I guess I’m officially really and truly a mom now. I made cupcakes and took them to Samantha’s day care for her birthday.
I wasn’t sure what kind of cupcakes I was going to make, but then Megan asked me whether I’d made carrot cupcakes for Sam’s first birthday. “What?,” I replied. “No. Was I supposed to?” Yes, apparently, a first birthday is like those anniversaries: tied to a certain type of gift, or in this case, dessert. 
I couldn’t find any evidence of this after a cursory glance at Google, but I trust Megan, and so had to make up for my gaffe by making carrot cupcakes for Samantha’s 2nd birthday. Just in case.
I got the recipe from Smitten Kitchen. She’s a mom, too, now, you know. I wonder if she made carrot cupcakes for her son’s first birthday?
Carrot Cupcakes with Maple-Cream Cheese Frosting
Makes 24 cupcakes
2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon table salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground ginger
2 cups granulated sugar
1 1/4 cups canola oil
4 large eggs
3 cups grated peeled carrots
1 cups coarsely chopped walnuts (optional)
1/2 cup raisins (optional)
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Line 24 cupcake molds with paper.
Whisk flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger in medium bowl to blend. Whisk sugar and oil in large bowl until well blended. Whisk in eggs 1 at a time. Add flour mixture and stir until blended. Stir in carrots, walnuts and raisins, if using them. Divide batter among cupcake molds, filling 3/4 of each.
Bake cupcakes 14 to 18 minutes, or until a tester inserted into the center of one comes out clean. Let cool in pans for five minutes or so, then transfer cakes to a cooling rack. Let cool completely before icing them.
Maple Cream Cheese Frosting
Two (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
In a stand mixer beat all the ingredients on medium until fluffy. Chill the frosting for 10 to 20 minutes, until it has set up enough to spread smoothly.
