopped walnuts

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease 12 muffin cups.
In small saucepan, melt white chocolate over low heat. Stir until smooth, and allow to cool to room temperature.

In a bowl, beat together the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Mix in white chocolate, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and orange extract. Gradually beat in the confectioners' sugar until the mixture is fluffy. Mix in heavy cream.

Beat together the eggs, white sugar, and brown sugar in a bowl, and mix in the oil and vanilla. Fold in carrots and pineapple. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. Mix flour mixture into the carrot mixture until evenly moist. Fold in 1/2 cup walnuts. Transfer to the prepared muffin cups.

Bake 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool completely on wire racks before topping with the icing and sprinkling with remaining walnuts.