Classic Carrot Cake w/ Dreamy Creamy White Chocolate Frosting

Rose's Heavenly Cakes, Page 122: Classic Carrot Cake with Dreamy Creamy White Chocolate Frosting

Baked carrot cake into cupcakes (yes..again! yup, me and my cupcakes! lol!) since I was running out of time and cupcakes seemed like a better idea - they take lesser time to bake & cool. :) The batter yield exactly 24 cupcakes and i baked them for around 30mins. Shredded about 5 big carrots and came out about 10g short..but i didn't want to shred another carrot halfway, if you know what i mean, so i left it as it is. Chose to add in raisins and hence deducted about 10g of sugar. I used Hershey's Special Dark cocoa powder...not too sure if it made any difference though or just my imagination since i think my cupcakes seem a bit darker than the usual carrot cake. :)

As for the frosting, i didn't use white chocolate. I opted for the whiter frosting which Rose said to use icing sugar in place. Figured icing sugar helps stabilize the cream cheese & butter better so it will not melt too quickly in our hot climate. Made less cream cheese frosting since i didn't want to use 1-1/2 package of cream cheese (1 pack is like 225g). So i used only 1 pack of cream cheese & adjusted the butter & icing sugar likewise. Used mascarpone cheese in place of sour cream - added about 45g (that is because i have a tub of mascarpone cheese opened and it has to be used within 3 days otherwise it will turn moldy in my fridge..yup! same goes with all kinds of cream i find). I didn't weigh the icing sugar but just added it tablespoon by tablespoon and stopped when it tasted right (didn't want it too sweet). Also added 2-3 tsp of lime juice for an added punch of flavor. Finally, I topped a carrot gummy candy on top of each cupcake, how appropriate isn't it? :)

Verdict: DELICIOUS!! This is one of the best carrot cake i have ever tasted! And there's no nuts..which i like! LOL! Very moist and you can't really taste the carrots actually. I like the tinge of cinnamon flavor & the added raisins too! Glad i added the raisins! Since i had 24 cupcakes, i had plenty to give away. Everyone loved it! My family, friends, office co-workers & my neighbors - all gave the thumbs-up! :) I'm quite certain that this recipe is one that i'm going to bake often! :) So easy to bake & fuss-free.

PS: I want to apologize to the other HCBs (and whoever that's reading) for my terrible writing skills..:p. Esp. Marie who has to read my Monday posts! I know my writing sucks...at times I write like i'm writing a report at work..:p - must be very boring and at times full of grammatical mistakes..which i do try to correct when i have time..:p!