These carrot patch cupcakes are so easy to make and they look so adorable for spring or Easter! This is such a cute way to decorate cupcakes and it’s surprisingly easy!
This was a really great week for our little family! FINALLY the kids are all healthy… knock on wood… you know, now that I’ve said that we’re going to be doomed! haha But it was great. The kids have gone where they needed to go, and I was able to work full days, all week long, uninterrupted, and this is – wait for it – my THIRD blog post this week. Woo! I’m so happy to be doing what I love again!
Don’t tell anyone, but I may or may not have taken the photos for these carrot patch cupcakes last year… Shhhh… it doesn’t really matter, does it?? It was right around the time my book deal was getting off the ground and somehow I ran out of time to get them posted in time for Easter last year. And, well, in the blogging world, it makes zero sense to post anything Easter or spring related after Easter so I’ve been waiting all year for Easter to come again so I can post them!
I know what you’re thinking, “Slow down! We just finished Valentine’s Day, it’s WAY TOO EARLY to be posting about Easter!”. But that’s how it goes in the blogging world! We’re just like the stores, switching things over the moment Valentine’s Day ends. Although, Easter is early this year, so it’s really not that far away.
These carrot patch cupcakes are a super adorable idea for any spring related event, not just Easter. So I’m giving you plenty of time to plan an event so you can make them! They’d be cute for a spring birthday party, a classroom treat, or just a fun weekend project to try with the kids. Now that I search them on Pinterest, it looks like everyone has posted about these, but I was originally inspired by the cupcakes over at Your Cup of Cake.
Easy Carrot Patch Cupcakes with Strawberry Carrots
The full printable recipe is at the end of this post, but here’s what you’ll need:
- Chocolate cupcakes
- Chocolate icing
- Orange candy melts
- Oreo cookie crumbs
- Fresh strawberries
I’m generally pretty lazy when it comes to baking, so I’m just showing you how to decorate the cupcakes. If you want a super awesome homemade chocolate cake recipe, you can try my mother in law’s recipe. (They turn out amazing every time!) Or if you want to keep it real, just use boxed cake mix and store bought icing like I’m going to show in the tutorial. I won’t judge, I promise!
Place a small number of orange candy melts into a microwave safe bowl. I used about 1 cup of candy melts. I followed the directions on the package, which said to microwave the candy melts at 50% power for 1 minute, stir, and then keep on microwaving at 50% power for 30 seconds at a time until they’re fully melted.
If the melted candy melts are too thick (as in, if the finish on your strawberry is bumpy, rather than smooth), add a small amount of cooking oil to the melted candy melts – about 1/2 teaspoon at a time – and stir it in until you have a nice smooth consistency. You want the coating to look smooth and shiny on the strawberry.
Pull back the green leaves of the strawberries before you dip them. You don’t want them covered in the orange candy melts, plus it gives you something to grip on to.
Hold the leaves of the strawberry and carefully dip it into the melted candy melts.
Place the coated strawberries on a parchment paper lined baking sheet until they harden. Leave them on the counter rather than putting them in the fridge. Sometimes when you put them in the fridge, it causes condensation when you pull them out, and then you could get those weird white stains on your coated strawberries. It only takes about 20 to 30 minutes for them to harden on the counter.
Once the coating of candy melts has hardened, microwave the bowl of melted candy melts again until it’s smooth. Then pour it into a zip lock bag. Use a pair of scissors to trim off a small corner of the bag. The hole should be really small – do a small squeeze to see if you’re happy with the thickness of the orange line that squeezes out – and then if you need to, cut the hole a little bit bigger until you’re happy with the size of the candy melt line that squeezes out.
As far as consistency goes, I wouldn’t say mine was perfect – but it still worked! I added a little too much cooking oil to my candy melts so they were really runny. It wasn’t a huge problem, it just meant that the candy melts dripped out of the plastic bag really fast and didn’t give me a lot of time aim.
You’re going to want to start squeezing and then run lines of the orange melted candy back and forth over top of the strawberry to make “carrot looking” lines.
While you’re waiting for the candy melts to completely harden (it shouldn’t take more than 10 to 15 minutes for those thin lines to set), use a teaspoon to “dig” out a hole from the top of each cupcake. You need a little bit of a hole in the cupcake for the strawberry carrot to rest in.
Spread some chocolate icing on the cupcake.
Then gently press the cupcake into a bowl of Oreo cookie crumbs.
I think I used chocolate cookie crumbs from the bulk store, which are a bit of a finer grind than the boxed Oreo cookie crumbs, but I definitely like the taste of the Oreo ones better.
Then “plant” your carrot into the hole in the cupcake.
Repeat for all of your cupcakes and you’re done!
Chocolate? Yum! Strawberries? Yum! These tasted soooooo good!
Easy Carrot Patch Cupcakes with Strawberry Carrots
Ingredients
- Chocolate cupcakes
- Chocolate icing
- Orange candy melts
- Oreo cookie crumbs
- Fresh strawberries
Instructions
- Prepare the chocolate cupcakes and icing. Make them homemade or from a package, it's completely up to you!
- Follow the directions on the package of candy melts and melt approximately 1 cup of orange candy melts. Stir in 1/2 teaspoon of cooking oil at a time until the candy melts have a smooth consistency.
- Dip each strawberry into the candy melts then place them on a parchment lined baking sheet to harden.
- Pour the remaining melted orange candy melts into a zip lock bag. Cut a small hole in the corner of the bag. Gently squeeze lines over the strawberries, going back and forth to make lines across the strawberries.
- Using a teaspoon measuring spoon, "dig" little holes from the top of each cupcake.
- Spread icing onto each of the cupcakes, then gently press them into a bowl of Oreo cookie crumbs.
- Place a strawberry carrot into the hole in the top of each cupcake.
- Enjoy!
These easy carrot patch cupcakes with strawberry carrots are so cute and so simple to make! They are fantastic for Easter, or even a spring birthday party! They’re fun to make and the kids love them!
If you’re looking for more fun Easter cupcake ideas, check out our Easter bunny cupcakes. They are both so easy to make and so adorable for this time of year!
Source : onelittleproject.com
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