This is an incredibly moist and decadent cupcake, yet it is gluten free. It gets it richness from olive oil, carrots and plump raisins soaked in a little booze. There is no flour substitution; made entirely with ground almond flour so it is naturally gluten free. It makes 12-18 cupcakes depending on how full you fill each liner and is fairly low in sugar for a cake, and I made a cream cheese icing with less sugar and less cream cheese plus it was a lower fat cream cheese; I just iced the top, you need less icing and save a few calories. This version comes from a cake by Nigella Lawson with a few changes and additions by me. So, all I am thinking right now is why didn’t I make this, years and years ago!

You really need a food scale to weigh and measure properly. Much more exact. For the olive oil I eyeballed the amount in a 1 cup glass measuring cup. Please do not increase the carrots or raisins as that will make the batter too moist and too heavy; the center may not bake fully. They do not rise much due to the relatively heavy batter.

Notes: I didn’t have much rum on hand the first try, so I used some bootleg limoncello I made about 5 years ago to soak my golden raisins in. It really brought the citrus out in this cake. It was equally delicious made with rum the second try. My first version used orange zest; as I was out of lemons, but I had some this time. The three tablespoons of walnuts as no pine nuts around; I toasted them, and they had a smaller flavor impact than pine nuts but better for my budget. Do toast them as it really amps up the nutty flavor.

I wasn’t much thinking about blogging; I was teaching a friend how to make this recipe and so I took only one picture.

Venetian Carrot Cake Cupcakes

Ingredients:

3 Tbsp pine nuts or chopped walnuts

8 oz coarsely shredded carrots (peel first if not organic)

3 oz golden raisins

2 ¼ oz limoncello or rum (I measured the raisins in a glass measuring cup and added limoncello to a touch above halfway up the raisins) About 2 Tbsp. rum

5 oz sugar

4.5 fluid ounces mild olive oil plus a tad more for greasing the pan

3 large eggs at room temperature

1 tsp vanilla extract

9 oz almond flour (not almond meal)

A scant ½ tsp. nutmeg

¼ tsp. cinnamon

The zest of half a good sized lemon or orange plus the juice of said lemon

Frosting

6 oz room temp light cream cheese

2 Tbsp. butter at room temp

2 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Directions:

Prep: Toast the pine nuts (or chopped walnuts) in a dry frying pan stirring or tossing constantly; they will burn if you don’t toss and stir and when they are about done pour them in a small bowl; don’t leave them in the (heat off) frying pan; they will burn on the residual warmth of the pan. Let cool. Put the raisins and limoncello in a small saucepan and heat up; then turn down the heat and simmer for 3 minutes or microwave 30 -60 seconds. Let cool before using.  Next, peel and grate carrots. I did it by hand with my versatile box grater on coarse side, but you can use a food processor, or a shedder attached to your stand mixer.   I grated them onto wax paper and then weighed it; so much more accurate than saying 3 carrots and hoping it is the right amount. Put liners in your muffin tins; if you want tall cupcakes make 12. For short ones do 18 cupcakes. I tried some silicon cupcake liners and loved them. Heat your oven to 350 degrees and make sure your shelf is in the middle.

Cake Directions: Put the almond flour, the two spices in a small bowl and whisk to blend. Put the sugar and olive oil in a large mixing bowl and whisk until it is well blended, light and creamy looking. Add the eggs one at a time mixing well before the next one. Add the vanilla extract, mix briefly. They add the almond flour mix and then carrots and the raisins and liquid clinging to them plus lemon juice. Last, add the pine nuts and lemon or orange zest. Blend briefly. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for approximately 22-24 minutes; mine took the full 24 minutes. They should look slightly risen and a cake testor will come out clean. Let cool 5 minutes, then remove the cupcakes and set them on a cooling rack and cool completely before frosting.

Make the icing; blend the cream cheese (I often soften mine 30 seconds on low in the microwave) and softened butter until fluffy; add the sugar in half cups or less as you blend. Add the vanilla and beat the frosting until it is fluffy. Frost the top of your beautiful cupcakes. Enjoy!