Garden Patch Carrot Cupcakes
This cupcake is a sweet introduction to making a ‘reveal’ cake, and will make quite an impression for your Spring, Easter, or garden planting party! Don’t be intimidated by all the steps, it’s much easier than it seems! :) It helps to make the ‘carrot’ cupcakes a day in advance, then it’s just slice, bake, and decorate! :)
Don’t forget to check out our 15 Minute Peeps Sunflower Cake! Another adorable spring time recipe!
Garden Patch Carrot Cupcakes
These cute Garden Patch Carrot Cupcakes will be the highlight of the holiday!
Ingredients
For the "Carrots"
- 1 box lemon cake mix prepared according to directions
- red food coloring
For the "Dirt"
- 1 box chocolate cake mix prepared according to directions
For the "Dirt Mounds"
- 1 box chocolate graham crackers crushed finely OR 1 chocolate graham cracker pie crust, crumbled
- 1 container hot fudge sauce OR similar thick chocolate ganache or sauce
For "Garnish"
- 1 bunch curly leafed parsley stems trimmed so that each piece of parsley is about 2 to 3 inches long from top to bottom (keep it in the fridge until the last minute, so it doesn’t get droopy)
Instructions
- Mix the prepared lemon cake batter and the red food coloring until you get a nice bright orange color. Pour the batter into muffin tins that have been well greased or lined with paper wrappers. Bake as directed on the box, let cool.
- When the lemon cupcakes are cooled, slice each one into 4 even pieces from top to bottom. Then, laying each slice flat, cut 2 small ½" thick triangles from each one. Make sure the triangles have a flat bottom so that they’ll be able to stand upright. Make several more triangles than you think you’ll need for the Carrot Garden Cupcakes, just in case something happens to one or two!
- When you’ve cut your triangles, place them on a plate so that they aren’t touching and place them in the freezer until you’re ready to use them. Place them inside a freezer bag if it’s going to be longer than 3 hours. If you are ready to cook immediately, leaving them in the freezer just while you prepare the chocolate cake batter is also fine. The idea is to get them cold and firm so they don’t overcook and crumble when the chocolate batter is poured over and baking around them.
- Prepare the chocolate cake batter according to package directions.
- Line your muffin tins with paper liners. Paper liners are HIGHLY recommended for this dessert, since they’ll ensure that the muffins come out of the pan perfectly.
- Place one frozen orange cake triangle in the center of each muffin wrapper in your pan so that it stands upright, top corner pointing upwards. Carefully spoon the chocolate cake batter around and then over the triangle, filling the wrapper just until the tip of the triangle is covered, which should be a little under ¾ths full.
- Bake according to package directions. Test for doneness by poking with a knife just off the center, to make sure you don’t test in the already-baked triangle.
- When they are done, remove them from the pan and let them cool completely.
- When you are ready to decorate and the cupcakes have cooled, remove them from their wrappers. On the bottom, you should see a little orange line, marking where your ‘carrot’ triangle is.
- Line your cupcakes up on a large plate, bottoms up. Give them a few inches in between to allow for easy handling. This should not be the platter you’ll be serving them on, since it’ll get quite messy with chocolate sauce in the next step.
- If you are using very thick hot fudge sauce, heat it up for a few seconds so that it’s a pourable (but not thin) texture.
- Spoon or drizzle about 2 tablespoons of chocolate sauce over each of your cupcakes.
- Place your chocolate graham cracker crumbs in a plastic storage bag or medium dish. Take each cupcake and roll it in the crumbs, creating what looks like a big mound of dirt. Place each one on a large serving platter, bottom upwards. When all cupcakes have been rolled, scatter more chocolate cookie crumbs around the base of your ‘dirt mounds’ to create a garden bed.
- Right before you are ready to serve, place a stem of parsley in the middle of each cupcake, about where you remember the orange triangle’s line being. As the parsley gets warm it’ll become droopy, so keep it in the fridge until ready to use.
Nutrition Information
Calories: 229 | Carbohydrates: 44g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 1mg | Sodium: 417mg | Potassium: 100mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 20g | Calcium: 86mg | Iron: 2mg
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Dessert
Cuisine American© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
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This recipe was inspired by the cake version by The Partiologist! Make sure you head on over and check it out!!
Congratulations!
Your recipe is featured on Full Plate Thursday this week. Enjoy your new Red Plate and have a great weekend.
Come Back Soon!
Miz Helen
What creative cupcakes and very special treats for a party, these are just adorable! Thank you so much for sharing this awesome recipe with Full Plate Thursday and have a great weekend!
Come Back Soon!
Miz Helen
how neat is that?!
SO SUPER CUTE!!! :*)
Those are awesome!!!
These are adorable and fun! My kids would love biting into the cupcake and seeing a “carrot” in the middle! Thanks for the great idea.
I’d be thrilled if you’d link up at this week’s Off the Hook!
These are absolutely amazing!! I love them! They would make such a statement on the Easter table! too cute :)
How creative! These are absolutely adorable!
Ohhhh my goodness. This is WAY to cute! I’m so impressed! This is definitely one of my favorite easter treats I’ve seen yet! Thanks for linking this up to Monday Funday!