Wonderfully moist: Carrot and apple cupcakes

Makes 12

For the dough

• 230 g of flour
• 100 g of brown sugar (hidden in the photo of the ingredients)
• 50 g of ground almonds
• 80 g of butter
• 1 egg
• 2 medium-sized carrots
• 1 apple
• 100 ml of milk (a little more, if needed)
• 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, more to taste
• 1 pinch of salt
• 2 teaspoons of baking powder
• 12 muffin cases

For the frosting

• 150 g of soft butter
• 450 g of icing sugar
• 2-5 tablespoons of milk
• 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract (or ground vanilla)

For the decoration

• Sheep decoration: White fondant and black or brown food colouring
• Ready-made dessert decorations and sprinkles to taste: Carrots, butterflies, chocolate eggs, etc.

For the dough

Wash and peel the carrots, then grate them using a fine to medium-fine grater. Wash the apple, peel it if necessary and grate it just like the carrots. Heat and melt the butter.
Crack the egg and whisk it briefly in a large baking dish. Add the sugar and mix them well together. Add the butter and milk, blend well.
Mix the remaining dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, ground almonds, cinnamon, salt)  in a bowl and add to the egg and butter mixture. Work into a loose dough. Add a little more milk if needed. In a final step, add the grated carrot and apple and stir thoroughly once again.

Now it's time to transfer the dough to the muffin cases: Fill 3/4 of each case and place the cases on a muffin tray, if you have one.
Bake them for 30 to 35 minutes in the oven at 180°C with top and bottom heat (fan oven: 160°C). The cupcakes are ready when they appear slightly brown on top. Then take them out of the oven and leave them to cool.

For the butter cream vanilla topping

Mix soft butter with icing sugar thoroughly until the sugar has completely dissolved. Add the milk and vanilla extract and stir them in. If the frosting is too thick, add more milk. If the frosting is too thin, stir in more icing sugar. The cream can now simply be spread on the cupcakes or piped on using a piping bag.
A simple icing with lemon or a cream cheese topping also makes for a tasty alternative.

For the decoration

The sheep heads are made from fondant. The eyes are sculpted from white fondant: First roll very small balls and then flatten them. Paint on the pupils with black food colouring.
Colour the rest of the fondant with black food colouring (or purchase fondant in the right colour). If the fondant becomes to sticky, simply knead in more icing sugar.

Shape into walnut-sized balls as a base for the sheep head, carefully flatten slightly in the upper area. The ears are shaped from two small rolls that have been rolled out more thinly at the top and attached to the sides. Attach the eyes, pressing gently. Finally, create two nostrils using a toothpick.