Happy Halloween and a word on cupcake transportation and passing out candy from afar

I may have a sprinkle obsession. Photo by yours truly.
Compared to last year's Katy Perry Elmo extravaganza, this Halloween will be decidedly low key. I just bought my candy today. I still haven't figured out my pirate costume. Mr. T is taking off on a business trip. I won't even be home to see the trick-or-treaters very much. The bright spot? Cupcakes. Lots and lots of delicious cupcakes.

I love to bake but in light of my current fitness goals, it doesn't pay to keep delicacies in the house. So, I send them to work with T. I know it may sound silly to think of a business executive trucking in sweet treats to the office, but it seems to make his people happy. And then I'm not compelled to eat everything so it doesn't go bad. Win, win, win.

Yellow cake with chocolate frosting, chocolate cake with vanilla frosting.
Loads and loads of Halloween sprinkles. Good times!
To celebrate the end of comps writing, I concocted pecan-oatmeal-chocolate chip cookies. Over the holidays, I'll make sweet bread and cinnamon rolls. I figured what better way to bridge the treats than with cupcakes and festive sprinkles. And a big bonus, I got to try out my new cupcake carriers.

Now, when I registered for said cupcake carriers, I got grief. A LOT of grief (see here for a recap on the drudgery of wedding registries). Someone might have said they were silly and unnecessary. Well, having used them for the first time, I must say they are AWESOME. As anyone who has tried to transport cupcakes knows, it's just about impossible to move them from the kitchen to the destination without jacking the frosting. Cupcakes slide together. Foil tents inevitably cave and muss the sprinkles. It's irrationally irritating.

Enter the cupcake carrier. Cupcakes are stacked, situated and easily transported without slippage. Plus, no frosting damage. Yay! The model I have holds 12 cupcakes or two sheetcakes, and you can configure the "shelves" to suit whatever you need to carry. As most recipes produce 24 cupcakes, I'd recommend buying two. The only downside is they do take up a good bit of room in the cupboard, but if you're in the business of baking frequently, it's probably worth the trouble.

In quasi-related news, I will be delivering some cupcakes to a family party this evening, which means I'll be missing many of the trick-or-treaters in my own neighborhood. Normally I'd just shut the porch light off and hope for the best, but T reminded me that I "decorated" this year and the neighborhood kids may have candy expectations. Can't let the kidlets down, can I?

So I'm going to see how the honor system works. I bought a bucket I don't care about and a bunch of candy I want to disappear, and T and I made a sign with directions:
Okay, I realize that some kids can't read but little ones that young shouldn't be out trick-or-treating alone, RIGHT?

Any bets on whether the entire bucket will be stolen or our house TPd?

What are you doing this Halloween?

xoxo,
shawna

P/S So I got caught up in a cupcake photoshoot this morning... enjoy!

I found myself contemplating the appropriate frosting to cake and sprinkle to frosting ratios.

Are you surprised we had cupcakes instead of wedding cake?

I may be a smidge bit obsessed.

Loving the morning light.

Hard to decide if these big dots are my favorite sprinkle type.

Or the venerable sugar sprinkle (which will turn your teeth colors, by the way)

Halloween sprinkles from Target

So stinkin' happy!

For the record, yellow cake with chocolate frosting is the perfect combination.

Although chocolate-chocolate is a good alternative.

Love the colors.

Weird light from the front window illuminating how messy frosting and sprinkling cupcakes can be.

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