Carrot Cupcakes with a mascapone and orange frosting

If you're going to make sure you have your five a day, you may as well do it in style...stick it in a cake!

The cupcake recipe is from 'How to be a Domestic Goddess' by Nigella Lawson and the frosting is by Jamie Oliver ( I wasn't keen on the frosting that was meant to be partnered with the cake)!

For the cupcakes

100g light muscovado sugar

175ml sunflower oil

2 large eggs

225g plain flour

3/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

pinch of salt

zest of 1 orange ( the recipe stated the zest of 1/2 a lemon and 1/2 an orange, but I didn't have a lemon)

150g carrots, grated

100g walnuts, chopped ( I held back 6 to cut in half for decoration)

For the frosting

115g mascarpone cheese

225g cream cheese

85g icing sugar

Sifted juice and zest of 1 orange

Mix together the sunflower oil and sugar, then mix in one egg at a time. Add the flour, bicarbonate soda, cinnamon, salt and zest and mix well.Then fold in the grated carrot and chopped walnuts.

Spoon into 12 muffin cases and place in the oven at 200 c for approximately 20 minutes. ( I have a fan assisted oven and they took 17 mins, so just keep an eye on them or they will turn out too dry).

Whilst these are baking in the oven, you can prepare the frosting. Mix all of the frosting ingredients into a bowl until well combined and then place in the fridge, until ready to top your cooled cupcakes ( I do this because I have found this stiffens the topping, enabling you to pipe it onto your cupcakes).

I am just about to tuck into mine with a latte....yum yum!!