Delish.

I'm sorry for the lack of posts lately. No excuses. But I'm glad I've made a comeback with these cupcakes, because there is only one word for them. Delish.

One of my friend's birthdays was this past week and for her present, I knew I wanted to bake her something. Obviously.  So I did a little research (aka I texted her) and asked her what her favorite cake flavors were. 

Response: Strawberry cake, carrot cake, pretty much any cake.

My thoughts: 

Strawberry cake: I could make the same strawberry cake I made for Nelly's birthday, but I wanted to make cupcakes and wasn't sure how they would turn out in that form

Carrot cake: don't really have a good carrot cake recipe but I'm sure I could come up with something

Pretty much any cake: too many options. I was overwhelmed.

So I went to my handy-dandy, trust, ginormous pink binder of recipes....and found....

Steven's Carrot Cake.

My brother-in-law, Steven, has a recipe for carrot cake that he got from his mom and he made for my sister the first year they dated for her birthday.  It was so moist and yummy so I, of course, asked for the recipe.  Imagine how surprised I was when I read the secret ingredient.  Baby food carrots. That's right folks. Two jr. size jars of pureed baby food carrots.  Putting aside my initial disgust, I realized the only thing in baby food carrots is pureed carrots. Go figure. Maybe they're not that bad.  Not saying I would eat jars with a spoon or anything, but I suppose they can go in my cake.  Just like applesauce, right? Right.

The batter came together so easily and although the recipe is for a 9x13 in. sheet cake, I turned them into cupcakes.

Now cream cheese frosting is my absolute favorite, but sometimes it's tricky to get the right consistency and flavor, so I googled a bunch of different recipes, visited my go-to blogs, and came up with what I consider the "perfect blend."

You all know how addicted I am to cinnamon.  Well, it only seemed appropriate to pair it with cream cheese icing and carrot cake.  Therefore, I give you...cinnamon cream cheese frosting. Um, yes please.

I could eat this by the spoonful (and believe me, I did). 

My only disappointment with these cupcakes was that I forgot to borrow my mom's icing decorating tips and kit so I was forced to use a ziploc bag with a cut corner for my decorating purposes. Next time.

Moist cake. Delicious icing. I'm ready to start my bakery with these bad boys. 

Now I just need to work on my decorating skills.  All in time, my friends. All in time.