Hello, red!

Come in, make yourself, at home, and take a look around! Please don't pry in my medicine cabinet, but do take a look at the photos. You can probably tell that food photography is a work in progress for my assistant T, and while I'd love to take the helm, it's a little hard to snap photos when you're imaginary.

In any case, imagine how thrilled T was when her friend Vic encouraged her to try out his SLR camera. And imagine how thrilled I was to see my lovely red velvet cupcakes gallivanting around beautiful San Francisco in these crystal-clear photos. Thanks, Vic!

I still remember hating on red velvet cupcakes, calling them "overrated" and "nothing more than a vehicle for cream cheese frosting" after a series of red velvet disasters that occurred when T first started trying to make them. It's been a year since our first successful batch, and we've continued to improve upon our recipe.

Now, I'm finally a fan. Moist, buttermilk cake with a touch of cocoa, topped with silky vanilla cream cheese frosting -- I can do without the red food coloring, but have to admit that these cupcakes are quite a treat!
And here they are, staring off into the sunset in the residential Sunset district near Ocean Beach. Delicious, beautiful to photograph, and such a rock star in the cupcake world -- it's good to be red velvet.

Sugar for the Super Bowl

What's on your Super Bowl Sunday menu? Hot wings? Chips and salsa? Blue cheese burgers? (Ooh, gettin' fancy, are we?) And plenty of beer to wash it all down? That sounds great in all of its artery-clogging glory, but I think you're forgetting something.

You know exactly where I'm going with this, and don't you roll your eyes and tell me that a cupcake has no place at a Super Bowl party. My assistant brought a fresh batch to one, and those cupcakes did just fine nestled between the guacamole and the noodle salad -- they were gone in a flash.

I guess cupcakes are more like surprise guests than party-crashers when the Super Bowl falls on a birthday. To celebrate Christine's 26th, my assistant brought a batch to share. Here they are before sprinkles:

And here they are after:

Rich, fudgy chocolate cupcakes topped with delicate swirls of Bailey's cream cheese frosting and confetti sprinkles -- how can you say no to that?

I hope you enjoyed the Super Bowl, whether for the game, the commercials (who didn't love the little Darth Vader?), or the entertainment value of botched national anthems and cheesy halftime show performances. And I certainly hope you watched it in good company over the tastiest of finger foods. Happy birthday, Christine! Cheers to you and a super Birthday Bowl.

Resetting expectations

We've all heard this time and time again: don't judge a book by its cover. Smile politely at that intimidatingly burly stranger, and you may find a warm smile greeting your own. Crack open the spindly exterior of a rambutan, and you'll find a lychee-like fruit as smooth and pretty as a pearl (and tasty to boot!) While I don't want you to go around winking at brutes who'd just as soon chuck you across the room or begin taste-testing pretty little mushrooms off the ground, I do hope you'll check your expectations every now and then and open yourself up to pleasant surprises.

For example, after one look at the photo at the top, if you were expecting cheesecake or carrot cake -- think again. One slice through this simple little cake, and you'll find yourself fork-deep in chocolate, chocolate, glorious chocolate.

Now if you were anxiously awaiting cheesecake or carrot cake, my apologies! But have a taste, and I don't think you'd miss either, as you'd have some of the best elements of both: rich, fudgy chocolate cake with luscious Bailey's cream cheese frosting (tasting just like a cheesecake) plus the nutty notes of toasted pecans that you'd expect in the most traditional of carrot cakes.

I hope you're all having a fantastic 2011 so far and that there will be many sweet surprises ahead!

A look back

You're getting ready for the New Year's Eve shindig of the century -- there will be music and dancing and all kinds of revelry. Fine champagne will be flowing, and everything you've ever wanted to eat will be magically portioned so that you can try it all without worrying about a distended belly showing through the world's cutest party dress (yours). And when the clock strikes midnight, the sky will be painted with beautiful, sparkling fireworks that'll leave you breathless as you ring in the new year with that special someone.

That's one hell of a party to look forward to -- of course you're excited! You're getting ready: curling your hair, putting your makeup on, slipping into your pumps. You make your way over to the venue and--

You're late. Really late. You're 25 days late to the party.

That's how I feel, and I blame my assistant entirely. This is our first post of 2011, and we're 25 days into January! I apologize on her behalf (I hate having to do that -- being awesome, I should never have to be sorry for anything), but let's kick things off with a look back on 2010 and the last request we filled for the year:

My assistant T received a request from her coworkers, Justin and Mano, who wanted to organize a sweet surprise for a team that had worked at all hours of the night to wrap up a big project. Cupcakes and champagne -- I couldn't think of a better way to say thanks and congratulations! Disguising the surprise as a last-minute director-led meeting, Justin, Mano, and their teammates pow-wowed in a conference room, laying out the cupcakes and drinks, and setting up a large poster board signed by everyone on their team. Here's what the team of honor walked into:

A cookie-themed cupcake smorgasbord, complete with Oreo, S'more, and Snickerdoodle cupcakes! First we had the Snickerdoodle cupcakes -- velvety cinnamon cupcakes topped with creamy vanilla frosting, a generous sprinkle of cinnamon sugar, and a Teddy Graham (which is not quite a Snickerdoodle, but when covered in cinnamon sugar, can serve as its equally sweet and far cuter cousin):

Next, we had Oreo cupcakes -- rich, chocolate cupcakes with Oreo cream cheese frosting (with Oreo crumbs blended in for that classic "cookies 'n' cream" speckled look), topped with an Oreo cookie half. The only thing missing here was a glass of ice cold milk for dunking.

And lastly, we had S'more cupcakes (pictured at the top of this post), which had been a huge Carrie Cakeaway hit last year -- rich, chocolate cupcakes with a gooey marshmallow center, a swirl of vanilla cream cheese frosting, some mini chocolate chips, and a cute little Teddy Graham resting against a mini marshmallow pillow.

T and I have hit the ground running in 2011 and will be posting more soon, but for now, I'm so happy thinking back on the last request filled in 2010 -- a big (and really fun!) one. Justin and Mano -- thanks so much for thinking of us for this celebratory occasion. Cheers to you, your team, and big accomplishments to come in 2011.

And happy new year to all!

Doing s'more good this holiday season

This time, with more flour-covered hands on deck! My assistant works for a big company, so it's no surprise that there are a number of avid bakers who share her passion for crafting all things sweet and fresh-out-of-the-even. She and her coworker, Christine, recently started a baking interest group for employees to share recipes and participate in fun events, from cupcake crawls to bakeoffs. They kickstarted this club with a bake sale fundraiser themed "Holiday Sweets and Winter Treats," with all proceeds benefiting the Community Services Agency of Mountain View -- a food bank just down the street from the office.

Take twenty brilliant bakers, mix in pounds and pounds of butter and sugar, whip up a good cause, and you've got yourself a recipe for a sweet success. Here are some of the S'more cupcakes that my assistant sold at the event: chocolate cupcakes with a gooey marshmallow center, topped with vanilla cream cheese frosting and a cute little Teddy Graham. The only thing missing was a campfire to keep our bakers warm on this chilly Tuesday afternoon.

In only an hour and a half, the bakers collectively raised $850 in sweets. There were macarons, cheesecakes, cupcakes, cookies, cake pops, and plenty more to boost blood sugar levels and good spirits. With the company match, the group donated $1700 to CSA.

Thank you, everyone who participated! Whether you drew your spatula and contributed your baked goods or dropped some Washingtons to indulge your sweet tooth, this event couldn't have happened without you.

Here comes the bride

For many a bride, weddings are a whirlwind of planning, browsing, decision-making, and oftentimes stressing out -- all for the big day during which (hopefully!) all the pieces come together in a beautiful celebration with family and friends. I can think of a small handful of weddings that my assistant has attended in the past couple of years, from the serene union of two of the sweetest people she has ever met to an upbeat ceremony in which the blushing bride sang her wedding vows. Each was unique, but one thing remained the same: the bride was always beautiful -- no dark circles or droopy eyelids to reveal the lack of sleep leading up to the special day. Her secret?

Mudslide cupcakes. While I haven't verified this little guess, I stand by this! Steve seemed to agree when he requested a box to bring to the office and share with bride-to-be Cheri right before her big day. Rich, Kahlua-spiked chocolate cupcakes with Bailey's cream cheese frosting -- sweet enough to keep the bride smiling, slightly caffeinated to chase away sleepiness, and perfectly sized to ensure that she'll have no trouble fitting into her dress.

Thanks so much, Steve, for trusting me with such an important order, and congratulations, Cheri!

Sugar and spice, and everything nice...

That's what little girls are made of. And if that's true, then they ought to be treated to one or more of the following:

• A horse (not a pony -- why have a pony when you can have a horse?)
• A cash register complete with functioning barcode scanner
• The Crayola Big Box of 96 crayons
• Legos, and lots of them
• Stickers (preference given to the puffy, sparkly, and scratch-and-sniff varieties)
• Anything from Sanrio (with the exception of Spottie Dottie)

At least my assistant seemed to think so when she was a little girl. These were the most coveted items of her girlhood, consistently making their way onto her holiday and birthday wish lists from ages 5-10. While she had procured quite the sticker collection by the time she reached the second grade (through good behavior and lunch-time trades) and eventually did receive the toy cash register of her dreams, she never did get that horse or big box of crayons with such delicious-sounding colors as Electric Lime and Macaroni and Cheese.

This post is dedicated to anyone who is currently, formerly, or soon-to-be a little girl.

After these bad boys caught her eye, Heather requested a box of vanilla cupcakes for her coworkers' baby shower. Congratulations, Lea and Chris! What better way to welcome a bouncing baby girl into the world than with fluffy vanilla cupcakes topped with pink vanilla cream cheese frosting, a cute little Teddy Graham, and some sparkly pink sanding sugar? All signs point to cute.

Moving from high chair to heels, my assistant whipped up a similar batch of chocolate cupcakes with pink cream cheese frosting (this time flavored with Bailey's Irish cream) for her friend and coworker's twenty-something-eth birthday (oh, the details of that aren't important, and a true lady never reveals her age). Happy birthday, Stef! Why bunnies, you ask? Well, why not?

I can't help but think of all the amazing women and girls in my assistant's life who have helped shaped her into the young lady she is today. Family members, friends, coworkers, and inspiring strangers -- rock on, ladies. Rock on.