I made these without any variation of the recipe. I'm not a carrot cake fan but my critics told me the cupcakes were delicious but contained few too many nuts. I did try one and saw their point; however, the flavor itself is mild and moist. I did like it as much as I can like carrot cake. I would've given this recipe 5 stars, but the frosting was the big disappointment for me. I love cream cheese frosting and was very much looking forward to indulging, even making the full recipe knowing that it will produce more then I needed. The texture, sweetness were all right. It's the orange extract that threw me off. It was way too overpowering. I felt it cheapened the richness of this frosting. Next time I'll put a drop for a hint of flavor or skip it completely.

Reviewed On: Oct. 5, 2009