Mary Berry has shared a plethora of baking recipes throughout her career, including these carrot cake muffins, which have more than 15 four-star ratings on Good Food. The recipe notes said: “Mary Berry ensures you can have all the same flavours of carrot cake in a respectable muffin.”
The chef also uses a sweet cream cheese filling to act as a “surprise” when you bite into the middle instead of piping it on the top. They take just 20 minutes to bake and are nut-free and vegetarian, perfect for summer picnics and gatherings.
Ingredients:
75g shredded bran cereal
225ml milk
One medium orange, zest only
120g cream cheese
One tablespoon of caster sugar
Three large carrots, peeled
125g light muscovado sugar
200g self-raising flour
One teaspoon of baking powder
One and a half teaspoons of ground cinnamon
One teaspoon of ground ginger
Four tablespoons of sunflower oil
Method:
Put the bran cereal and milk in a large mixing bowl and stir together, leaving it to soak for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 220C and line a 12-hole muffin tray with cases.
Add half the orange zest to the cereal and milk, and then in a small bowl, add the cream cheese, caster sugar and the remaining zest, mixing it well.
Using the coarse-hole side of a grater, grate the carrots. Weigh out 150g of grated carrot and add to a large bowl. By now, the cereal will be very mushy.
Add the brown sugar to the cereal and mix well before sifting in the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and ginger, but don’t mix them in just yet.
Break the eggs into another bowl and add the oil before beating until the egg yolks are broken up and mixed with the whites. Tip into the large bowl and mix everything together with a wooden spoon.
Using a medium spoon, drop the carrot mixture into each paper muffin case in the tray before dropping a small spoonful of the cream cheese filling into the middle.
Cover the filling with the rest of the carrot mixture, dividing it evenly among the cases. Place in the preheated oven for 20 minutes.
Remove the tray from the oven and leave for five minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool. Store in an airtight container and eat within 24 hours.
