Grand Carrot Cupcakes

Years ago I used to work as a barista at this wonderfully bohemian internet cafe. It's old brick walls were littered with local art, each chair and table splattered with different colors of paint, and the small center stage for our open mic nights was decorated with hanging guitars and paper cut-outs of stars. On my days off, I still came in to listen to the music that drifted through the thick aroma of toasted coffee beans. It was my favorite place to be.

One of the many perks of working there, aside from the endless free coffee, was the complete freedom we baristas had over the extra pastries in the back. Our boss was one of the best, allowing us to have one free pastry a day. If it wasn't for the constant caffeine buzz that kept me moving, I'm sure my waistline would have suffered greatly from overindulgence. Out of all the glistening pastries, I had my eye set on one, and one alone: the decadent carrot muffin. But it was more than just a muffin. It was practically carrot cake, moist and rich, filled with toasted walnuts, plump raisins, and a spicy scent that declared: "I will rock your world." Never before or since have I found a muffin or cupcake that tasted as good...until today. After a little experimenting, I have created a recipe for carrot cupcakes that finally meets my satisfaction. It is everything I have been missing from my beloved carrot muffin from so long ago, including a few new twists that are sure to leave you wanting more.

I have to plug in a shout-out to my wonderful husband who helped make this recipe possible. Not only did he buy me a new muffin pan, but he also helped me get the liqueur I needed for the recipe. I was too embarrassed to waddle into the liqueur store with my pregnant belly and basically label myself the worlds worst mom. So thank you Joe for once again being my wonderful provider!

Grand Carrot Cupcakes

Ingredients:
1 cup of raisins
2-3 shots of Grand Marnier liqueur
1 cup chopped walnuts
2 ½ cups of grated carrots
3 large eggs
½ cup of butter milk (or add a teaspoon of lemon juice to regular milk and allow to sit for 10 minutes)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups of sugar
1 cup of vegetable oil
1 tablespoon of Grand Marnier liqueur (from liqueur used on raisins)
3 cups of all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon of baking soda
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon of ground cloves
1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

Place the raisins in a bowl and pour 2-3 shots of Grand Marnier liqueur over the raisins. Mix the raisins, making sure to cover all raisins in the liqueur. Set aside and let soak until they are needed for the recipe. Stir on occasion to make sure all raisins are soaking up the liqueur evenly.

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Toast the walnuts in the oven for 3-5 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.

Rinse the carrots and grate them using a cheese grater or food processor. Set aside.

In a medium size bowl, beat together the buttermilk, oil, sugar, eggs, vanilla extract and 1 Tbls. of the Grand Marnier liqueur (get the Tbls. of liqueur from the raisin-liqueur mix). After mixing thoroughly, fold in the grated carrots.

In another bowl, use a large fork to mix together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, cloves, and cinnamon.

Fold the carrot mixture into the flour mixture until all ingredients are moist. Be careful not to over mix. (If you over mix, the cupcakes will come out more dense.) Fold in the toasted walnuts and the liqueur soaked raisins (use a slotted spoon to retrieve the raisins. Set aside the remaining liqueur to be used in the glaze.) into the batter until evenly incorporated.

Scoop into cupcake papers or into a lightly greased cupcake pan. Bake at 350° F for about 20 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool for a couple minutes in the pan before transferring to a wire rack to cool.

Grand Marnier Glaze
Ingredients:
1 stick of butter
Remaining liqueur (from soaking the raisins)
1 cup of sugar
On medium-high heat, mix together all ingredients and bring to boil. Boil for about 5 minutes while constantly whisking (to avoid burning). Remove from heat and drizzle onto cooled cupcakes.

You could also use a cream cheese frosting which is classic for carrot cake. But since I didn't have any cream cheese, and I didn't want to make a thick frosting that would over-power the flavors of the cake, I went with a drizzle of glaze. Not to mention the glaze helped to use up the remaining liqueur which I otherwise would've ended up throwing out.