Carrot Patch Cupcakes
Published Apr 04, 2025
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Spring is for fun meals, brunch with friends and family, and festive desserts. And these Carrot Patch Cupcakes have long been one of my favorites for Easter or other spring celebrations. These are so much fun to make and great for kids to help with.
I mean, could it get any cuter than dipping strawberries in orange-colored white chocolate and calling them “carrots”? I love this season. For me, April means warm weather, time in the garden, Easter celebrations, and birthdays. In our family of five, four of us have birthdays in April. And THREE of us share the same day. It always feels like a month worth celebrating, and as such, this is the time of year when I am endlessly drawn in by Pinterest. I came across these chocolate-dipped strawberries and knew it was a Pinterest-find that I could actually recreate.
Want to pair them with another cute cupcake? Try making a batch of Bunny Cupcakes and serving them side-by side. And if you are looking for a delicious treat contains actual carrots, check out my Carrot Cake Muffins.
If you see a baking or crafting post on the pages of this blog, you should feel confident in your ability to do it as well as (most likely better) than I have. Because all the fancy cameras and photo editing software in the world won’t hide my questionable skills at frosting cupcakes.
Make these. Your kids will be delighted…and you’ll like them too. 😉
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Carrot Top Chocolate Cupcake Ingredients
- Strawberries – Look for strawberries that are on the small side, have bright green leaves, and are ripe but not too soft. You’ll want them to hold their shape when dipped in chocolate, especially if making them ahead. The smaller the strawberries, the better. Huge strawberries will be difficult to sink in the cupcake.
- Candy Melt Chocolate (and food coloring, if needed) – For super easy dipping of the strawberries, get chocolate wafers that are labeled “candy melt”. These are easy to work with and don’t need any tempering (which you would have to do if using chocolate chips or chocolate bars). You can get candy melt white chocolate that is already orange in color. These are available at craft and baking stores. I like these Ghirardelli White Chocolate Melting Wafers which are available at the grocery store. These wafers are white, but I add orange food coloring (or equal parts red and yellow food coloring) to the melted chocolate until it reaches a nice orange color. You only need about 1/2 a bag of these white chocolate melting wafers to coat 12 strawberries.
- Wax or Parchment Paper – Make sure this is on your shopping list if you don’t already have it on-hand. You’ll place the white chocolate-dipped strawberries on wax or parchment paper so they don’t stick while they cool.
- Chocolate Cupcakes and Chocolate Frosting – Use your favorite recipe or just go for the boxed mix. The cute-factor of these cupcakes goes great with any cupcake recipe!
- Oreos – You’ll crush the Oreos and use them to make the “dirt”.
How to Make Carrot Top Cupcakes
- Rinse and Dry Strawberries. The strawberries need be dry so that the chocolate will stick. If you’re in a rush, rinse them and pat them dry with paper towels or spread them out on a paper towel-lined plate and put them in the fridge (the cold, dry interior of the fridge works fast to dry out produce).
- Make Cupcakes – Make your favorite chocolate cupcake recipe. Homemade or from a box mix – either way. If I’m going homemade, I like to make my Easy Chocolate Cupcakes. Allow the cupcakes to cool completely.
- Melt and Color Chocolate Melts – Melt chocolate melts according to package directions (in the microwave or on a double boiler). If using white chocolate melts, add orange food coloring (or a combination of red and yellow food coloring) until it reaches a nice carrot-like orange color.
- Dip Strawberries – Gather the stem of each strawberry together (you want the stems to stick up a bit which makes them look like carrot tops!) and, holding the strawberry by the stem, dip it in melted chocolate. Gently shake off any excess chocolate. Transfer the strawberry to a piece of wax or parchment paper. Repeat with all strawberries. Leave at room temperature to set.
- Crush Oreos – Put the Oreos in a plastic bag and crush them with a rolling pin until they resemble dirt.
- Cut a hole in the top of the cupcakes – Use a spoon to cut a small hole in the top of each cupcake (this is where the “carrots” will go).
- Frost and dip the cupcakes – Frost the cupcakes around the hole. Transfer the crushed Oreos to a shallow bowl and then dip each of the cupcakes to cover the frosting with Oreo “dirt”.
- Add “carrots” – Sink a strawberry “carrot” into each cupcake.
Make Ahead Instructions
Want to make these ahead? The chocolate-dipped strawberries and cupcakes can be made up to two days ahead. Store the strawberries in the fridge and store the cupcakes in an airtight container at room temperature. Frost and top the cupcakes (leave at room temperature) up to two hours before serving.
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Carrot Patch Cupcake Recipe
Equipment
- Mixing Bowl
- Muffin Tin
- Parchment Paper
Ingredients
- 12 small Strawberries (see note)
- 12 Chocolate Cupcakes (homemade or store-bought)
- 8 ounces Vanilla Almond Bark or White Chocolate Candy Melts (find this in the baking section; I like vanilla almond bark or Ghirardelli White Vanilla Flavored Melting Wafers)
- Orange Food Coloring
- 18 Oreos (use regular; NOT double-stuff)
- 2 cups Chocolate Frosting (homemade or store-bought)
- Wax or Parchment Paper and a Re-Sealable Plastic Bag
Instructions
- Rinse and dry strawberries. (They need to be very dry so that the melted chocolate can stick, so be sure to do this ahead of time.)
- Make cupcakes according to recipe / package directions. Allow to cool completely.
- Melt almond bark or candy melts according to package directions. Stir in orange food coloring until the chocolate reaches a nice carrot-like orange color.
- Spread out a piece of wax or parchment paper (put it on a baking sheet if you’ll need to move the strawberries while they’re cooling).
- Working with one strawberry at a time, gently gather the stem and dip the strawberry in melted almond bark / candy melts right up to the stem, completely covering the red part of the strawberry. Gently tap off any excess coating. Transfer the strawberry to wax / parchment paper. Repeat with remaining strawberries. Let cool at room temperature or in the refrigerator until chocolate hardens.
- Put the Oreos in a plastic bag and crush them with a rolling pin until they resemble dirt. Transfer the "dirt" to a shallow mixing bowl.
- Use a spoon to scoop out a small hole from the center of each cupcake roughly the size of a strawberry. (See photos in the blog post.)
- Frost the tops of the cupcakes, around the hole. Dip the top of each cupcake in crushed Oreos until the tops are fully coated in Oreo "dirt".
- Sink a strawberry “carrot” into the hole in the center of each cupcake.
- Serve and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Over the weekend, I came around the corner and found this scene. All three kids miraculously playing peacefully together. It lasted all of three minutes. But it was a sweet, sweet three minutes.
The Tiny little cupcakes are looking so yummy.