Living in a Material World

Unlike the woman from whose womb I sprung, I was born with a defective female gene. You know the one that incites so many women to indulge in retail therapy a/k/a the shopping gene. Many people don't know this about me but I would rather endure a root canal than go shopping. And this sentiment has only gotten worse since I have had kids (9 out of 10 times I'll have at least 1 of them trailing behind me in the store just as impatient to get out of there as I am but obviously too young to properly control this building stir-craziness) and moved to France (where I can tell you the customer certainly is NOT king).



It's funny cause once a very long time ago, I had actually dreamed of working in retail as a post-college career. The bulk of my summers were spent working as a salesgirl in various stores throughout Manhattan. All I can say is thank god, Melrose Place came along and that brainy, blonde and okay, bitchy Amanda Woodward steered me off the retail path and into a much more savvy and glamorous form of selling: the world of advertising!



Though I can say that my summers in retail entertained me to no end. I once worked in a very upscale women's apparel store where they actually encouraged us to wear the clothes during the workday, then steam them and hang them back on the racks before we left. Not a very hygenic practice; I often found myself telling loyal customers not to buy items that had been worn by one of the other gals we called Stinky Susan. You can guess why. Clothing issues aside, there was a very large aquarium in the store where the owner kept 2 baby sharks. On days that I worked with her alone, she wold send me off to the local pet store to buy feeder fish and then chuckle loudly as she fed these to the circling sharks. Hello Cruella De Vil!



Another summer I worked in a small athletic gear store next to an upscale private health club. One afternoon when I was alone in the store, Paul Stanley from rock band, Kiss, came in. He was very friendly and asked me to recommend several different brands of bike shorts. I thought he was really cool til he called me to the fitting room, "Oh miss...." and asked me "What do you think of this?" He was standing there completely naked save for the tiniest, form-fittingest bike shorts and a big smile. I probably turned 10 shades of red as I tripped back over a display and mumbled something about needing to check the front of the store. Whether or not Paul was interested in having me "take his measurements" or just giving him an honest opinion on the shorts, I'll never know but it certainly was one of my more memorable moments in retail.


Speaking of embarrassing moments, I cannot tell you how many times when I worked in a small department store this would happen: a guy would enter, start looking through the lingerie section with a kind of panicked look on his face, and when I asked if I could help him, he'd say he was looking for a gift for his girlfriend...maybe a bra and underwear set. When I would ask, well, what size do you need? He'd take a look at me and say, "She's probably about your size." Guys, I beg of you, please do not continue to do this. Not only do we find it insulting to have you staring at our privates as you mentally compare us to your loved one, but frankly it's creepy. Be kind and ask your girlfriend to note her sizes for you next time. I promise it'll be much easier for you in the store and when you take that gift home, it'll avoid the inevitable hissy fit size 6 girlfriend throws cause you mistakenly bought her size 12 lingerie. Sorry ladies but sometimes your creepy boyfriends left me no choice but to talk them into a *very* large pair of granny panties!



The one positive thing I can say about retail is the employee discount. Following a holiday season working at Bloomingdale's, I wound up with an amazing set of assorted barware. Seriously, I have a closet full of the stuff - champagne glasses, rocks glasses, martini glasses, margarita glasses and on and on. Now I've never used half the stuff but hey, I got it cheap!

Which brings me to the subject of today's post. Two retail clients contacted me recently for events at their HQ. The first was GAP who was throwing its employees a small party to thank them and celebrate 40 years of the brand. They requested 40 cupcakes in shades of white and blue with their logo. These pictured are Vanilla Lovers and Storm cupcakes with hand-made (can't you tell?) fondant decorations.



The pastel-colored minis are an order for French department store Printemps. They too were having a small co-worker together and ordered an assortment of After Eight, Chocobutter, Berry Berry Good, Cookies n Cream and Lemon Tart mini cupcakes. In my opinion, retail is best in small doses! ;P

Spring Fever

I don't know about your little corner of the globe but in Paris, the mercury is rising, the flowers are in bloom, the natives are starting to bare it all and Spring has sprung here in the most romantic city in the world. For me, Spring usually signals a return to simple living -- time spent outdoors, cultivating my window boxes (this year I am growing basil, parsley, mint, tomatoes and cucumbers), clearing out the clutter and stuff accumulated over the long cold winter hibernation....and of course, simple eating.



One of my favorite things about living in Paris is the abundance of open-air markets you find in every area of the city. If you plan on visiting Paris in the Spring, I highly recommend a tour of your local market. In addition to the colors and aromas of all the fresh vegetables, fruits, meats, fish and flowers, you'll be entranced by the sounds of the vendors hawking their goods like auction house callers -- "Les Fraises, les Fraises, les Gariguettes. Une barquette 4 euros, 3 barquettes pour 10." This list is certainly not exhaustive (in fact, my two local markets in the 17th don't appear) but this will give you a good idea on where to start if you want to experience the markets first-hand.



I've been baking lots of Spring flavored cupcakes recently using the freshest produce I can find at my local market -- guess Paris cupcake fans are also feeling the Spring fever! Like my Berry Berry Good cupcake (available in raspberry or strawberry). This is a vanilla cake with a simple strawberry buttercream.



My I Love You Honey Bunny carrot cake cupcake with the obligatory tangy cream cheese frosting is always a crowd-pleaser.



Lemon Tart pairs a moist vanilla cake with a fresh lemon buttercream.



And here's a flavor combination I'll be taking with me to next week's Shopping & Bubbles. If you happen to be in Paris, please do stop by for free cupcakes and champagne and tell me what you think. The Sweet Thai O' Mine pairs a coconut sponge cupcake (thanks to my friend, Leah, for the delicious recipe) and a lime zest/Malibu buttercream (thanks to my friend, Peg, for suggesting lime!).



Last but not least, here's my best-selling Storm cupcake (chocolate cake with vanilla bean buttercream) dressed up as a sheep. These were for a 30 year-old's birthday party. I have no idea why they requested sheep - I guess it's a private joke -- but it made me feel Spring-y nonetheless!



For Every Occasion, a Cupcake. Mark this one a refreshingly sweet way to savor the return of Spring!

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* Party Cupcake Ideas
* Cupcakes Take The Cake

Happy 1400th Cupcake Day to Me!

When I started baking for other people a few months back, I figured it would be mostly friends who rang me up for cupcakes. Yesterday, I had a client from Australia (more on that below) and today, I finished off a box of 1400 cupcake liners I bought back in December! Wow, how the time flies when you are having fun! A big thank you to all of you out there who continue to support me in this endeavor.

I don't know if it's cause the markets are rallying (at the time of this writing) or cause the moon is in the 7th house, but people have been clamoring for cupcakes this week. I wasn't even this busy over the holidays! So here in photos is what I have been up to this week...

Little Miss Morsels:
A new product on my menu. The ones pictured are Kiss Kiss Bang Bang cupcake bites -- they come in several varieties but I recommend the chocolates -- made as a gift for the staff at a customer's daycare. What did she say about them?



"The creche staff ranted and raved today at pick-up. They can't even deal with how good they were. Yes, were. Not one was left by the afternoon. You have a total hit on your hands!!! I'll be ordering more in the future!!!"

Somewhere Beyond the Sea:
Nemo has long been one of our favorite movies. When I started working on these cupcakes for a birthday party with an underwater theme, my son went bonkers. He wanted me to recreate every sea creature in the movie. Which I would have liked to have done but as it is, I spent 3 nights molding and shaping these guys made from marshmallow fondant and marzipan.



I liked the starfish and their googly eyes the best.



My son came up with the idea for the electric eel. Much better than the simple sand dollars I had in mind!



Here's a close-up of an octopus which I think came out well.



Bake Like (and For) a Rock Star:
Here's the order that was called in from Australia....



for an American....



who happened to be in Paris for his birthday.



What was he doing here? Oh, he just happens to be one of the guys from sunny California's Machine Head. They were opening up for Metallica who were playing back-to-back sold-out shows. He's apparently a chocoholic so the request here was for Kiss Kiss Bang Bang red velvets and Chocolate Squared. I couldn't resist the Eiffel Tower gummies. Let's hope these gave him extra energy for last night's show.

Monkey See, Monkey Do:
My friend's son, James, is 3 tomorrow. He's an adorable kid and loves all things dinosaur, lion, etc. The design for these come from Hello, Cupcake!



They are Caramel Dolce lions (which you have seen here before) and Lemon Tart Monkeys. It was while I was baking these this morning that I used my 1400th liner. Woo Hoo!



Marguerites for Marguerite:
And last but not least, some cupcakes for Marguerite's baptism. A marguerite is a daisy in French so I thought these were fitting.



I paid 23 euros (!!!) without tax for these daisy cutters yesterday but I love how they came out. Simple and beautiful.



These are marzipan roses on Berry Berry Good strawberry cupcakes, and,



Marshmallow fondant daisies on Storm cupcakes.



Hungry yet? As I always say, For Every Occasion, a Cupcake and so glad Little Miss Cupcake could be a part of so many of your special occasions these last few months. Here's to 1400 more!!!! ;)

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Sometimes You Feel Like a Nut

Do you remember this jingle from the 1970's for Almond Joy candy bars and its sister product Mounds (sometimes you don't)? Mars makes a candy bar here in France called Bounty (pronounced "boon-tee") which is its non-US version of Mounds and I find myself singing this little ditty any time I consume one. Of course, everyone thinks I am a nut when I do this as they never ran this particular ad campaign here.

Which also make me think of the "I'm a Pepper, he's a Pepper, she's a Pepper.....wouldn't you like to be a Pepper too?" song for Dr. Pepper that dates back to the same era. My mom tells a story about how she was once offered a Dr. Pepper at a party and broke into song and everyone looked at her like, you guessed it, a nut! Guess it's a genetic thing.

Well, the challenge this month for Iron Cupcake: Earth is Nuts & Seeds. As soon as it was announced, I knew immediately what I wanted to make as an entry. But it's going to take some preparation work I still haven't had time to do yet. So here for your approval is an interim candidate, the Almond Joy cupcake. I made this as part of an order for a meeting I am going to this evening. The order was for 2 dozen cupcakes, the only stipulation being that some of them be Caramel Dolce. As for the others, it was up to me. Which is kind of a curse in disguise. You see the problem is when I am told "blue sky," I really do think blue sky in that there are SOOOOOOO many delicious cupcake flavors I could make and I spend hours debating the pluses and minuses of each. This is the one area of my life where I really do crave structure. It's shocking, I know.

So, what did I come up with? Six of each of the following flavors:
- After Eight : a mint chocolate cupcake with a mint chocolate buttercream topped with a slice of its namesake, an After Eight candy.



- A cupcake similar to one I made earlier this week for my friend whose son is sick so it probably looks familiar to those of you who follow my blog : a mixture of vanilla and chocolate cupcakes topped with a light strawberry buttercream, a slice of fresh strawberry and drizzled in milk chocolate.



- The requested Caramel Dolce : a mixture of vanilla and chocolate cupcakes topped with a caramel buttercream and gummy creme caramel candies.



- And last but not least, the Almond Joy, my second entry for this month's IC:E challenge : a coconut and almond cupcake topped with a rich milk chocolate buttercream, sprinkled with shredded coconut and a grilled almond.



You can see what's up for grabs in this month's ETSY prize pack here. Voting will begin no later than Sunday, March 29 at 8 p.m. at NO ONE PUTS CUPCAKE IN A CORNER, and will be open through Friday, April 3 at 12 noon.

Here is the recipe for those of you who may want to try this at home:

Almond Joy Cupcakes
For 16 cupcakes:
4 ozs. unsalted butter/beurre doux, softened
1 cup sugar/sucre en poudre
1 large egg
1 tsp. baking soda/bicarbonate alimentaire
1 tsp. vanilla
½ tsp. salt
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1 ½ cups flour
1 cup buttermilk /lait fermente
¼ cup hot water

1) Pre-heat oven to 350F/180C. Grease or place cupcake liners into cupcake tins.
2) To make cupcakes, cream together sugar and butter until smooth. Add egg, vanilla, baking soda, salt and mix until well-combined. Add in coconut and almonds and mix again.
3) Alternate adding flour and buttermilk in 3 batches, mix well until smooth. Add hot water last and mix to combine.
4) Fill cupcake liners 2/3rds full.
5) Bake for 17-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove cupcakes from tin and let cool on wire rack.

Chocolate Buttercream:
1/4 c. butter, softened
1/4 c. plus 2 tbsp. cocoa/chocolat en poudre
1/4 c. plus 3 tbsp. warm milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1 (16 oz.) pkg. powdered sugar, sifted

Mash together softened butter and cocoa until well-combined. Add in vanilla and mix. Add the sugar and milk in batches until the consistency is not too liquidy but just thick enough to hold its shape or make peaks.



Garnish cupcakes with shredded coconut, toasted almonds, whole almonds, chocolate covered almonds, etc. Whatever tickles your fancy and enjoy!