“Pumpkin in cupcakes . . . what?! But trust me, if you like carrot cake then you will love these. They are moist and full of flavour. If you don’t tell the kids, they won’t even know about the vegetables they have just eaten. It’s win–win!” – Michael
MAKES 8 REGULAR SIZED CUPCAKES
Ingredients:
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ¾ cup standard flour
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ cup raw sugar
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 2 cups grated pumpkin
- ½ cup chopped walnuts or hazelnuts
- 2 tbsp raisins
- 2 tbsp pumpkin seeds for decoration
Icing
- juice of 1 lemon
- 1 tbsp butter, softened
- 100g cream cheese, softened
- 2 tbsp icing sugar
Method:
- Preheat oven to 190°C.
- Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add eggs and oil and mix until just combined. Add grated pumpkin, nuts and raisins and fold in.
- Divide mixture evenly between lightly greased cupcake moulds or muffin tins. Bake for 20–25 minutes. Allow to cool in tin for 5 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely before icing.
- For the icing, beat together lemon juice, butter and cream cheese. Add icing sugar and continue to beat until smooth. Ice tops of cooled cupcakes and decorate with pumpkin seeds.
‘Eat Well For Less New Zealand’ by Michael Van de Elzen and Ganesh Raj, published by Random House NZ. RRP $35
