Carrot Cupcakes with White Chocolate Cream Cheese Icing

Preheat oven to 180 C / Gas mark 4. Lightly grease a 12-cup muffin tin, or line with paper muffin cases.

In small saucepan, melt white chocolate over low heat. Stir until smooth, and allow to cool to room temperature.

In a bowl, beat together the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Mix in white chocolate, 1 teaspoon vanilla and orange extract. Gradually beat in the icing sugar until the mixture is fluffy. Mix in double cream.

Beat together the eggs, caster sugar and brown sugar in a bowl, and mix in the oil and vanilla. Fold in carrots and pineapple. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, bicarbonate of soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger. Mix flour mixture into the carrot mixture until evenly moist. Fold in 1/2 of the walnuts. Transfer to the prepared muffin tin.

Bake 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a skewer inserted in the centre of a muffin comes out clean. Cool completely on wire racks before topping with the icing and sprinkling with remaining walnuts.