Banana cupcakes and Carrot walnut cupcakes - How to bake smart?

Banana Walnut Cupcakes with cream cheese frosting

Carrot Walnut with cream cheese frosting

When I first started making cupcakes, it was a disaster! The top cracked and the texture was just not right despite following strictly to a recipe. I want to share with you my tips so that you will not have similar pit falls. Baking is different from cooking. If the end product sucks, you feel very sad and down because all the whipping and combining have gone down the drain and there is absolutely nothing you can do about it.

Tips

• Do not follow any online recipes blindly. Read the reviews. After my puzzling failed attempt, I decided to follow my friend's advice to follow Martha Stewart. http://www.marthastewart.com/275736/martha-stewarts-cupcakes/@center/276944/cupcakes Beautiful and ACCURATE recipes.
• For banana cupcakes, I paired it with cream cheese frosting because I am a cream cheese frosting fanatic. Your family members should like it better with salted caramel cream frosting or chocolate cream frosting. The choice of bananas is very important. Go for ripe short cute looking bananas. I went to the market and told the auntie that I wanted bananas for cakes. The auntie said, "Zor Gek ah!" and passed me a bunch of ugly looking bananas. She said these ripe ones were the best for making cakes and she was right. 
• For Carrot Walnut cupcakes, I have learnt that if you are like me, like my cupcakes to be soft and fluffy, there is no need to follow the cooking time in the recipes. The cooking time determines how soft your cupcakes will be and this is subjective. You just have to use a tooth pick to test. You poke through the cupcake and pull it out. As long as the tooth pick is dry, your cupcakes are ready. I use cinnamon for my carrot walnut cupcakes.
• Last tip - If you do not have proper piping bag, you can easily make one from plastic bags!

I am not baking nowadays because it requires a lot of energy but I have discovered that if the end product is a success (edible), the satisfaction and joy is more than cooking. I would most probably  bake during my holidays.