Happy Birthday my beautiful little girl! I can’t believe it was five years ago I first held you in my arms: you were a tiny baby with twinkly eyes and the cutest little dimples. Now you’re a funny, adventurous five year old with the same happy twinkle in your eyes. And those dimples, they are still there, too. I know it because you show them to me every single day when you smile. I’m dedicating these mini carrot cupcakes with cashew cream frosting to you my dear Julia. They are sweet and cute, just like you.
I love to bake with you my little girl. You get as excited about colorful ingredients as I do, and you’re always eager to try interesting flavor combinations. For you it’s completely normal to add vegetables into a cake batter, to use coconut sugar or dates instead of white refined sugar, to smash bananas instead of whisk eggs. You enjoy stirring silky smooth coconut oil in a bowl and never ask where’s the butter. You love cashews, and they were an obvious main ingredient choice for the frosting of these mini cupcakes. When we mixed the frosting and you saw the colors deepening little by little, do you remember what you said? You simply said WOW and smiled. I knew you’d appreciate the magical qualities of natural ingredients:)
You my little girl have developed into a skilled taste tester too – you have the ability to taste several flavors and textures in a small piece of cake. Like when we baked these cupcakes for the first time, you said “they taste like fluffy, sweet cinnamon”. Nowadays you can even taste the beetroot in my pink creations, like in this pink frosting. But we covered up the beetrooty flavor with strawberries pretty well, didn’t we?
In about a year you’ve adjusted to my healthy vegan baking style so well I feel like crying tears of happiness. To be honest, I have shed a few tears of joy while watching you gently blend and mix, whisk and stir all kinds of healthy ingredients. You seem to enjoy baking, and I am truly thankful for your help.
So my dear Julia, I hope you know you are always welcome to join me in the kitchen. To bake and create, to discover new flavors, to come up with new natural colors, to use yet another funny vegetable in a cake batter. I will gladly cook and bake with you now and when you grow older. One day it is You who will teach me new baking skills and tricks. But one thing I promise you: I will always remember you just as you are now – a sweet five year old with a twinkle in your eyes. And I promise you I will always remember your cute little dimples when you smiled as you saw the frosting of these cupcakes for the first time.
With love,
Äiti
- [b]Mini cupcakes[/b]
- 20-25 Mini cupcake liners (size ~1 1/4 inch bottom x ~1 inch height)
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- 1 cup grated carrots (about 2 medium carrots or 4 tiny ones)
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- Wet ingredients:
- 1/2 cup smashed ripe banana (about 2 small bananas or one big banana)
- 1/2 cup unsweetened plant based yogurt (I used oat yogurt)
- 1/3 cup coconut sugar (NOTE: if the banana isn’t super ripe and sweet, add 2 tbsp more coconut sugar)
- 1/4 cup melted coconut oil
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
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- Dry ingredients:
- 1/2 cup oat flour
- 1/2 cup (white) rice flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp Ceylon cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
- 1/4 tsp salt
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- [b]Cashew cream frosting:[/b]
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- Base: a little bit less than 1 cup of cashews (when soaked, this will be ~1 cup of cashews) + 1/2 cup water
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- [b]Pink: [/b]
- 1/3 cup cashew cream
- 1/4 cup strawberries (I used frozen ones)
- 1,5 tsp maple syrup
- 1/2 tsp -1 tsp beetroot powder (depending on how deep you want the pink color, I used a little bit less than 1 tsp)
- 1 tsp coconut oil (room temperature)
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
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- [b]Yellow:[/b]
- 1/3 cup cashew cream
- 2 pieces of organic orange
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 3 tsp maple syrup
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp coconut oil (room temperature)
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
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- [b]Green:[/b]
- 1/3 cup cashew cream
- 2 tsp agave nectar
- 1/2 tsp Ceylon cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
- 1/4 tsp – 1/2 tsp spirulina powder (depending on how deep you want the green color, I used a little bit less than 1/2 tsp)
- 1 tsp coconut oil (room temperature)
- 1,5 tsp vanilla extract
- [b]Preparations for cashew cream frosting: [/b]Soak cashews for 2-4 hours in a glass jar filled with water and a pinch of salt. *see NOTES
- [b]Mini carrot cupcakes:[/b] Preheat oven to 190C/375F
- Grate carrots (use the smallest holes).
- Smash bananas and mix all wet ingredients together, adding the coconut oil last.
- Mix all dry ingredients together.
- Combine dry ingredients to the wet ingredients little by little gently stirring.
- Fold in gently the grated carrots.
- Fill each mini cupcake liner with batter (1-2 tbsp, depending on the size of the liner)
- Bake for ~25 minutes (test with a toothpick after 20 minutes and leave for another 5 min if toothpick doesn’t come out clean).
- Let cool completely before frosting (preferably overnight in the fridge). NOTE: cupcakes are very soft straight out of the oven but will become firm when kept in the fridge.
- [b]Cashew cream frosting:[/b] Rinse and drain soaked cashews and blend with water into a smooth cream (use high speed blender or powerful food processor)
- Mix each frosting color separately by blending all ingredients in a food processor until smooth. NOTE: Wash the bowl in between colors
- Put frosting on top of cupcakes.
- Keep in the fridge in a sealed container for up to five days.
- ENJOY these cute little treats!
ps. The pink one is my daughter’s favorite:)
This is just beautiful my lovely !! I can’t wait to see her reaction when she is a bit older and is able to read this letter 🙂 Makes me wanna have a kid 😛 Gorgeous xx
Thank you dear <3 Kids are the best! They are great kitchen helpers:) Lasse still is soooo messy in the kitchen (well I forgive him, he's just two) but Julia is getting really skilled! I couldn't be happier about it:) Love & hugs<3
Oh what a cute post and dedication to Julia 🙂 I love it! Sounds like you are passing your passion onto your daughter, that is amazing! Thanks for sharing the recipe as well. Those muffins are something I definitely would like to give a try 🙂
Thank you Riikka<3 I really hope to pass this passion forwards:) And these little cakes are perfect treats for kids - they fit into their tiny hands (and mouths:) so perfectly! Lots of love <3
Awwww..this is the sweetest post ever! I can imagine your Julia reading this years from now:-) I love ALL of this Tiina! And these cupcakes are the cutest little things with the colorful frostings. Can I have some for my Bday:-)???
Maja, thank you so much for your sweet comment<3 I would love to send you these for your Bday:) Hahah although might send myself there too! Would be so much fun:) Love ya! xoxo
I love every single thing you write, but this has to be my favorite yet <3 I can feel the heart and emotion in every word, just beautiful! Julia is one lucky little girl to be immersed in your healthy ways–how wonderful that she will grow up thinking eggplant in cake and beets in frosting is just the usual 🙂 And these cupcakes are a tiny tasty party all on their own! The frostings are so vibrant, I'm always amazed at what plant foods can do. I hope you had the most wonderful celebration for you little girl!
<3 <3 <3 Thank you so much for your comment, warmed my heart and made me smile. Julia is an amazing girl, she eats veggies both raw and in cakes:) I just love the fact that I'm able to teach her so much about plant based cooking..and learn a lot myself while teaching:) Lots of love from snowy Finland!
What a heartwarming post my friend! Love These beautiful creation.
Thank You Janine <3 Means a lot to me that you liked this post 🙂 Have a great and relaxing weekend!