Decorative Cream Cheese Carrots

Dusted in cocoa powder garden soil and trimmed with sprigs of carrot tops or parsley, these Decorative Carrots made from thick Cream Cheese Frosting have a fresh spring appearance. Use them to decorate your favorite Carrot Cake or other spring cupcakes.

Snowflakes and Tree Buds

This morning it snowed unexpectedly. Large fluffy flakes fell in a flurry. They quickly frosted the rooftops in our neighborhood and the cars parked along the street. For a brief interlude those fresh snowflakes added a magical suspense to the air. Then, just as suddenly, the budding warmth of spring asserted itself and they were gone.

Outside my kitchen window the white heather is in bloom and the maple trees that line the back fence are pushing out new crimson buds. The grass is greening and the Clematis is coming back to life. Before long the back garden will be bright with spring flowers and fresh herbs.

Meanwhile the weather forecast on the Alexa screen beside my kitchen sink is sporting more snowflake icons for the evening hours. This dance of winter and spring is not over yet. The beat goes on, playfully energetic and delightfully inspiring.

Spring Creativity

As spring asserts itself I can’t help but feel its creative urging. Silly little ideas pop into my head. I start cleaning out closets and reorganizing furniture. “Wouldn’t that huge armoire look great downstairs?,” I ask my husband.

I think of getting crafty. I remember that coiled basked I started during the pandemic and want to finish it, if only I could remember where I put it. Maybe I will add that final coat of Mod Podge to the coasters I started to make months ago. I even picture how great it would be to complete the family photo book I’ve been meaning to finish for years.

And, of course, spring elicits its fair share of kitchen projects. Mine are often infused with bouts of whimsy. Why not make ready to bake cinnamon rolls into Bunny Buns? Or how about little semi-homemade Cinnamon Rolls in the shape of a sweet lamb? Then, just for fun, cut hard boiled egg horizontally to create Deviled Eggs that look like peeping chicks?

In spring I am easily tempted to take Sugar Cookie Cutouts to a new level. How about a cookie shaped like a broken egg with a meringue cookie egg white and a lemon sherbet yolk? Or turn a batch of peanut butter fudge into a fondant covered Fudge Easter Egg? Obviously I’ve tried them all. Some turned out better than others. All were fun to make and added a personal note to our spring celebrations. 

Decorative Carrots

One spring kitchen craft I’ve repeated is decorating our family’s favorite Carrot Cake with cute little decorative carrots shaped from a stiff cream cheese icing. Like many good ideas it began with an inspiration I found on a favorite food blog. I saw RecipeGirl.com’s post about making some adorable Marzipan Carrots. Then, because I didn’t have any marzipan and didn’t want to splash out on it for a very few decorative carrots, I improvised. I was already making Cream Cheese Frosting, and I knew there would be some cream cheese left over. So I added more powdered sugar to a small amount of cream cheese, to make a thick icing paste. Then I kneaded in food coloring and shaped the mixture into small carrots. 

This process wasn’t completely seamless. The cream cheese quickly softens when shaped by hand. It is important to work quickly. I also found it helpful, though not completely necessary, to use a flat frozen ice pack as a tray beneath the parchment I used to hold the shaped carrots. This kept them nice and cool and firm as I formed the shapes. 

When the long bits of cream cheese icing looked like little carrots I shaped them according to Lori’s tutorial. I put a small amount (maybe 1/2 teaspoon) of cocoa powder in a little dish. Then I took a small knife and dragged the blade through the cocoa powder before using it to make small indentations horizontally along the carrots. It adds a little dimension and the suggestion of garden soil. Finally I stuck a small sprig of green, from an actual carrot top or a bit of parsley, into the end to give the carrots a freshly harvested appearance. 

Enjoy!

Decorative Cream Cheese Carrots

Course: DessertCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy

Servings

24

pieces

Prep time

30

minutes

Chilling Time

1

hour

These little icing carrots are a cute and creative way to top cakes or cupcakes with edible signs of spring.

Ingredients

• 1 ounce cream cheese

• 3 ounces powdered sugar

• Yellow and red food coloring

• Cocoa powder

• A few fresh carrot tops or sprigs of parsley

Directions

• Mix cream cheese and powdered sugar to form a paste.
• Add food coloring, mixing to achieve a carrot color.
• Chill until mixture is easy to work with, about 1 hour.
• Pinch off a pieces of the chilled cream cheese mixture and form small carrots by rolling the pieces into logs and tapering one end with your fingers.
• Drag the blade of a small sharp knife through cocoa powder. Carefully press knife into side of formed carrot, lightly, to create line details in the sides of the “carrots”.
• Just before using – With a toothpick, poke a hole in the top end of the carrot and insert a small piece of fresh carrot top or parsley.

Notes

• Recipe Source: inspired by a recipe for Marzipan Carrots at RecipeGirl.com.
• To keep the cream cheese mixture cold while I formed the carrots I placed a thin frozen reusable ice pack beneath the sheet of parchment paper the carrots were placed on as I formed them. That kept the paste firm and allowed me to go back and touch up the shape as needed without taking them in and out of the refrigerator.