Marigold Carrot Cake

For Jake's birthday party at the beach, I whipped up some carrot cupcakes and zucchini cupcakes. They were devoured before I remembered to take a photo of them, but I did shoot the extra batter that I made into a loaf! Same recipe, different shape.

2 C white whole wheat flour
2 t baking powder
1-1/2 t baking soda
1 t ground cardamom
1 t ground ginger
3 eggs
1-1/2 C organic raw sugar
1 C Greek yogurt
1/2 C olive oil
2 C grated carrots
1 C sliced almonds
1/2 C marigold petals + some for garnish

Preheat oven to 325. Whisk all wet ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. Stir in carrots. Fold in dry ingredients until just moistened. Gently fold the flower petals. Scrape batter into cupcake liners and bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely then top with cream cheese frosting and top with more marigold petals for garnish

Cream cheese frosting: 16 oz cream cheese, 1/2 C softened butter, 1 T vanilla extract, 2 C powdered sugar. Blend all of that together in a mixing bowl until smooth and fluffy.

I almost made a Zucchini-Sweet William version, just swapping out the carrots for zucchini and marigolds for Sweet William blossoms. Same proportions.