#BWBO Week 1 - Carrot Cake Cupcakes

It has begun! The first amazing week of the Great British Bake Off saw Silver Mushroom's Bake With Bake Off competition begin. Luck for me, week 1 is always cake week, and I've had this recipe in mind for a long time. As a tried and tested favourite, it always goes down well with friends and family, and what a better way to kick off this baking extravaganza?!

I've been wary about sharing this recipe for a while, I planned to keep it as a family's secret recipe for generations ahead, but this seems like the perfect time to share it with all of you and let you try it for yourselves.

This is a relatively easy recipe but provides amazing results every time. The only part I usually struggle with is the piping, so I was pretty impressed with myself that it turned out so well after avoiding the dreaded piping bag for quite a while.

I've come across a lot of carrot cake recipes in my time, but this is the best for those with nut allergies and cake lovers who enjoy a little more moistness, DO NOT squeeze your carrots. I accidentally left them unsqueezed a few years ago and loved how moist and caramelised the carrots went so that step has been lovingly discarded.

Ingredients (for 12 cakes):

• 130g Plain Flour
• 1/2tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
• 1/2tsp Baking Powder
• 1 1/2tsp Ground Cinnamon
• 1/2tsp All Spice
• Pinch Of Salt
• 215g Caster Sugar
• 2 Eggs
• 175ml Vegetable Oil
• 165g Grated Carrot

Method:

1. Preheat the over to 160C (fan oven) and arrange cake cases
2. Sift together the flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, ground cinnamon, all spice and salt into a bowl and set aside
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar and eggs until thick, creamy and pale. Slowly add the oil in a thin stream while whisking continuously
4. Fold in the dry ingredients. Once combined, stir in the carrots
5. Divide the batter evenly among the cake cases and bake for 20-25 minutes.
6. Check the largest cake with a skewer, if clean, place on a wire rack to cool, if not, put the cakes back in the oven for a further few minutes

This cream cheese frosting is a perfect accompaniment to these cakes, but if you prefer, you can eat the cakes plain or with your choice of frosting.

Ingredients:

• 170g Cream Cheese
• 1tbsp Soft Butter
• 125g Icing Sugar
• 1/2tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1/2tsp Cinnamon

Method:

1. Whisk the ingredients together until well combined. Add icing sugar a little at a time until sweet enough for personal preferences.

Don't forget to get involved with #BWBO with Silver Mushroom and use #TeamOffbeat to share your support!