Trick or treat

Trick or treat?

How many times have you actually received a trick instead of a treat -- and what was it? A caramel-dipped onion? A pop quiz in your history class? A heart-stopping scare from a scarecrow that you thought was a lawn fixture? (Ha ha, very funny. Now where's my candy, you jerk?) Or maybe you've had the pleasure of trick-or-treating in a ritzy neighborhood where the 1% handed out full-sized candy bars and dolla dolla bills.

Well, here at Carrie Cakeaway, we can't promise you a gold watch in your goodie bag, but we're all about the treats. Like a mixed cupcake assortment. Check out our newly logofied boxes (yay, branding!) filled with sixteen snugly arranged cupcakes in four tasty flavors. In this one we have, from top to bottom:

• S'mores - Chocolate cupcakes with a gooey marshmallow center, a swirl of vanilla frosting, a Teddy Graham resting against a marshmallow pillow and mini chocolate chips
• Birthday cake - Vanilla cupcakes topped with fudgy dark chocolate ganache frosting and confetti sprinkles
  
• Not-quite-angel-food cake - Vanilla cupcakes topped with vanilla buttercream frosting and confetti sprinkles
• Peanut butter cup - Chocolate cupcakes topped with fluffy peanut butter frosting and mini chocolate chips

Now that's something even the most vicious of werewolves and hungriest of vampires can sink their teeth into - and maybe even share with a zombie or two. What are you going to be for Halloween this Monday?

Farewell to summer

What marks the end of summer in your mind? The day after Labor Day? The first day of school? The moment the leaves start to change? This year, the first day of autumn officially fell on September 23, but I've come to expect Indian summers in San Francisco, with glorious summer sunshine lasting well into October. Here at Carrie Cakeaway, what signals the change in seasons isn't weather, but produce.

Every summer, we look forward to bright, juicy berries, ripe peaches and plums just bursting with fragrance and flavor, and plump, jammy figs. When these start disappearing from the marketplace, our hearts sink just a little bit -- apples, even in all of their beautiful varieties, just aren't the same.

So this post is dedicated to the last of the berries, stone fruits, and other sweet summer fruits, and one of our favorite summer creations this year -- our chocolate-dipped raspberry cupcake. Inspired by Monica, who first requested these for a bridal shower in July, we couldn't get enough of these rich chocolate cupcakes topped with tangy cream cheese frosting, a trio of fresh raspberries, and a drizzle of dark chocolate fudge.

Now that we've gotten that out of our system, we'll quietly tuck our sundresses away and try to stop with the pouting. After all, we're well into pumpkin season and Halloween is right around the corner! What are you going to be this year?

Pointing fingers

So, post-Cupcake Wars, I’ve just about disappeared off the face of the internet. I know time and time again, I’ve promised that I’d post more frequently, and I continue to blame my assistant for my failure to do so. (After all, I’m still a figment of her imagination). Well, you can blame her too now that she’s been revealed to you after 2+ years of anonymity -- funny how five minutes of hot dog infamy on the Food Network can unravel all of my hard work in keeping her name and identity under wraps! So yes, point your fingers, scowl with disappointment, and send incendiary messages because the fact that we’ve had a sorry total of twelve posts this year is all her fault.

Now that I’ve gotten that off my chest, let me share with you some things that we’ve been whipping up in the kitchen. The reporting may be slow, but the baking sure hasn’t stopped! Back in August, T and several coworkers threw a farewell party for FeiFei before her big move to New York. Her sendoff included an elaborate game of Fishbowl, an international Google+ hangout, and more variations of Pad Thai than one could ever dream of. T brought our signature strawberry-dipped mudslide: Kahlua-bourbon chocolate cake topped with Bailey’s cream cheese frosting and carefully arranged fresh strawberries. Here it is, almost complete:

Cheers to you, FeiFei! We all hope you’re doing well in New York. You continue to be missed, so please visit us in (mostly) sunny California soon!