Bunny Carrot Cupcakes

Bunny Carrot Cupcakes for Easter!

Hang on, do these cupcakes have ears and a nose?! Yes, they’re mini bunny carrot cakes! A great Easter bake to make with children (or adults).

If you’re wondering what the ears are made of… they’re actually cut-open marshmallows, dipped in pink sugar. And the nose is a little Smartie. So cute, right?

This recipe was created as part of my “Recipes for Staying Home” show, to flatten the curve during the 2020 Covid-19 outbreak. The concept is to inspire people to cook comfort dishes at home – I show basic recipes that can be adapted with all kinds of other ingredients. You can watch the episode here.

Ingredients

For the cupcakes:
200g carrots
50g walnuts or pecans
75g fresh pineapple
2 eggs
200g brown sugar
150ml of sunﬂower or vegetable oil
200g plain ﬂour
40g desiccated coconut
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt

For the frosting:
50g butter, at room temperature
90g icing sugar
160g cream cheese

sprinkles
12 marshmallows
12 red Smarties

Method

Makes 12 • Prep 30’ • Oven 25-30’ • A little effort

Preheat oven to 170°C fan.

Grate the carrots. Finely chop the walnuts and the pineapple.

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs at high speed, add the sugar and continue beating until pale and ﬂuffy. Keep the whisk on at high speed, and add the oil in a steady stream.

In a separate bowl, mix the ﬂour, dessicated coconut, the cinnamon, baking powder and salt, then fold into the egg mix. Once mixed, gently incorporate the grated carrot, the pineapple and the walnuts.

Line a muffin tin with 12 cupcake cases.

Transfer the mixture into the muffin tin and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean.

Prepare the frosting. In a bowl, cream the butter and icing sugar together until smooth. Add the cream cheese and cream until smooth. Put in the fridge to set.

Once your cupcakes are done, put them on a wire rack and leave to cool. Once cool, spread the frosting generously over the top.

Cut the marshmallows diagonally in halves and dip each marshmallow, cut-side down, into the sprinkles. Stick onto the frosting to create little ears, then decorate with a Smartie to create a nose.