If you’re taking the time to bake a cake or cupcakes from scratch, go the extra mile and make homemade frosting as well. This cream cheese frosting is undeniably delicious, and is super simple to make. Use it to top carrot cake for a special dessert, red velvet waffles for a super-sweet breakfast in bed, or pineapple-packed hummingbird cake.
In a large bowl using a Hamilton Beach® hand mixer, beat butter, cream cheese, vanilla, milk, and salt until creamy. Whether you’re still using a vintage Hamilton Beach® mixer passed down from your grandmother or have upgraded to a shiny new model with a bowl rest feature or snap-on case, our hand mixers make easy work out of making this icing from scratch.
After those ingredients are well mixed, start to gradually add confectioners sugar and beat until smooth.
If the mixture is too thick, add a little more milk until you find the perfect consistency. Easy enough, right? Right.
After you try this homemade cream cheese frosting you’ll never opt for the store-bought version again. Once you have this recipe down, you can customize with different flavourings to make a good thing even better. Add almond extract, shredded coconut, or even food colouring to put a twist on this class cream cheese frosting. No matter what you top with this flavourful frosting, the lucky recipients will know it was baked (and frosted) with plenty of love!
With Easter right around the corner and daffodils blooming, it’s definitely carrot cake season. Nothing conjures the warmth and excitement of Spring quite like the traditional flavours of carrot cake, but this year, we decided to put a twist on the classic and make cupcakes.
Upon further inspection, it seems odd to add healthy vegetables to dessert cakes, but carrot cakes (and zucchini breads and the like) are so delicious and sweet, we usually don’t think twice about it. Instead, it’s a great way to justify eating cake!
To make these adorable cupcakes, we use our tried and true carrot cake recipe, which calls for shredded carrots, pineapples and pecans. We quickly and easily shred the carrots in a food processor, then mix everything together using a stand mixer before baking. The recipe makes exactly 24 moist, fluffy cupcakes.
After they’ve had a chance to cool, we top each cupcake with cream cheese frosting using a large round piping tip. (See more tips and tricks on How to Frost a Cupcake.) Then, we top it off with a candy carrot decoration or sprinkles and arrange them on a platter for everyone at our Easter brunch or dinner to admire and enjoy.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line the bottoms of two 9-inch baking pans with parchment paper.
Add flour, carrots, pecans, pineapple, sugar, vegetable oil, brown sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, salt and eggs to a large mixer bowl; beat on low 2 minutes until blended. Increase speed to medium; beat 4 minutes.
Pour mixture evenly between prepared pans.
Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in centre comes out clean. Cool in pans 10 minutes on wire racks.
Remove from pans; cool completely on wire racks.
Place one cake layer on cake plate; spread top of layer with 1/2 cup Cream Cheese Frosting. Top with remaining layer; frost side of top of cake. Garnish with finely chopped pecans, if desired. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Recipe Notes
To make Carrot Cake Cupcakes, line muffin pans with paper baking cups. Fill each baking cup about 3/4 full. An ice cream scoop works well for filling baking cups. Bake at 350°F for 16 to 18 minutes. Remove immediately from muffin pan and place on a cooling rack to cool completely before frosting. Makes 24 cupcakes.
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Whether you are cooking for two or prepping a large family meal, the Hamilton Beach® Stack & Snap™ 10 Cup Food Processor takes the guesswork out of food processing with a simple function guide that shows you which blade to use and which button to press. Designed to be uniquely simple – there’s no twisting, turning or locking required when assembling the food processor.
