Okay, so I decided to try making those carrot cake dessert cups I saw somewhere. Sounded pretty good, and I had some carrots needing to be used up anyway.
Getting Started
First things first, I grabbed the carrots. Had about three decent-sized ones. Got out the grater – you know, the standard box grater. Started shredding them. It’s always a bit messy, carrot bits flying around, but got it done. Ended up with a nice pile of shredded carrot.
Then, the dry stuff. Just mixed up some flour, sugar, baking soda, bit of salt, and the spices. Cinnamon is key, obviously. Added some nutmeg and a touch of ginger too. Just whisked that together in a bowl.
Mixing and Baking
Next up, the wet ingredients. Cracked a couple of eggs into another bowl, added some oil – vegetable oil works fine – and a splash of vanilla. Gave that a good mix. Then I dumped the wet into the dry, stirred it until it just came together. Didn’t want to overmix it. Finally, folded in those shredded carrots I prepped earlier. Threw in a handful of chopped walnuts too, because why not?
I decided to bake it as a thin sheet cake instead of cupcakes. Easier to crumble for the cups, I figured. Poured the batter into a greased baking pan, spread it out evenly. Popped it into the oven. Had to keep an eye on it, thin cakes bake faster. Took it out when a toothpick came out clean.
Let that cake cool down completely. Seriously, let it cool. Otherwise, you just get a mushy mess when you try to crumble it.
Cream Cheese Frosting Time
While the cake was cooling, I tackled the frosting. Cream cheese frosting is the only way to go for carrot cake, right? Softened some cream cheese, beat it with butter until it was smooth. Then slowly added powdered sugar. A bit messy, sugar dust everywhere, but worth it. Added a splash of vanilla at the end. Whipped it until it was nice and fluffy.
Putting It All Together
Okay, cake’s cool. Time to assemble.
- I crumbled up the sheet cake. Just used my hands, broke it into small pieces.
- Got out some small glasses, or you could use jars.
- Started layering: put a layer of cake crumbs in the bottom of each glass.
- Piped or spooned a layer of that cream cheese frosting over the crumbs.
- Added another layer of cake crumbs.
- Another layer of frosting.
- Topped it off with a few more crumbs and maybe a sprinkle of chopped walnuts.
Repeated that for all the glasses I had. Stuck them in the fridge for a bit to let the frosting set up nicely.
Turned out pretty good. Looked nice in the glasses, and tasted like proper carrot cake. Easier to serve than slicing a whole cake sometimes, especially if you just want a little something sweet. Definitely messy to make, from grating the carrots to crumbling the cake, but hey, that’s baking sometimes. They disappeared quick, so guess it was a success.
