Happy new year!

Hi there! Happy new year! Here I am, saying hello, waving, acting as though I haven't been irresponsibly, unresponsively neglecting this blog throughout 2011...

My assistant T still believes in the whole new year's resolution thing (how charming), and is resolving to keep all promises in 2012. I guess I have to follow suit, being a figment of her imagination and all. So here it is:

I promise to post at least once a week - every week in 2012 -- starting today. And I promise to share more: more photos, more recipes, and more cake.

And to kick things off -- how about a photo of two of the things we love most here at Carrie Cakeaway: craft beers and freshly baked and frosted cupcakes. Cheers to more recipes featuring our favorite brews. Some pair with cupcakes, others go straight into the batter, and still others are spontaneously enjoyed by the baker.

Bourbon mudslides on the left, chocolate strawberry shortcakes on the right, fancy beers in the back, happy feelings all around. Now that's the kind of Tuesday that one could get used to.

Apologies in advance for derailing any belly-busting new year's resolutions. But in all seriousness, I'm wishing you a happy, healthy 2012 filled with sugar, spice, and all things nice.

With love,
Carrie Cakeaway

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!

So, about last night...

It happened! You may have seen my assistant T on TV last night competing on Cupcake Wars (and if you didn't, the episode will re-air on Sunday and next Wednesday on the Food Network, so read no further, as spoilers follow). And you're probably wondering: What was she thinking?

Well, a couple of things:

• This is our chance to make something epic that the world has never seen before
• We've made bacon cupcakes before with great results - hot dogs can't be that far off! (wrong)
  
• Go big or go home!

Annnd, she went home. But that's okay! I'm so proud of her and Karen for making it on to the show - a huge win for amateur bakers and aspiring bakery owners. And while I would have loved to compete myself (have I ever told you how hard it is to get onto reality TV when you're imaginary?), it was so exciting to see the girls on TV baking their hearts out.

The most disappointing part of it all was that T didn't have a chance to show what we can really do here at Carrie Cakeaway. So take a look around. No frills, no frankfurters (we promise) -- just delicious cupcakes with super tasty frostings, a sense of adventure, and a splash of bourbon here and there.

Please continue to support us by liking us on Facebook and stay tuned for our latest creations! I'd love to hear your thoughts on the episode.

Be frank. And let the hot dog puns begin.

A very Sunny occasion

If I weren't imaginary (I am), I think I'd go all hormonal every time I saw a toddler or a baby -- the nice kind of hormonal that makes you want to hug and laugh and bake many, many cupcakes. And then eat them. (The cupcakes, not the children).

I apologize for sounding a little crazy right now, but I'm just so excited for Sunny and her baby-to-be. Annie, Jen, and Sarah planned a surprise Southern Belle-themed baby shower for her in a conference room under the guise of a "very important meeting." Well, it was a very important meeting, complete with balloons, beignets, pecan pie, sweet tea, and cupcakes. What, you mean to tell me that you don't have all of those things at your very important meetings?

For this very special occasion, T and I whipped up some Peanut Butter Chocolate cupcakes for Sunny and some Bourbon Strawberry cupcakes for everyone else. Rich chocolate cupcakes topped with silky peanut butter buttercream, a sprinkle of course sea salt, and freshly crushed peanuts - one bite, and you'll think you've just sunk your teeth into a fluffier, even tastier Reese's peanut butter cup. And as for the Bourbon Strawberry, we're talking melt-in-your-mouth bourbon-spiked vanilla cupcakes topped with vanilla-bourbon cream cheese frosting and a fresh strawberry half.

Congratulations, Sunny! Warmest wishes to you and your bundle of joy.

Bringing wine country to you

What do you look for in a wine? Do you like bold, spicy zinfandels that pack a tannic punch? Or do you prefer crisp, buttery chardonnays that glide across your tongue? Perhaps you like moscatos, so sweet and dessert-like that you'd think you were drinking juice. Or maybe, just maybe, you like it all - wine in all shades of red, white, and everything in between, with notes of everything from oak to cherry, leather to lampshade...you get my drift.

If that sounds like you, then you're probably a oenophile, and I'd like to bake for you! The sky's the limit when it comes to working with wine, so T and I were very excited when preparing cupcakes for wine-loving Anna's birthday. Here's what we came up with:

Chardonay Peach (pictured at the top) - Chardonnay-infused vanilla cupcakes filled with peach chunks, topped with cream frosting splashed with chardonnay and peach juice and a fresh yellow peach slice.

Strawberries and Champagne - Champagne-infused vanilla cupcakes filled with champagne-soaked strawberries, frosted with strawberry-champagne buttercream, and topped with a fresh strawberry half

Dark Chocolate Cabernet - Cabernet-infused dark chocolate cupcakes topped with silky cabernet cream cheese frosting

Happy birthday, Anna! Hope you enjoyed these. All that's missing now is a trip to beautiful wine country for a day of cupcake and wine pairings.