Carrotcake Cupcakes with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting

I made these cupcakes a couple of years ago for my birthday and they were SO good. The frosting alone is amazing...I think I could just eat the frosting on its own. It is cream cheesey, orangey, and sweet. So delicious.
I think the Carrotcake Cupcakes with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting came out much better this time. I added more spices, added raisins, and used more butter than oil (I ran out of oil so had to improvise). I also used a larger shredder for the carrots so the pieces were larger and more noticeable in the finished cupcake. I really liked the addition of the raisins, and more butter was nice too. I think using more melted butter versus all oil made the batter thicker, more like a cake batter, instead of thinner like it was last time. The cupcakes lasted almost a week (unfrosted), covered on the kitchen counter. I kept the frosting in the fridge and scooped a bit out as needed, letting it warm to room temperature before using.

The recipe is 24-Karat Cupcakes with Orange Cream Cheese Icing from Flo Braker's Baking for All Occasions (page 239).

mise en place for the cupcakes

the smell of the orange zest (for the frosting) was divine

a food processor made grating the carrots a breeze

the cupcake batter: adding the melted butter

nearly there...you can see all of the spices...yum!

the carrots, raisins, and walnuts get added last

beautiful!

I like to use a scoop so the batter is evenly distributed

ready to bake

done! They smell so delicious.

making the cream cheese frosting

for flavoring the frosting: I used orange zest, freshly squeezed
orange juice, and a few drops of pure orange oil

the softened cream cheese, butter and powdered sugar are beaten

the orange juice and vanilla are added...so smooth and silky!

finally the orange zest is added...so delicious!

cooled and frosted

I'd better just try one before serving them

ready for company...yum!

Bye for now...