Perhaps chocolate is a more sexy choice for cupcakes and perhaps vanilla would be my normal, personal choice, but somehow the humble root vegetable known as carrot was all I could think about.

So on a glorious Saturday afternoon I grated, sifted, stirred and baked.

This recipe is gluten and refined-sugar free, but I didn't notice.

It's dense, moist and earthy and chock full of goodness that makes you feel good from the inside out.

5 days later....it's still good to go....

Carrot, Walnut and Rosemary Cupcakes

1 ½ cups of dates, soaked in warm water for 10 minutes, then drained | 100g unsalted butter, room temperature (or coconut oil) | 1 banana, ripe | zest of 1 lemon | 1 tsp vanilla extract | 2 tsp baking powder | 2 tsp ground cinnamon | ½ tsp nutmeg | 5 organic eggs | 2 cups carrot, grated | 1 tsp rosemary, finely chopped | ¾ cup walnuts, roughly chopped | ½ cup desiccated coconut | 3 cups almond flour 

For the icing | 250g cream cheese, room temperature | 50g unsalted butter, room temperature | 1 tsp vanilla extract | 1 tbsp rice malt syrup (or honey)

Makes 24 cupcakes or 1 large cake

1. Preheat oven to 160 degrees.
2. Placed dates and butter into a food processor and mix until you have a rough puree.  
3. Add banana, lemon zest, spices and baking powder and mix until well combined.
4. Add eggs and mix until just combined (do not over mix)
5. Pour wet mixture into a large bowl and add the carrot, walnuts, rosemary and coconut.  Mix well.
6. Sift in the almond flour and gently fold through until just combined and pour into a greased and lined cake tin, or into individual cupcake liners (fill almost to the top as these cakes will not rise by very much).
7. For a large cake = bake for 60-80 minutes or until cake is golden and a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the centre.  Allow to cool for a couple of hours and then chill in the fridge for 1 hour prior to icing.
8. For cupcakes = bake for approximately 20 minutes.

For the icing:

1. In an electric mixer, blitz the cream cheese, butter, vanilla and rice malt syrup together until light and fluffy before piping onto the cupcakes or smoothing onto your cake.