Easter Treats: Carrot Cupcakes with Mascarpone Frosting and Marzipan Carrots
Easter is a big deal in the DiSomma household. For me the holiday conjures up memories of family time, Easter egg hunts, and maybe even a little bit of mischief-making in my younger years. A cornerstone of the Easter festivities in our house is dessert–in fact, having several Easter desserts to enjoy is always a must! My cute-as-can-be carrot cupcakes are topped with mascarpone frosting and edible marzipan carrots. I love this recipe because the cupcakes are just adorable and appeal to all ages.
How to Work with Marzipan and Make Marzipan Carrots
Don’t be intimidated by working with marzipan if you never have before. It’s actually pretty simple. This traditional European treat is made of ground almond, sugar, and egg whites. That’s it. It tastes divine and it’s a lot of fun because it’s easy to mold, sculpt, and dye into whatever shape your heart desires! You can find it in the baking supply area of your local grocery store. If you can’t find any—or if you’re feeling really ambitious—you can always make your own marzipan from scratch!
How to Make The Marzipan Carrots
Molding and sculpting marzipan is a pretty straightforward process. I make mine into little carrots for this recipe, but feel free to get creative once you get the hang of it. Flowers… bunnies… Easter eggs… the possibilities are endless! Here’s how you do it: Just break off a little piece and knead the tiniest drop of orange food coloring right into it. Start conservatively—you can always add more if you need it.
Next, roll the orange marzipan into a cylinder and cut it into smaller pieces. Taper one end off into a point and garnish the other end with a little piece of parsley or mint and voila! You’re ready to decorate your cupcakes.
The nice thing about marzipan is that it can last for up to 2 months in the freezer, so you can use any leftovers to make another delicious treat! Or just eat it. I wouldn’t blame you.
Pro tip: Use gloves when adding color to your marzipan so you don’t stain your fingers!
Word to the wise: Wear a pair of disposable gloves whenever you’re working with food coloring. The dye will also color your hands and some types of food coloring can be difficult to wash off.
Carrot Cupcakes Recipe with Mascarpone Frosting and Marzipan Carrots for Easter
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- A pinch of ground cloves
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup canola oil
- ½ cup buttermilk
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon Mary’s Cognac Barrel-aged Madagascar Pure Vanilla Extract
- 1 cup grated carrots (pack them tightly into the cup for accurate measurement)
- 8 ounces mascarpone cheese, room temperature
- 8 ounces (1 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 2½ to 3 cups confectioners’ sugar
- 1 teaspoon Mary’s Cognac Barrel-aged Madagascar Pure Vanilla Extract
- Makes eighteen 1½ inch carrots
- 2½ ounces marzipan (you’ll just under ⅓ of a 7 ounce package…
- Orange food coloring gel
- Fresh parsley or mint leaves
- Toothpick
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 18 muffin wells with paper liners.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the canola oil, buttermilk, eggs, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla until well combined. You can also use a handheld mixer if you prefer. Add the carrots and beat until combined.
- With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the dry ingredients. Mix until there are no clumps of flour. Be careful not to overmix.
- Divide the batter into the prepared muffin pans. Depending on the size of your muffin wells, I find that you get between 16 and 18 muffins. The batter should go about 2/3’s of the way up in the muffin cups.
- Bake for 15 to 18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffins comes out clean. Remove and let cool completely before frosting.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer, beat the mascarpone cheese and butter until light and fluffy. A handheld mixer can also be used. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add 2½ cups of the confectioners’ sugar along with the vanilla. If the frosting seems too soft, add some or all of the additional confectioner’s sugar. I like to pipe the frosting onto the muffins so I make my frosting thick enough to hold its shape when piping.
- Using a star-shaped pastry tip, fill a pastry bag with the frosting. Top each muffin with a generous swirl of frosting. Top each cupcake with a marzipan carrot.
- Press the piece of marzipan into a flat disk. Place a few drops of orange food gel in the center. Wear disposable gloves as you begin to use your hands to work in the food coloring until it is evenly distributed and the marzipan is a nice orange color.
- Roll the orange colored marzipan into a rope and cut it into 18 pieces. Using your hands, roll each piece into a 1½ inch cylinder tapering one end so it resembles a carrot. If you like, you can use a toothpick to gently press into the side of the marzipan carrot body to create carrot “ribs.”
- Use a toothpick to make a small hole in the wider top of the carrot. Insert a small piece of parsley or a few fresh mint leaves into the carrot to create leaves.
