Kara's Cupcakes
If you've been reading my blog more than a few days, you've probably picked up on the theme that I love cupcakes. The perfect dessert - a little cake, a dollop of frosting, what more could you desire?
My newest cupcakery discovery: San Francisco's Kara's Cupcakes. 
A few years ago, Jen told me about her friend Kara, who at the time had just launched a special order cupcake business. Appropriately, we were eating cupcakes at Citizen Cupcake at the time. "Kara's are better than these" she promised. Within less than two years, Kara had branched out from a side business and opened two of her own cupcakeries. Since July, I've had a chance to visit Kara's three times, each time just as delicious as the last. I've done the take-out route, bringing cupcakes home with me to Seattle.
For my first visit to Kara's, I enjoyed cupcakes with Rachel, then picked up a dozen for Carrie's birthday surprise; my second visit was between business meetings; the third, I purchased two to carry home with me on the plane, both of which survived the journey quite nicely. I should also point out that the first and second were on the same trip, where over the course of five days in the Bay Area, I had four cupcakes (three from Kara's, one from Citizen Cupcake. I tried for the fifth during dessert at Citizen Cake, but the siren call of a chocolate and beet concoction swayed me. And I don't regret my choice).
My favorite cupcake, not surprising, is the sweet vanilla, a plain cake with a dollop of vanilla buttercream. I also like the lemon, a light lemon cake filled with lemon curd and topped with a lightly flavored lemon frosting. It doesn't matter: every flavor is great. And every cupcake is decorated with a marzipan flower, something to pick off, admire, then bite into for an extra dose of sugariness.
I've had a difficult time deciding if Kara's cupcakes are better than Trophy. Luckily for me, Trophy is in Seattle and Kara's is in San Francisco, so I'll never really HAVE to make a decision.
BTW, my missing box never appeared. Either it was left behind at the Park Rose Terrace in the pile of stuff that I donated to the cleaning people (highly unlikely since I double checked everything in that place) OR someone nabbed the box off of the back of the truck (more likely). Sunday, at Crate and Barrel, after ordering the bar (set to arrive in two weeks!), I did a quick run through the kitchen section, picking up a few necessary items, including a new 12-cup muffin tin and pizza baking stone. I'm still ticked that my apron, baking dish, pot holders, some very nice clothe napkins and half my kitchen towels disappeared. I suppose that it could have been worse: at least the box with my grandma's cast iron dutch oven, which has tremendous sentimental value, didn't disappear. Or the one containing the alcohol. And, importantly, I'm now able to once again bake cupcakes.
A dozen of Kara's cupcakes:
Kara's car, which is absolutely adorable:
And because I know I piqued your curiosity with the description of the Citizen Cake dessert that I chose over the cupcake, I thought that I'd share a picture with you:
