This week I ‘m making Carrot Banana Cupcakes with mascarpone honey frosting, a recipe I found on one of my favorite food blogs: 101 Cookbooks. She made it as a big cake, and I had to make a few alterations since I didn’t have all the ingredients, but I think they turned out great!
I was looking for a classic carrot cake recipe, but I should warn you that this is a bit different, but still it’s delicious and probably as healthy as a cupcake could get. I also discovered that mascarpone with honey is possibly the best frosting ever, and I could just eat it like that, really no need for cupcakes

ingredients (for about 18 cupcakes)
260 g whole wheat pastry flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
100 g finely chopped walnuts
110 g unsalted butter, heated until just melted
1/2 cup dried dates, seeded and finely chopped into a paste
3 ripe bananas, mashed well
2 medium to big sized carrots grated
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt (2% or lowfat is ok)
2 eggs, lightly whisked

frosting
170 g mascarpone
3 tablespoons honey (or to taste)

Preheat oven to 180°C.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Stir in the walnuts and set aside.
Stir the dates into the melted butter, breaking up the dates a bit.
In a separate bowl combine the bananas and carrots. Stir in the date-butter mixture, breaking up any date clumps as you go. Whisk in the yogurt and the eggs. Add the flour mixture and stir until everything just comes together. Spoon into the prepared pan. Bake for about 35-45 minutes or until a toothpick tests clean in the center of the cupcake. Remove from oven and let cool.

While the cake is baking whip together the mascarpone and honey. Taste. If you like your frosting sweeter adjust to your liking. When the cake has completely cooled frost the top of the cupcakes with an offset spatula.