applesauce-spice cupcakes.

Yesterday I made applesauce-spice cupcakes with cream cheese and brown sugar frosting. I received this book for Christmas this year, and it has already proven to be a very good source for all things cupcake. I expect that in the near future, most all of my cupcakes will come for this book. Thanks, Martha Stewart! (Wait a minute. Click on that link. Martha Stewart is SIXTY-EIGHT?!)

Anyway, these cupcakes were somewhat of a hit. They're different from the traditional chocolate or vanilla cupcakes, and would possibly be able to pull off the "muffin" title if it weren't for the frosting. (Followup questions: does frosting MAKE a cupcake? Can you have a cupcake without frosting, or would it be a muffin?)

la primera.

I like making people happy. Food usually makes people happy. If I make food for people, maybe they will be happy. (Clarification: good food will make people happy.)

Using this logic, I bake for others, not myself. (Usually.) I'm by no means a good baker, but I would like to think that I am mildly successful at making tasty treats due to my strict adherence to my one cardinal rule: follow the recipe. Granted, variety is the spice of life, and nothing says creativity like creating your own concoction of baked goodness. But baking is not the same as cooking. It's more of a science. There are more risks involved. There's less wiggle room. And until I become more confident in my skills, I'm sticking to my rule. I'm sticking to the recipe.