I am always a little perplexed when someone says to me, "Oh carrot cake is my favorite!" I mean, obviously I think carrot cake is awesome... but your favorite? Really? (Are you sure you aren't fibbing?) I always want to ask them why, not necessarily because I question their taste, but more out of sheer curiosity. What is it that holds carrot cake at the forefront of your taste as your favorite?
I think I feel this way because for me, carrot cake is sort of akin to that old worn out sweatshirt at the bottom of your drawer - you know, the one that you know you love, but that you forget you have. Then the minute you put it on you immediately chide yourself for not wearing it all the time because it is so comfortable and so warm and just all-around perfect. Carrot cake is like that old sweatshirt - a love, many times forgotten, but never a quite placed on the 'favorite' shelf.
But last week my sister (who has recently discovered her love for baking, Yay!) said to me, "Hey I am going to make carrot cake cupcakes!" And just like that - carrot cake rushed off the dusty shelf in the back of my mind. I couldn't stop thinking about making these cupcakes. I was dreaming of fall spices - cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger - and I knew this would be the perfect recipe to make me feel like the season was here. (Of course, it didn't hurt that my sister told me her co-workers loved them, and highly recommended I make them.)
Since my sister had already made these cupcakes using a Smitten Kitchen recipe, I asked her if she had included any changes to the ingredients or baking time. I was super excited to hear that she had read through some of the comments on the original post (as well as some reviews from a similar recipe on Epicurious), and decided to substitute applesauce for most of the oil in the cake batter. Swapping apple sauce for oil is a trick I have long wanted to try, but never really had the occasion.
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