Something I picked up from my mom is the search for the perfect recipe. She’ll tell you she has the perfect pecan pie recipe and the perfect banana bread recipe. It doesn’t necessarily mean is perfect for everyone just perfect for her, but as far as her pecan pie and banana bread are concerned, I agree.

If I had to pick a favorite cake, it would be carrot cake. It was one of the flavors of our wedding cake. And while I still have not found the perfect carrot cake recipe, I think I have found the perfect carrot cake cupcake recipe. These are incredibly tender and moist, which is one of the reasons this recipe does not make a great cake. The cake is very soft and difficult to frost, so the solution was cupcakes. No worries about cutting a cake in half and frosting it. Instead, I just pipe on the cream cheese frosting.

I’m still working on getting a beautiful dome shaped cupcake but for now the flavors are spot on!

Carrot Cake Cupcakes

Prep Time: 40 minutes
Cook Time: 18-20 minutes
Yields: 24 cupcakes

Ingredients

Cupcakes

4 eggs

3/4 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup apple sauce

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1 8-oz. can of crushed pineapple, drained, reserve juice if baking at altitude

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Small pinch of ground cloves

3 cups grated carrots

Frosting

8 oz. cream cheese

1 stick (8 tablespoon) unsalted butter

2 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 to 4 cups powdered sugar (depending on how sweet you like it)

Instructions

Cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350°F. In a large bowl, beat together eggs, oil, apple sauce, sugars, pineapple and vanilla extract.

Mix in flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and ground cloves. Stir in carrots.

Line a muffin tin with cupcake wrappers. Fill each liner ¾ full. Bake in the preheated oven for 18-20 min. Let cupcakes cool completely. While cooling, prepare the frosting.

Frosting:  In a medium bowl, combine butter, cream cheese, confectioners’ sugar, and vanilla. Beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy.

Notes

If you are baking at altitude, add in 2-4 tablespoon of pineapple juice when you mix together the wet ingredients.