Cupcakes

Carrot Cake:

4 eggs
2 c. sugar
1 c. vegetable oil
2 ½ c. all purpose flour (I substituted using whole-wheat flour and they turned out both tasty and healthy!)
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp. cinnamon
3 T. crushed pineapple (from a can)
4 c. grated carrots (use a blender, I used a Cuisinart)

Beat eggs and sugar until fluffy. Beat in oil, then salt, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, and pineapple. Add flour (be careful not to over-beat!), then carrots. Line cupcake baking tins with cooking spray (This way if you drip batter onto the tins, it will easily wash off). Line tins with paper cupcake holders, and bake at 350˚F for approximately 30 minutes. Tip: For professional-looking, uniform cupcakes, use an ice-cream scoop to measure the amount of batter you place in each cupcake holder.

Cream Cheese Icing:
250 g cream cheese, softened (can substitute with low fat and the recipe is still delicious!)
1 tsp. vanilla
½ c. unsalted butter, softened
3 c. icing sugar

Steps:
1. Bake the cupcakes and allow them to cool.
2. Use a piping bag and tip with a corrugated edge to make "nests" to put the eggs in. I used food colouring to dye the icing yellow. Make swirls on each of the cupcakes working from the outside in (see image)
3. Place Cadbury mini-eggs and gold dragees on the cupcakes

Happy Easter!