February cupcake: carrot chocolate chip with cream cheese frosting

I know you probably expected something more chocolatey and decadent for Valentine's Day. But that's just so predictable. Instead, my friends, I'm going to seduce you with carrots.

Not only is this vegetable quite sexy, it's also in season. Yes. That's right. Carrots are so hot right now.  (Or so I think because I bought 5 pounds of carrots for $2.99.)

I'm sexy and I know it.

These cupcakes are my new favorite way to eat the veggie. The cake is the perfect consistency -- I would use the term "moist" to describe it but A) that word is extremely overused in the food world and B) it grosses out 95 percent of the population.

So to put it another way, these cupcakes are filled with moisture.

Holla!

The cream cheese frosting is a basic but phenomenal topping. The heart, on the other hand, is just plain ol' store bought decorating icing.

But it's super fun to draw hearts out so I definitely recommend the extra step. And it looks pretty.

{Get the recipe -- and a glamor shot -- after the jump.}