Preheat your oven to 350°F/180°C and line a cupcake tray with 12 liners.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the oil, sugar, eggs, spices, vanilla, baking soda and salt together. Whisk until the batter is totally smooth and there are a few bubbles at the surface.
Fold in the flour and mix until smooth, making sure there are no flour pockets. Add in the carrots and walnuts and fold together until combined.
Divide the batter evenly amongst the liners, bake for 18-20 minutes.
Cream Cheese Frosting
Chill your mixing bowl for at least 1 hour, or overnight. In a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, whisk the heavy cream, salt, sugar and vanilla on medium-low for 2 minutes. The sugar needs to have completely dissolved.
Increase the speed to high and whisk for 2 minutes, until it looks very thick like Greek yoghurt.
While the mixer is running on a low speed, add in the cream cheese a tablespoon at a time. By the end, it should look like cream cheese. Turn off the mixer, and scrape the entire bowl to make sure no cream cheese is left on the side. Turn the speed to high, and whip for 3 minutes until smooth.
Notes
My recipes have been developed and tested in metric grams. I highly recommend using a weighing scale and measuring out your ingredients the metric way. I have provided a conversion to US cups but please note that I haven’t tested the recipe with this method. Just click on ‘US customary’ above the ingredients.Room Temperature: I make sure that all of my ingredients are at room temperature before I start the recipe, so pull out all of the ingredients about 2 hours before you start baking. However, make sure to keep the cream cheese cold. Nuts: feel free to substitute walnuts for pecans, pistachios, or remove the nuts completely from the recipe.Storage: Keep the cupcakes in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.