Carrot Bread/Cupcakes

I am not a car person.

I very easily get overwhelmed by all the technology.  All I really want is a cup holder, AC, a radio and I’m good to go.  About 30 seconds into the sales guy explaining to me all the cool things the car can do, my eyes glaze over and I start replaying Sleepless in Seattle or While You Were Sleeping in my head.

“This button controls the flux capacitor, so you can fly, while this button serves you hot cocoa and a warm chocolate chip cookie,” they enthuse. “Only push this button if you want to go into hyperdrive to have enough power to make it out the other side of the black hole, and if you push this button, while turning that knob and counting backwards from 1000, your car will magically transport you to a secret destination where unicorns frolic with kittens and cotton candy grows on trees.”

I.  Just.  Want.  To.  Go.  To. The.  Grocery.  Store.

So a few weeks ago, I was going grocery shopping and Tim decided to tag along.  I left him in the car when I ran in and when I came out, he was on the phone, so I didn’t think anything of the fact the radio was not playing.

Until the next day when I got in the car and had no radio, or anything else for that matter.  The fancy schmancy high-tech screen was dead.  Totally dead.

I tried pushing the radio button, and turning a few knobs.  I poked at the screen even though I knew it was not a touch screen (but it made me feel like I was leaving no stone unturned).  Still nothing.  Every time I got in the car over the next few days, I repeated the process like one time it was magically going to work.  I turned the car off, then on again, then off, then on again.  All that did was turn the car off, then on again.  It did nothing for the radio.

“This is why these cars with all the bells and whistles are not good,” I fumed at Tim. ” Now I have to take it to the shop and it’s probably going to be something really expensive to fix, like a whole new computer system.”

“I’ll take a look at it,” he promised.

“Oh, like that will do a whole lot of good.  You are as tech savvy as me, which is to say not at all.”

The following week, we were in the car again, and at the push of a button, he had everything working.

“How did you do that?” I demanded.

“I pushed the ON button on the console.” he explained.

“What ON button?”

“The circle with the line coming out of it.  You know, the universal symbol for ON.  I take it you didn’t try that button,” he smirked.

No, did not try that button.  I did not try any of the buttons on the console because they all look like scary things: a car skidding, a screw that is loose, a caution symbol.  In general, I try to avoid pushing anything that will activate the self-destruction sequence.

I am so not a car person.

Ingredients:

• 2  1/2 cups sliced carrots (you need 1 cup of mashed carrots from this)
• 1 (8 TBS) stick of butter, melted
• 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• zest of one orange
• 1/4 cup of honey (vegan or regular)
• 1/2 cup almond milk
• 1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 2 cups pastry flour (I used wheat pastry flour)
• 1/4 cup of tapioca flour (omit this if you are making the cupcakes)
• 1 Tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 heaping Tablespoons arrowroot (cornstarch)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Cook the carrots until they are very soft (either steam them, or boil them in a bit of water on the stovetop).  Set aside to cool.
3. Whisk dry ingredients (flour through salt) in a large bowl.
4. In a small bowl, mash the carrots till no distinct pieces remain.  You don’t need to puree them, since we want a bit of texture here and puree will add extra liquid that we don’t want).  Add the butter, vanilla, orange juice, zest, milk, honey and vinegar and whisk well.
5. Combine the wet and dry ingredients and mix till just combined.  Do not overmix.
6. If you are making the bread, pour the batter into a greased, rectangular bread baking dish or pan (I put the butter in the pan and put it in the oven while it is preheating.  This melts the butter and coats the pan all at the same time).  Allow the batter to sit in the pan 5-10 minutes to rise a bit before putting into the oven.  Bake for 40 minutes.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool before cutting.
7. 
8. If you are making the cupcakes, allow the batter to sit 5-10 minutes to rise, then, using an ice cream scoop, put one scoop in each lined muffin cup (makes 12).  Put in the oven and bake for 15-18 minutes til a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the center.  Remove from oven and allow to cool.  Turn out onto a rack and allow the cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.

Frosting:

• 1 (8oz) container of cream cheese
• 1/2 cup powdered monkfruit (powdered sugar substitute)
• zest of 1 orange

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and beat with beaters till well combined.  Spread on top of cupcakes. You can sprinkle with crushed pecans for added flavor.

Cupcakes must be refrigerated because of the cream cheese icing; the bread does not need to be refrigerated.

Enjoy!