Heavenly Summer Cupcake

It was birthday celebration cake day at The Boy's office yesterday. For the occasion, I whipped up a batch of my German Chocolate Cupcakes and a new recipe for Carrot Cake Cupcakes.

The former were delicious as always. The latter were simply amazing - a perfectly light and easy summer cup cake!

Carrot Cupcakes

• 1 package (18.25 ounces) plain yellow cake mix
• 1 package (3.4 ounces) vanilla instant pudding mix
• 2/3 cup fresh orange juice
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 4 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3 cups grated carrots
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• Fresh Orange Cream Cheese Frosting (see below)

1. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease cupcake pans or line with paper liners.

2. Place the cake mix, pudding mix, orange juice, oil, eggs, and cinnamon in a large bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat for 2 minutes more, scraping the sides down again if needed. The batter should look thick and well blended. Gently fold in the carrots, raisins, and nuts with a rubber spatula. Spoon batter into pan, filling each 2/3 full.

3. Bake until cupcakes are golden brown and spring back when lightly pressed with your finger, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool on wire racks (outside of pan).

Fresh Orange Cream Cheese Frosting

• 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, at room temperature
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, at room temperature
• 3 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
• 2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
• 1 tablespoon grated orange zest (from 1 medium orange)

1. Place the cream cheese and butter in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed until combined, 30 seconds. Stop the machine. Add the confectioners' sugar, a bit at a time, blending with the mixer on low speed until the sugar is well combined, 1 minute. Then add the orange juice and zest to the mixture. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat until the frosting lightens and is fluffy, 1 minute more.

2. Use at once to frost the cupcakes.

3. If you feel really creative, top with a walnut for decoration!

This photo doesn't even begin to capture the cuteness of the cupcake!