Brown Butter Carrot Cupcakes
I admit it – I’m in love with brown butter. After using it for the first time in these cookies, I just fell in love with its fragrance and taste and the aroma it adds to baked goods. Also known as beurre noisette, brown butter is not a hard thing to cook – what’s hard is resisting the urge of dipping some bread in it (I’m a „love butter” kind of girl). The roasty, nutty flavor brown butter brings to desserts is well worth the messy stove! The technique itself is pretty straight-forward: heat the butter in a saucepan placed over low to medium heat. As the butter melts, you will notice the milk solids at the bottom of the pan – they are white-ish and liquidy. At this point, if you stop and drain out the clear butter, you get clarified butter. But let’s take it one step further! Keep cooking the butter until the milk solids begin to look golden brown and the butter itself looks clean and golden as well. Keep an eye on it as at this point, since there’s no liquid left in the butter to cook out, the fat tends to burn easily. Another way to know it’s done is to breathe in its distinctive nutty, buttery aroma. At this point, remove the saucepan from the heat and allow it to rest for 10 minutes then pour it in a desired container or use it in your recipe.
As for the flavors I chose for these cupcakes, here they are: carrots and cinnamon, walnuts and coconut, orange and brown butter and in the batter. The cherry on top is the white chocolate buttercream – this silky goodness was just perfect for this particular flavor combo, although a cream cheese buttercream would work just as good!
Brown Butter Carrot Cupcakes
Ingredients
Cupcakes:
- 50 g brown butter
- 70 ml vegetable oil
- 200 g white sugar
- 100 g brown sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1 tablespoon grated orange zest
- 200 g all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 30 g rolled oats
- 30 g shredded coconut
- 100 g walnuts (finely chopped)
- 300 g grated carrots
White chocolate buttercream:
- 4 egg whites
- 1 pinch salt
- 200 g white sugar
- 250 g butter (softened)
- 150 g white chocolate (melted and cooled)
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Cupcakes:
- Pre-heat your oven to 350F – 180C and line a muffin tin with muffin papers.
- Sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices in a bowl.
- Combine the sugars and eggs in a bowl and mix with an electric mixer for 2-3 minutes until pale and creamy.
- Drizzle in gradually the butter and oil, mixing well. Add the orange zest as well.
- Stir in the flour mixture and give it a quick mix just until incorporated.
- Add the oats, coconut, walnuts and carrots as well and mix them in with a spatula.
- Spoon the batter in your muffin cups and bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown and fragrant.
- Allow the cupcakes to cool down in the pan.
White chocolate buttercream:
- Combine the egg whites, salt and sugar in a heatproof bowl and place over a hot water bath, making sure the bowl doesn’t touch the boiling water.
- Keep over medium heat, stirring all the time with a whisk, until the egg whites are hot and the sugar has dissolved.
- Remove the bowl from heat and begin whipping the whites with a mixer until glossy, firm and stiff and the bowl is completely cold. It will take about 10 minutes. Stir in the vanilla as well.
- Add the butter, all at once, and mix on low speed for 2-3 minutes. At first it will curdle up, but then it comes back together, don’t give up!
- Stir in the melted chocolate as well, mixing with a spatula just until incorporated.
- Spoon the buttercream in a pastry bag fitted with your favorite nozzle and decorate the cupcakes. Depending on the ype of decoration you make, you may need more or less buttercream than just a batch.
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