Perfect for entertaining, carrot cake cupcakes are low in sugar, fat and white flour.
Q. I am making frosted carrot cupcakes for a baby shower and really need your help. It's a Recipe Doctor emergency! The person I am throwing the shower for is a Martha Stewart fan, but she also is quite picky about recipes that have too much sugar, white flour and fat.
A. Great choice for a baby shower dessert! For the cupcakes, I used s-c cup sugar instead of 1 cup. I decreased the vegetable oil from a-c cup to 3 tablespoons and switched to canola oil (which contributes plant omega-3s and is high in monounsaturated fat) and increased the orange juice from 2 tablespoons to a-c cup. Instead of two eggs, I added one higher omega-3 egg and a-v cup egg substitute. I also used mostly whole-wheat flour, instead of all white flour.
For the frosting, I cut the recipe in half, because that's an easy way to bring down the calories and fat, and it's usually too much frosting anyway. To trim the calories even further, I used a whipped butter or spreadable butter with canola oil, both of which contain about a-c fewer fat grams than regular stick butter or margarine. These were incredibly delicious and beautiful cupcakes — worthy of a baby shower — and yet they had 39 percent fewer calories, half the total fat and more than double the fiber.
Carrot Cupcakes with Whipped Vanilla Buttercream
For Carrot Cupcakes:
2/3 cup sugar
3 tablespoons canola oil
1/3 cup orange juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg (omega-3, if available)
1/4 cup egg substitute
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
1/4 cup unbleached white flour
1 1/2 cups finely shredded carrots
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or walnut pieces (optional)
1/3 cup shredded or flaked coconut
For Whipped Vanilla Buttercream Frosting:
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup whipped butter or spreadable butter with canola oil
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon fat-free half-and-half (or low-fat milk or vanilla coffee creamer)
10 pecan halves (optional)Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin pan with paper or foil liners.
In a large mixing bowl, combine sugar, canola oil, orange juice, vanilla extract, egg and egg substitute by beating on medium speed.
In medium-sized bowl, combine the baking powder, cinnamon, salt, whole wheat and unbleached white flour with whisk or fork. Add dry ingredient mixture all at once to orange juice mixture in mixing bowl, and beat on low just to combine. Stir in the shredded carrots, walnuts (if desired) and coconut.
Divide batter evenly among the 10 muffin cups. Bake until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (about 25 minutes). Let the cupcakes cool completely before frosting.
For frosting: In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine confectioners' sugar, whipped or spreadable butter margarine, vanilla extract and fat-free half-and-half by beating on medium-low speed and scraping down sides of the bowl after about 10 seconds.
When the mixture is fluffy, turn off mixer and frost the cooled cupcakes, or store frosting in airtight container in refrigerator until needed, and up to one week.
Garnish the tops of the cupcakes with a pecan half or an extra sprinkle of shredded or flaked coconut, if desired.
Makes 10 to 12 cupcakes.
Original recipe contains 380 calories, 19 grams fat (3.5 grams saturated), 43 milligrams cholesterol and 1 gram fiber per cupcake (if 10 per recipe).
Revised nutrition information per serving (if 10 per recipe): 220 calories, 3 grams protein, 35 grams carbohydrate, 8 grams fat (3 grams saturated fat, 3 grams monounsaturated, 1.5 grams polyunsaturated), 29 milligrams cholesterol, 3 grams fiber, 298 milligrams sodium. Calories from fat: 32 percent.
Omega-3 fatty acids = .5 grams
Omega-6 fatty acids = 1 gram
Weight Watchers POINTS = 4
Elaine Magee is a syndicated columnist. Readers may write to her through her Web site at
www.recipedoctor.com. Personal responses cannot be provided.
