Carrot cake will be fluffier and tastier if you add 1 simple ingredient to the mixing bowl

Carrot cake is the ultimate springtime treat, and is so much tastier if you add one extra ingredient to the mixing bowl. It may seem bizarre, but I firmly believe the secret to cakes fluffier and lighter is to add a dollop of Greek yoghurt to the batter.

Greek yoghurt is slightly acidic and will react to the baking powder in the mixture to help lift it as it cooks, so you get a much airier texture. I always make sure to have some of this helpful ingredient in my fridge, as in my opinion, it makes a whole lot easier.

I decided to make carrot cupcakes using some leftover ingredients from Easter, and I was pleasantly surprised by how light and moist they turned out.

How to make easy carrot cupcakes Ingredients

For the cupcakes:

• 150g of lightly salted butter (softened)
• 150g of light muscovado sugar
• 150g of self-raising flour
• Three eggs
• Rind of one orange (finely grated)
• One tablespoon of Greek yoghurt
• Half a teaspoon of baking powder
• One teaspoon of ground mixed spice
• 75g of ground walnuts
• 50g of sultanas
• 150g of carrots (grated)

For the frosting:

• 125g of full-fat cream cheese
• 275g of icing sugar
• One tablespoon of lemon juice

Method:

To begin, preheat the oven to 180C. Measure out and prepare your ingredients. Make sure the butter is at room temperature, and grate both carrots and one orange peel.

Place the sugar, flour, eggs, baking powder, mixed spice, ground walnuts, orange rind and Greek yoghurt in a mixing bowl

Beat with a handheld electric whisk for roughly one minute until you have a smooth batter. Next, stir in the carrots and sunflowers until they are evenly mixed into the mixture.

Line two six-section muffin trays with cupcake cases. Carefully divide the cupcake batter between the 12 cupcake cases.

Place the cupcakes in the oven to bake for 25 minutes until they are firm to the touch. Once the cupcakes are ready, transfer them to a wire rack to cool down.

The baking time may vary depending on your oven, so to check if the cupcakes are done, insert a toothpick into the centre of one. If it comes out clean, the cupcakes are ready. If there's any wet batter on the toothpick, give them an additional five minutes.

To make the frosting, beat cream cheese in a bowl with a wooden spoon until smooth. Add the icing sugar and lemon juice. Wait roughly an hour for the cupcakes to cool down completely and then spread on top using a knife. If you prefer for the icing to look neater then use a piping bag.

Your delicious carrot cupcakes are then ready to eat. To decorate, I used small chocolate carrots I bought from Tesco, but you could instead scatter chopped walnuts on top if you wish.