Billington’s Easter Carrot Cupcakes...

Fancy making some sweet Easter Carrot Cupcakes?

Ingredients:

• 375g Billington’s Light Brown Muscovado Sugar
• 360g Vegetable oil 
• 1tsp Nielsen-Massey vanilla essence
• 5 Medium eggs
• 375g Allinson plain flour
• 2 tsps Baking powder
• 1tsp Sodium bicarbonate
• 1tsp Cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp Ground nutmeg
• 1tsp Salt
• 430g Grated carrot
• 120g Coarsely chopped pecans
• 75g Desiccated coconut 
• 75g Canned pineapple, pressed and drained thoroughly 
• 3 *12 Cup American sized muffin tins
• 26 paper muffin cases

Golden Cream Cheese Icing:

• 150g Cream cheese
• 150g Softened, unsalted butter
• 220g Billington’s Golden Icing Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Nielsen-Massey vanilla essence

Yellow Marshmallow Chicks:

• 20g Powdered gelatin
• 20ml Cold water
• 540g Billington’s Golden Caster Sugar
• 160g Golden syrup
• 200ml Water
• 1tsp Nielsen-Massey vanilla essence
• 6 Drops liquid yellow food colouring
• Cornflour to coat
• Brownie pan: 2 of 10*12*2 inch pans

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 175 degrees
2. In a big bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, sodium bicarbonate, spices and salt
3. In a separate bowl, whisk Billington’s Light Brown Muscovado Sugar, eggs, oil, and vanilla essence, until combined.
4. Add wet mixture to dry ingredients and beat well.
5. Add carrots, pecans, coconut and pineapple, and stir until combined. 
6. Line 12 cup American sized muffin tins with paper cases. 
7. Fill each cupcake line 3/4 of the way with the batter. 
8. Bake 22-25 minutes-rotating trays at the 18-minute mark if you have an uneven oven. Test the cupcake with a wooden skewer-if it comes out clean with no wet batter, remove from oven-otherwise let cook for another 5 minutes. 
9. Let cupcakes cool in tin for 10 minutes, then remove and let cool an additional 30 minutes, then frost.

Golden Cream Cheese Icing:

1. Beat cream cheese and butter well until smooth with an electric mixer.  
2. Add Billington’s Golden Icing Sugar into 4 parts until well combined.
3. Stir in the vanilla essence. 

Yellow Marshmallow Chicks:

1. In a large mixing bowl, add gelatin and cold water and stir. 
2. Let gelatin sit and swell or ‘bloom’.  Line the brownie pan with greaseproof paper.
3. In a large saucepan, add 440g Billington’s Golden Caster Sugar, golden syrup and water and stir to combine. 
4. Brush the sides down with water to remove any sugar crystals stuck to the sides. 
5. Bring to the boil, add a sugar thermometer and cook to 120 degrees C.  
6. In a food processor mix 100g Billington’s Golden Caster Sugar and 2 drops of yellow food colouring and blitz until yellow and fine. 
7. Whisk thoroughly with a hand mixer (or in a stand mixer), slowly add hot sugar to the gelatin mixture.
8. Whisk thoroughly until thick bubble gum like strands form.  
9. Add vanilla essence and food colouring.
10. Spray everything with pan spray - spatulas, brownie pan spoons, hands, etc. 
11. Scoop marshmallow mix into brownie pans and spread evenly until mixture is about 2 cm high. 
12. Sprinkle liberally over the top with yellow sugar.
13. When rested, using a greased Easter chick cookie cutter, cut into shapes. 
14. Take cut chicks and dip in the remainder of the yellow sugar.