What's Up, Doc?

We couldn't be prouder to be featured as the special guest of honor in the new cookbook, "Cupcakes Inratables." This book is part of a series called "Les Délices de Solar" which covers a variety of dishes from burgers to macarons and cheesecakes to rillettes. Some of the other contributors to the series -- les invités prestige -- as we are called include pastry genius, Gontran Cherrier, Michelin-starred Jacques Le Divellec, and our favorite burger joint, Happy Days Diner!!! In the cupcake book, you'll find our famous carrot cake cupake recipe.

Cupcakes Inratables is available on amazon, at FNAC, and in bookstores across France.

Cupcake Couture Blog Party & An Exclusive Sugar Daze Recipe!

Last month, German-based baker, Betsy Eves, best known as Jave Cupcake, put out a call to her fellow bakers with two of my favorite words: CUPCAKE and PARTY!!!! Yup, Betsy needed bakers for a CUPCAKE PARTY! And not just any party, but a CUPCAKE COUTURE BLOG PARTY!!!



What's that you say? Cou-Ture? You gotta trill the "r" as you say that as we do here in Paris (another trill -- Parrrr -eeeee).... The Cupcake Couture Blog Party is all about creating delicious cupcakes and showcasing them in a simple, beautiful manner. Luckily we have Carrie Middlemiss of Bella Cupcake Couture to help out on that second part! I gotta admit that once I heard we would each be receiving a set of her gorgeous, unique cupcake wrappers, I was in. I have been following her company for years and love her products!

And then my package arrived....I wondered was Carrie psychic? Had she seen pictures of my store? Does she know me? Are we cupcake soul sisters? How exciting to receive a package of cheetah-printed wrappers! I literally opened the package while sitting in my store next to my zebra-print wall while wearing my snake skin trousers. How cool is that? And so I figured it only appropriate to continue on this "thème sauvage" by sharing with you for the first time ever the recipe for our Slow Cheetah cupcake.

But wait....there's more!!! As if that wasn't enough, there's a second treat in store for you -- a prize package for one lucky winner of the Cupcake Couture Blog Party! Check out these amazing prizes....

* $200 store credit to Cupcake Stand
* A prize pack from Sweets & Treats Boutique
* A set of every cupcake wrapper that was used in this party from Bella Cupcake Couture ($200 value)
* Polish Pottery Cake Stand from Poland from JavaCupcake.com ($100 value)
* Cupcake Vinyl Decals for your stand mixer from Lil’ Punkin Creations



You'll also want to check out the blog posts from the other bakers participating in this blog party for more cupcake awesomeness.....

An American Cupcake in London

Bella Cupcake Couture

Chronicles of a Foodie

Crazy for Crust

Creative Food

Cupcakes Take the Cake

Diary of a Mad Hausfrau

Eat Your Heart Out

Haniela's

Hoosier Homemade

In Katrina's Kitchen

Inside BruCrew Life

Java Cupcake

Love From the Oven

Make Bake Celebrate

Not Just a Mommy

Sugar Daze

Sugar Swings! Serve Some

The Baked Equation

The Baking Cup

The Decorated Cookie


Thanks to our amazing Prize Pack sponsors for their generous donations! Please, visit their websites to see more of their fabulous products!

Bella Cupcake Couture

Cupcake Stand

Java Cupcake

Lil' Punkin Creations

Sweets & Treats Boutique


To enter to WIN this Prize Pack, simply fill out the entry form below.

Contest opens 21 May 2013 at 7:00AM PST and closes 27 May 2013 at 23:59PM PST. One winner will be chosen and announced within 24 hours of the contest ending. Winner will be contacted via email to claim their prize.

This contest is open to residents of the USA and Europe only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway


A cupcake couture blog party...a cupcake prize pack....and dozens of mouth-wateringly yummy cupcake recipes?! Seriously folks, it doesn't get much sweeter than this! Good luck and Enjoy!



Slow Cheetah Cupcakes (an original Sugar Daze recipe, name inspired by The Red Hot Chili Peppers):
For approximately 15 cupcakes:

4 ozs. softened, unsalted butter
1 cup castor sugar
1 egg
1.5 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
Pinch salt
1/4 cup whole milk
1/4 cup crème fraiche (sour cream)
1/2 pod vanilla
1/2 cup hot water
1/2 cup white chocolate chips or chopped bar
1/2 cup chocolate covered toffee bits, chopped


1) Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and line two cupcake baking tins with paper liners
2) Cream softened butter and sugar together until smooth. Add egg and mix until light, homogenous and pale yellow
3) In a separate bowl mix together the flour, salt and baking soda. Add half of this mixture to the egg mixture and blend
4) In a measuring cup, mix milk and crème fraiche. Use a sharp knife to scrape the beans from the vanilla pod and add to mixture. Pour over the butter-sugar-flour mixure and mix again being careful not to overwork the batter
4) Add in the remaining half flour mixture, and mix
5) Lastly stir in hot water and mix until just incorporated - you don't want any large clumps of flour but again be careful not to over-mix batter
6) Add in toffe bits and chocolate, and mix slightly to incorporate throughout the batter
7) Using an ice cream scooper, fill cupcake cases 2/3 full and fill and bake in 350 degree minutes for about 12-15 minutes or until a skewer placed in the middle of the cupcake comes out clean.
8) Remove from oven and leave on baking rack to cool

Salted Caramel Frosting :

8 ozs. softened butter
4 cups confectioner's sugar
2-3 tablespoons salted caramel spread

Here in France we get a product called crème de caramel au beurre salé which I use for this frosting. If you can't find this locally, you can make your own. Here's a delicious recipe from Smitten Kitchen.

1) Whip butter and sugar with a hand-held beater or in your mixer until pale in color. If too liquidy, progressively add more sugar until firm enough to pipe.
2) Add in caramel and mix slightly to combine.
3) Decorate cupcakes using a pastry bag or palette knife. Then open up and say "ahhhhhh!!!!!!"

Cupcake Wrappers: Bella Cupcake Couture
Cake Stand: Habitat
Cupcake Tablecloth: Sassy Aprons

I Don't Want to Close My Eyes...I Don't Want to Miss a Thing

Life has taken on a surreal quality lately. I've finally found the courage to advance on a long-time dream, and the next thing I know, all these amazing opportunities have opened up for me. I had a meeting last week to discuss a book about cupcakes with a publisher that just contacted me out of the blue. Today, I met with two lovely young women who are pitching a TV series about life in Paris and they actually wanted to meet me and hear my story to see if I might be a good fit for their cast. Crazy, no? I am just waiting for someone to pinch me and find that this is all a dream. Regardless of the outcome of these projects, I am grateful for the experiences and to everyone I have met who has shown an interest in what I do and encouraged me along my path.

Thanksgiving is coming up this week and so I would also like to say a word of thanks to all of you who check in here to see what I am doing -- to all my friends, my customers, the cupcakers out there, and my family for their support, love and kindness over this past year. How will you be celebrating and what are you thankful for?

In case you're still scrambling for a last minute dessert, here's a link to my family favorite, never-fail pecan pie recipe that comes courtesy of Nick Malgieri. It's what I'll be making for my friends and family this Thanksgiving and trust me, it is delicious! Happy Thanksgiving everybody!

Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy!

Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy!, a photo by Sugar Daze (f/k/a LittleMissCupcakeParis) on Flickr.

Even though I'm officially on vacation, I have a hard time shutting off when it comes to making sweet after-dinner treats! I have limited baking facilities so have had to adapt someof my favorite recipes for simpler execution. This is a no-bake cheesecake that is super fast and easy to prepare. Here's what you need:

For the Crust:

1 sleeve of tea biscuits, graham crackers, chocolate cookies or whatever you want to make your crust with (about 20 cookies)
2 ounces unsalted butter, melted
2 tbsps sugar

1) Place cookies inside a plastic bag. Using a rolling pin or if you're like me and don't have access to one, the bottom of a skillet, bash the cookies until you have a very fine crumb.
2) Pour into bowl, add butter and sugar and stir to mix.
3) Using the back of a spoon, flatten crumb mixture into the bottom and up the sides of a shallow round baking pan or springform mold (8 inch).
4) Store crust in freezer about 10 minutes while you make the filling.

For the Filling:
3 packages Philadelphia cream cheese
200 ml whipping cream
1 cup sugar
juice from 1 lemon
4 large squares from a chocolate tablet (I used Perugina dark)

1) Whip cream until soft peaks form and set aside.
2) Using the back of a fork, mash cream cheese in a large bowl, add sugar and lemon juice and stir to combine.
3) Mix in whipped cream until you have a homogenous, creamy filling.
4) Spoon into crust and smooth with a spoon or fork for a flat surface. Reserve in fridge while you melt the chocolate.
5) Melt chocolate squares in microwave for about 60 seconds or until smooth.
6) Drip chocolate in dollops over the surface of the cheesecake. Drag the tip of a sharp knife over surface of the cheesecake in figure 8's for a decorative pattern.
7) Leave cheesecake in fridge at least 10 hours or overnight to set. Serve and enjoy!

If you have any simple, no-bake recipes you'd like to share,please do so in the comments section!

For Jennifer & Mikey Perillo - Peanut Butter Pie Friday

Ironically, it was because of my husband that I first discovered Jennifer Perillo's blog: In Jennie's Kitchen.  For those of you who don't know me, I started a custom cupcake business about 3 years ago and it has been a crazy busy ride. I rarely bake  recreationally anymore, or for my family as my husband often laments.  About 8 months ago, I declared I would no longer work on Sundays -- so I would have at least one day off a week to spend some good quality family time.  And I've picked up the practice of baking for them again -- usually chocolate chip cookies which is one of my husband's favorite treats. We have differing opinions on what makes a perfect chocolate chip cookie; I've made it a personal quest to find the best recipe and have tried about 3 dozen so far. Jennie's chocolate chip cookie recipe came up on one of my searches, and I bookmarked it along with about 12 others I have been meaning to come back and try.  Hers calls for molasses, a hard to find ingredient in Paris and not something I keep in my pantry.

Over the course of the past few months, I've revisited Jennie's blog on many occassions.  She has a direct and honest writing style I find endearing and the recipes I have tried from her blog have always garnered rave reviews. She once thanked her readers as being "a ray of sunshine" in her life and that is exactly how I have come to think of her. I've never met Jennie but sensed she was a kindred spirit and I enjoyed following along her comings and goings while she shared so many wonderful recipes and techniques.

Just like me, Jennie's a mom to two young kids aged 3 and 8. Like me, she is constantly striving to balance her personal and professional lives.  Like me, she is passionate about food and often reminisces about touchpoints in her life and people who have influenced her as she cooks on her blog. She lives in New York, my hometown.  And like me, she had settled down with a hard-working man who took his responsibilities to heart -- often working long hours and bringing the stress and the demands of the job home with him. The Mr. as she commonly referred to him.  Mikey as I have come to know him this past week.  A post for chocolate snaps, where she recounts one of her first dates with Mikey, her partner for life who loved and supported her in everything she did, brought a tear to my eye when I originally read it this past winter.  The sentiments expressed there are so much more bittersweet given the events of this past week.



Like many in the food community, I learned the devestating news via Twitter. Jennie's Mikey, the love and light of her life, had tragically and unexpectedly passed away. There are things that happen in life that are inexplicable and just so unfair.  This is one of them.  A man loved by his family and so many others suddenly cut short in the prime of his life.  Like me, I am sure Jennie expected her husband to be there at her side for decades to come -- to watch their kids head out into the world and forge their own way, to experience all the ups and downs that life threw at them, to love and laugh and to grow old together.  My heart is overflowing with sorrow for Jennie and her kids.  For all the sadness they are dealing with right now and for all the years to come without Mikey.  

In her latest blog post, Jennie shares Mikey's favorite recipe -- Creamy Peanut Butter Pie, and invites the world to celebrate his life by baking one and eating it with someone you love. For me, making this pie was a small labor of love. We are currently on vacation (something Jennie and Mikey were to do in just a few days!) All I had to make this recipe with was a small cake tin and a mixing bowl.  No scales, no measuring cups or spoons, no real oven - that's all back in Paris with my nephew who is housesitting for us! I actually used an empty Peroni beer bottle in lieu of a rolling pin to smash the biscuits to pieces for the crust. And I consider it a minor triumph that I was able to find the ingredients I needed to make this in a foreign country where I don't speak the language. I did however modify the recipe; there was no peanut butter to be found in this small coastal village, and more importantly, my husband actually hates peanut butter (he's French after all!). Given the circumstances, I loved that Jennie's pie is no-bake and so I stuck with something just as easy to prepare by swapping out the peanut butter cream filling for cheesecake filling. Cheesecake is one of my husband's favorites. I didn't think Jennie or Mikey would mind.  



I'll be eating this pie with my family tonight -- the family I don't tell often enough how much I love them or how important they are to me.  I will savor each bite as I express how grateful I am for the love and life that I have, and I will think of Mikey and all that he has left behind.  May his memory and light live on in Jennie, in their two beautiful daughters, in their friends and loved ones, and in his favorite dessert: Peanut Butter Pie. Here's Jennie's recipe so you can make and share one with the ones you love!

Creamy Peanut Butter Pie
Originally published by Jennifer Perillo at In Jennie's Kitchen
Serves 10 to 12

8 ounces chocolate cookies

4 tablespoons butter, melted

4 ounces finely chopped chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/4 cup chopped peanuts

1 cup heavy cream

8 ounces cream cheese

1 cup creamy-style peanut butter

1 cup confectioner's sugar

1 – 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

Add the cookies to the bowl of a food processor and pulse into fine crumbs.  Combine melted butter and cookie crumbs in a small bowl, and stir with a fork to mix well.  Press mixture into the bottom and 1-inch up the sides of a 9-inch springform pan. 

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or in the microwave.  Pour over bottom of cookie crust and spread to the edges using an off-set spatula.  Sprinkle chopped peanuts over the melted chocolate. Place pan in the refrigerator while you prepare the filling.

Pour the heavy cream into a bowl and beat using a stand mixer or hand mixer until stiff peaks form.  Transfer to a small bowl and store in refrigerator until ready to use.  Place the cream cheese and peanut butter in a deep bowl.  Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy.  Reduce speed to low and gradually beat in the confectioner's sugar.  Add the sweetened condensed milk, vanilla extract and lemon juice. Increase speed to medium and beat until all the ingredients are combined and filling is smooth.

Stir in 1/3 of the whipped cream into the filling mixture (helps lighten the batter, making it easier to fold in the remaining whipped cream).  Fold in the remaining whipped cream.  Pour the filling into the prepared springform pan.  Drizzle the melted chocolate on top, if using, and refrigerate for three hours or overnight before serving.

Baby, Baby, Baby Oh : A Contest & Cupcake Recipe

A few months ago, the distribution company of the new Bernard Jeanjean film: Une Folle Envie (A Burning Desire or An Insatiable Urge in English) contacted me to create a custom cupcake as a tie-in with the movie release.


I already posted about our very exciting evening out to a private screening with the cast and crew -- well, my cupcake gets a lot of inspiration from the movie's plot about a young couple, played by Clovis Cornillac andOlivia Bonamy, who are in love and ready to start a family. This is by no means an easy task, and as time goes on, Rose and Yann try just about everything to get pregnant including eating some pretty strange stuff.



There are no unusual ingredients in my cupcake but I hope this recipe will leave you feeling a little saucy -- it's a delicious mix of ginger, passion fruit and rose. But more about that in a sec...first, I have a little contest to whet your appetite.



I'm giving away tickets to a showing of Une Folle Envie (I have 5 sets of 2 seats to offer) which comes out May 18th. Here's the film's trailer to put you in the mood:


Une Folle Envie - Bande-Annonce / Trailer [VF|HD] par Lyricis

How Can You Win 2 Tickets to a Showing?

1) leave me a comment below telling me what is the craziest thing you have heard of eating or doing to increase your chances of getting pregnant,

OR

2) tweet "win 2 seats for the new film Une Folle Envie via @sugar_daze http://tinyurl.com/64w6y63"

The contest ends at noon on May 18 when winners will be chosen at random from all of the comments/tweets received. Please be sure to make sure I have a way of contacting you (by providing your email or web address for example).

A big thank you to SND Films for generously providing the tickets (and for inviting me to create a cupcake for this special event).

And without further ado, here's my recipe for Une Folle Envie cupcake for you to whip up at home...Enjoy with moderation -- I can't be held responsible for any desires you act out after you fall under the spell of this tantalizing combination of a triple ginger cupcake with a passion fruit curd center and rose cream cheese frosting!



Une Folle Envie : Triple Ginger Cupcake with Passionfruit Curd and Rose Frosting
by Sugar Daze

For the Passionfruit Curd
Yield: About 1 Cup (You will have leftovers that can be conserved in a sterilized jar for up to 10 days in the fridge or 1 month in the freezer).



To Make:
1) Take the pulp from 4 ripe passion fruit.
2) Combine with 2 eggs and 1 egg yolk and 75 grams of caster sugar in a medium suacepan over low heat.
3) Cook, stirring for about 10-15 minutes until the curd thickens.
4) Remove from heat and place in a clean bowl. Stir in 65 grams butter and mix until it's well incorporated. Let cool for at least 15 minutes, cover with saran wrap - pushing down so wrap covers surface of curd entirely, and then put in fridge to cool.

For the Cupcakes
Yield: 18

To Make:
1) Preheat oven to 350/180 degrees and place 18 cupcake liners in cupcake tins.
1) Cream 4 ozs. butter and 1 cup sugar until light and smooth. Add in 1 egg and combine.
2) In a separate bowl sift, 1 ½ cups flour, ¼ tsp salt, 1 tsp baking soda & 1 tsp ground ginger.
3) In a measuring cup, measure out 1/2 cup buttermilk + 1 tsp. vanilla
4) Alternate adding the flour mixture and the buttermilk mixture to the butter mixture little by little ending with the flour. Mix to combine after each addition.
5) Grate 1 1/2 tbsps. fresh ginger and add to batter.
6) Add in 1/2 cup hot water and stir.
7) Lastly, mix in ½ cup thinly chopped crystallized ginger and stir to combine. (For extra flavor, you could also add in 1 tsp. of fleur d'oranger).
8) Pour batter into tins and bake for about 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove cupcakes from tins and let cool on rack.

To Make the Rose Frosting:

1) Take cream cheese and butter out of fridge about 30 minutes before using.
2) Mix 100 g Philadelphia cream cheese and 40 grams butter together using stand-mixer.
3) Add in 300 grams icing sugar and 1-2 tsps. rose water. Mix until whipped and creamy.
Note: We also tried topping these cupcakes with a chocolate ganache frosting which was very good too!

To assemble:
Once cupcakes have cooled, cut an inverted cone out of the top of each cupcake. Place 1 tbsp. curd in center and replace top. You may need to shave a bit off the cone in order for it to lie flat. Frost with an offset spatula or pastry bag & tip.

Enjoy & GOOD LUCK!

Sugar Daze Cupcakes (and a Recipe) on Disney's YouTube Channel!

A few weeks ago, I did a cupcake tutorial for Disney centered around their Club Penguin. That video has just been uploaded to their YouTube channel here. If I had known they were going to spend so much time filming my hands, I would have gotten a manicure! This was so much fun to do and hope you enjoy it!

Salt 'n Pepa's Here & We're In Effect

Now that the cupcake has made a name for itself in France, and has been tweaked to suit the French palate by most of the bakers I know, the French have put their own twist on this American classic by serving up "cupcakes salés" or savory cupcakes. Most of the cupcakeries around town offer several varieties on lunchtime menus in addition to their sweet offerings.



I had never eaten a savory cake before coming to France and while intuitively it seems a bit odd, I can assure you that it's definitely a pleasant change of pace. I have an event coming up where they have asked me to prepare savory cupcakes alongside my regular sugary confections and so have been testing several recipes. I am not planning on offering these as a regular menu item though - this particular order was placed by one of my very regular customers for a corporate function.

I had a lot of success with this very simple gruyere and ham recipe yesterday and so wanted to share it with you. It was originally posted in Journal de Femmes on l'Internaute Magazine by Julia Boyer. I have made some small adaptations to the recipe. Funnily, while most of the sweet cupcakes I have eaten here tend towards the dry side (and it's no wonder given that most French people will tell you a cupcake is a "muffin with frosting") this savory cupcake is actually much moister than an American muffin which is probably what we would call it in the US.

Savory Cupcakes with Ham & Gruyere
Yield: 8 very large cupcakes

200 g all-purpose flour
4 eggs
8 tbsp milk
75 g melted butter
250 g gruyere or emmental cut in small cubes
300 g cubed ham
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp herbes de provence or parsley
salt, pepper

1) Pre-heat oven to 170C degrees.

2) Sift the flour, baking powder, herbs, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Make a well in the center and add the eggs, milk and melted butter. Stir to mix.

3) Add in the cubed ham and cheese and mix to incorporate.

4) Divide batter into greased and floured, or lined, cupcake tin. Fill any empty holes about 2/3 full with water.

5) Bake for about 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

6) Serve warm.

We enjoyed these with a bowl of ginger carrot soup (I omit the lemon) and a side salad of mache.

Go Ahead, Cupcake, Make my Day!

I recently had the pleasure of judging a Christmas cupcake contest on the well-known Cupcak(e)ista's blog. During the process, I met (albeit virtually) Dorian of Mais Pourquoi Est-ce Que Je Vous Raconte Ca... who organizes an annual event called Cupcakes's Day; this year, the 3rd Annual Cupcake's Day will take place on March 6.

I've never met a cupcake event I didn't love and so of course wanted to get in on the action! Especially since the French seem to be embracing my native childhood dessert with such fervor! Today I am going to share a recipe that I recently whipped up as one of my Valentine's Day selections called Wonderful Tonight. It's a light, luscious cupcake for Spring (which I am hoping is just around the corner) and combines several of my favorite flavors: cherry, almonds and chocolate.



A special shout-out to Halwati Shop, an online baking supply boutique, which I have had the pleasure of discovering a few weeks back and am already hooked! No more international ordering for me to source my supplies, Halwati has an AMAZING array of cupcake cases, cutters and moulds, color gels, glitter, and all sorts of tools for the cake and cupcake lover. I made the intricate lace heart decoration and embossed flowers you see in this post (below) with sugarpaste using a Halwati silicone mould and plunger cutter respectively. And I finished the overall presentation with some gorgeous Vestlihouse liners, also from Halwati Shop.



Wonderful Tonight
Almond cupcake with cherry jam center & chocolate buttercream

Makes 18
Almond Cupcakes:
4 ozs. unsalted butter/beurre doux, softened
1 cup sugar/sucre en poudre
1 large egg
1 tsp. baking soda/bicarbonate alimentaire
1/2 - 1 tsp. almond extract (use the greater amount if you really like almonds; I use the Vahine brand: "Arome Amande amere")
½ tsp. salt
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1 ½ cups flour
1/2 cup buttermilk /lait fermente
1/2 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, almond extract, baking soda, salt and mix until well-combined.
3) Alternate adding flour and buttermilk in 3 batches, mix well until smooth. Add hot water last and mix to combine. Add in almonds and mix again.
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.

Cherry Jam Center:
I use a recipe from David Lebovitz because I really enjoy making my own jam. But if you want to take a shortcut, it's perfectly acceptable to substitute store-bought in this recipe.

1) Once the cupcakes have cooled, take a small sharp knife and cut an inverted cone shape out of the center of each cupcake. Be careful not to cut all the way down, you want to leave a small layer of cake at the bottom of the liner.
2) Spoon 2-3 teaspoons jam into the area you have hollowed out from the cupcake.
3) Replace cupcake top - if it's poking out too much, shave some cake off the bottom of the cone and put back in place.



Chocolate Buttercream:
300g 70% dark chocolate, melted (you can substitute white chocolate for a lighter version)
175g unsalted butter, at room temp
10 ml whipping cream
350g icing sugar, sifted

1) Cream the butter and sugar in a stand mixer until light and fluffy. Add in cream.
2) Add melted chocolate and beat until thick and creamy.
3) Frost cupcakes using a pastry tip and decorate as desired!

Just Sit Right Back and You'll Hear a Tale...

You ever see that show "Dream On" where first we see the main character as a baby in diapers in front of the TV and as the years pass, he's still there on the carpet watching? Well, I've always thought that was me. I was a lifelong TV junkie. Until I met my husband who abhors television and got rid of the cable box as soon as he could. But my childhood years centered around the boob tube and I can remember spending hours pouring over the TV Guide deciding what I would watch to while away the hours. Among my favorites: Charlie's Angels, Love Boat, Fantasy Island, That's Incredible!, Lavern & Shirley, Three's Company, The Dukes of Hazard, Mork & Mindy and the syndicated Brady Bunch and Gilligan's Island.



I don't know how many of you have seen Gilligan's Island but it revolved around the simple premise of a group of shipwreck survivors trying to find their way off a desert island in the Pacific (way way before Lost). There were 3 single males and 2 single females among them, and while they never showed any hanky panky going on, one of the age-old conundrums that I've heard debated many times is : Marianne or Ginger? Referring to the cute, perky and smart but alas mousy brunette in the short shorts who mooned over the Professor, or the red hot movie star who never lacked a sequin-encrusted dress with loads of push-up to run around the island in one of their weekly capers.



Growing up, I related to Marianne. Not the brains part of the equation but the shy tomboyness. I never liked to stand out in the crowd and I was definitely not a girly girl. On the other hand, my daughter is definitely a Ginger. She has been attracted to pink and sparkly since she was old enough to crawl; she has crushes on all of my son's friends and I often see her pirouetting around in front of them, one hand on her hip as she coyly calls after them; and I am constantly chasing her out of my make-up bag less she applies that mascara one more time (looking a lot more Tammy Fay than Ginger). Did I mention she just turned 3?!? My daughter and I are clearly wired very differently and I shudder to think about her teenage years but that's a whole 'nother conundrum!




I was asked by Joannah, better known as the blogger and cupcake creator: Cupcak(e)ista, if I would like to participate as a judge in her Christmas cupcake contest. It's open to anyone who wants to create a cupcake inspired by the holiday season. You can read all the details here. In the meantime since Johanna always posts recipes to her blog for the fans to try out, I wanted to share a recipe with you for my favorite Christmas cupcake: A double chocolate Gingerbread with cream cheese frosting. I call it the Movie Star (get it?). You can see it here featured in various incarnations -- the Gingerbread man and Santa coming down the chimney (which is my "hors concours" entry in Cupcak(e)ista's contest). And now you know why my Gilligan's Island tale was included in this post! Good luck to everyone who enters; I look forward to seeing your wonderful Christmas creations!

*The Movie Star* Cupcakes
Double Chocolate Gingerbread Cupcakes with
Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Frosting
by Sugar Daze

For Cupcakes
(Yield : 24 cupcakes)

2 ¼ cups flour
¾ cup cocoa powder
1 ½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon instant coffee/espresso
2 ½ teaspoons ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cloves
Pinch of nutmeg
Pinch of salt
½ cup butter, softened
½ cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup molasses
2 eggs
½ cup chocolate chips (optional)
¾ cup boiling water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F/180 degrees C. Line 2 muffin tins with cupcake liners.
Mix flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, coffee/espresso, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, salt and nutmeg in medium bowl; set aside.

Beat butter, brown sugar and molasses in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until well mixed. Add eggs one at a time and beat well after each addition. Add flour mixture alternately with boiling water, beating on low speed after each addition until smooth. Stir in chocolate chips.
Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full.

Bake 18 to 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool in tins about 5 minutes. Remove from tins; cool completely on wire rack.

For Frosting
12 ozs. cream cheese, softened
4 ozs. butter, softened
5 cups icing sugar
½ vanilla bean or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ cup milk

Bring butter and cream cheese to room temperature by letting them sit out for about an hour. Beat cream cheese and butter in a large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth and there are no visible lumps. Alternate adding sugar and milk until frosting is of good spreading consistency. Using the point of a sharp knife, slit the vanilla bean lengthwise and remove seeds. Add to frosting and stir until well-combined. Use an offset spatula to spread frosting on cupcakes and enjoy!

Don't Push Me 'Cause I'm Close to the Edge

I really am trying not to lose my head these days. I should know by now -- this is my third holiday season in business but I find these last few weeks of the year feel like everything is on speed. Including me (though that could be more of a sugar rush from the batter and buttercream I am constantly sampling!). I'm not griping though - I am incredibly grateful to all my customers who keep me employed at the best job I have ever had!

It has been non-stop madness for the past few months, I've barely had time to catch my breath. But I love every minute and find that I put out some of my best work under pressure. Like my old advertising job, I have many deadlines to meet as a baker. The difference though is that I can't ask the client for another day to analyze the data or another week to give the creatives time to finesse the work. No, when the day of the party arrives, I better make damn sure my cupcakes are ready to go when the client arrives, and it isn't always easy. Thank you to everyone who has believed me in over the years; I am grateful for your support!



When I first started out, I sometimes had up to two weeks to get ready for a job. Which was great since I make the majority of my decorations myself from scratch. Over time as order volume has picked up, that period has condensed to the point that I often am making them only hours in advance and in many cases, just before I get ready to put them on the cupcakes or cakes which when you want a nice 3D effect, makes things tricky. I am always grateful for the extra time to get ready for an order but if it's not possible, no worries, me happy!



I'd love to tell you more about the goodies you see here today but I don't want to use up too much space since I have a recipe I want to share (which was especially requested by some friends looking for a traditional holiday cupcake). Pictured are some Black & White birthday cupcakes for a fan of the group, MUSE; a Caramel Dolce communion cake topped with sugarpaste daisies and ribbon; a giant milk chocolate cupcake covered in white chocolate ganache frosting for Daphne's communion (which I had so much fun making!); a Vanilla Lovers horse birthday cake; a tower of assorted cupcakes for a baptism; one of my Jumpin' Jack Flash pumpkin cupcakes and some turkey cupcakes I made for the show 100% Mag on channel M6 which will air this coming Thursday in honor of Thanksgiving with my one of my favorite bloggers: La Mom. Thanks everyone for the challenges of coming up with these designs; I am always grateful for the smiles my cupcakes put on my clients' faces.




Oh, and did I mention the development of my first, real website is underway so I have also been busy writing the content, getting it translated for the French version as well as baking up lots of extra cupcakes to be photographed for the site!?! A big thanks to my friends and family who are providing feedback on this project, and to the folks at Aleberry Creative who have the design and technical skills to pull this together; I am gratefeul for your help.



But I digress.....many moons ago I worked over the holidays for my Jamaican friend, James, who I met at Peter Kump's. He was my partner the day I made my first arc-en-ciel tart which we covered in every fruit imaginable and it was the start of a beautiful friendship. We created many desserts together including the pumpkin spice cupcakes which I feature on my menu as "Jumpin' Jack Flash." I made a batch a few weeks ago and as I sat down last night to write this post, I realized that one of my recipe books has gone missing! I have a feeling it got lost one day in the shuffle somewhere between my home and kitchen! This is one of my seasonal recipes and I have to admit, I don't know it by heart. I could probably work up an approximation of the recipe while tinkering in my kitchen, but that's not going to help you get ready for Thanksgiving. Thanks everyone for your patience! And thanks to good friends and family who are willing to be a part of my culinary adventures. PS: I'd be ever so grateful to the random stranger who may have found my erratic scribblings in a "CatDog" notebook which doubled as one of my recipes book if you could please contact me to arrange a return!



Thankfully, I tasted some amazing pumpkin cupcakes at Cupcake Camp London a few weeks back and when I asked the baker for the recipe, she referred me to the Hummingbird Bakery cookbook. Thank you Belle of Belle Bakes - I am grateful for your generosity! I'll be making a batch of these for my daughter's class this Thursday and hopefully will be able to track down that notebook in the meantime! Hope you enjoy it.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! What are you grateful for this year?




Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
From the Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook

For about 15 cupcakes:
1 cup flour
¾cup sugar
1T baking powder
1½ teaspoons cinnamon, plus extra
pinch of salt
3T unsalted butter, room temperature
½cup whole milk
2 eggs
6½ oz pumpkin puree


Preheat oven to 325. Add flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and butter in mixing bowl and beat on slow until well combined.

Add eggs to the mix scraping sides. Mix in milk. Stir in pumpkin until evenly dispersed.

Spoon batter into baking papers ⅔ full. Bake 16-20 mins in preheated oven or until cake bounces back when touched. Let cupcakes cool slightly before turning out onto wire rack to cool completely. When cupcakes are cool spoon the Cream Cheese Frosting on top and dust with cinnamon.

For cream cheese frosting:
2½ cups confectioners’ sugar
3T unsalted butter, room temp
4oz cream cheese, cold

Beat sugar and butter together until mixture is well mixed. Add cream cheese in one go and beat until it is completely incorporated. Turn mixer up to med-high. Continue beating until frosting is light and fluffy. Do not over beat, it will quickly become runny.



Related Posts:
Turkey Cupcakes from Paris
A Thank-Filled Weekend
In Preparation for Turkey Day
La Mom on TV

Things That Make You Go Hmmmm

Or Hum in this instance, as in Hummingbird cupcakes. An odd name for a tasty treat and there has been much speculation on where the name of the Hummingbird cake or cupcake gets its origins. According to the Food Timeline, “Food historians generally cite Mrs. L.H. Wiggin's recipe published in the February 1978 issue of Southern Living magazine as the first printed reference to "Hummingbird Cake." Mrs. Wiggins did not offer an explanation of the name. Evidence strongly suggests this cake was popular in the south and known by several different (and equally interesting) names.” Many say that the name is a nod to its sweetness – hummingbirds are drawn to intensely sweet sources just as people are drawn to this cake. Incidentally, the Hummingbird Cake remains Southern Living’s most requested recipe.

It goes on to say that this cake is likely Jamaican in origin - the hummingbird (aka Dr. Bird) is one of the national symbols – though may have been adapted for American tastes. The combination of bananas, crushed pineapple and nuts common in most hummingbird cake recipes certainly is reminiscent of the tropics. A press kit dating back to 1969 from the Kingston (Jamaica) Daily Gleaner included a recipe for the Doctor Bird cake, made from bananas. And a contributor to an article in the Charlotte Observer notes that her family recipe for the Dr. Bird cake came to her from Jamaican Airlines in the late ‘60’s.



Another theory is that in the old days, people would hum as they ate the cake because it was so incredibly delicious. I like this idea best of all and invite you to tell me what you think; my recipe for Hummingbird cupcakes (adapted from Martha Stewart) follows:

Hummingbird Cupcakes with Orange Creamsicle Frosting
(Makes 22-24)

For the cupcakes:
110 grams unsalted butter, melted and then cooled
200 grams sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
2 bananas (the riper the better!), mashed
170 grams pineapple (5 rounds, canned), crushed
120 g pecans, crushed
190 grams all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ cup white chocolate chips (optional)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon ginger
pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 350/180 degrees. In the bowl of an electric mixer, whip the sugar and butter until pale and fluffy. Add in the eggs one by one and mix until blended. Add vanilla and mix. Mix in the bananas, pineapple and pecans until just combined. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, ginger and cinnamon, and then fold this into the batter. Lastly mix in the white chocolate chips. Fill either greased and lightly floured or paper-lined cupcake tins about 2/3 of the way full and bake for about 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cupcakes cool before frosting.

Orange Creamsicle Frosting
by Sugar Daze

80 grams cream cheese at room temperature
100 grams butter at room temperature
450 grams powdered sugar
zest of 1 orange
1-2 teaspoons fleur d’oranger

Mix cream cheese and butter until well-combined. Add in about half the sugar, the orange zest and fleur d'oranger and mix until smooth. Gradually add in the remaining sugar (you may not need all) until the frosting reaches a nice spreading consistency. Pipe on cupcakes or smooth on with a palette knife. Eat and say hummmmmmmm!

A Daring Bakers' Challenge : Time to Make the Donuts

To say I was elated when I saw the October Daring Bakers' challenge: Donuts, would be an understatement. Though I have never made them myself, I've always wanted to and so was able to channel my inner "Fred the Baker" for this one. Time to make the donuts!


The October 2010 Daring Bakers challenge was hosted by Lori of Butter Me Up. Lori chose to challenge DBers to make doughnuts. She used several sources for her recipes including Alton Brown, Nancy Silverton, Kate Neumann and Epicurious.



I decided to go with the classic yeast donut variety from Alton Brown. Making these were a bit of a challenge since I wasn't really sure what the dough was supposed to look and feel like as I worked with. Thanks to one of the other Daring Bakers' write-ups in the forums (thank you Audax!), I knew that the dough might appear to be overly sticky or wet and so I tried to avoid the temptation of adding in too much flour to compensate.




I did end up rolling and cutting the donuts once before frying only to find that they stuck too much to the tabletop, which then forced me to re-kneed (and yes, I admit -- I added some flour!) roll and cut again. I think this may have had a negative effect on the finished product as these donuts were a bit more chewy, compact and dense than I would have liked.



When I had finished cutting the donuts out, I had some left-over dough which I rolled into logs, braided and then shaped into circular form. I was actually thinking of the crullers I used to eat in high school at Niel's Coffee Shop on East 70th Street that were billowy on the inside, crunchy on the outside, and covered in the sweetest glaze that melted in your mouth as you bit into it. These were the best of the bunch that I made -- they puffed up nicely when plopped in the oil and were moist, cakey and airy on the inside.




My kids and I went to town on the glazing of these donuts when we were done. I mixed up some simple vanilla and chocolate glazes and dumped an entire bottle of sprinkles in a bowl for a pretty finish. These were so much fun to make and a lot easier than I would have thought. Next time, we'll be sure to try the buttermilk cake donut recipe that Lori also posted.



I made the donuts! You can too -- here's the recipe....
Yeast Doughnuts, by Alton Brown:

Preparation time:
Hands on prep time - 25 minutes
Rising time - 1.5 hours total
Cooking time - 12 minutes

Yield: 20 to 25 doughnuts & 20 to 25 doughnut holes, depending on size (I cut the recipe in half and ended up with about 18 regular size donuts and 15 holes).

Ingredients
Milk 1.5 cup / 360 ml
Vegetable Shortening 1/3 cup / 80 ml / 70 gm / 2.5 oz (can substitute butter, margarine or lard)
Active Dry Yeast 4.5 teaspoon (2 pkgs.) / 22.5 ml / 14 gm / ½ oz
Warm Water 1/3 cup / 80 ml (95°F to 105°F / 35°C to 41°C)
Eggs, Large, beaten 2
White Granulated Sugar ¼ cup / 60 ml / 55 gm / 2 oz
Table Salt 1.5 teaspoon / 7.5 ml / 9 gm / 1/3 oz
Nutmeg, grated 1 tsp. / 5 ml / 6 gm / ¼ oz
All Purpose Flour 4 2/3 cup / 1,120 ml / 650 gm / 23 oz + extra for dusting surface
Canola Oil DEPENDS on size of vessel you are frying in – you want THREE (3) inches of oil (can substitute any flavorless oil used for frying)



Directions:

Place the milk in a medium saucepan and heat over medium heat just until warm enough to melt the shortening. (Make sure the shortening is melted so that it incorporates well into the batter.)
Place the shortening in a bowl and pour warmed milk over. Set aside.
In a small bowl, sprinkle the yeast over the warm water and let dissolve for 5 minutes. It should get foamy. After 5 minutes, pour the yeast mixture into the large bowl of a stand mixer and add the milk and shortening mixture, first making sure the milk and shortening mixture has cooled to lukewarm.
Add the eggs, sugar, salt, nutmeg, and half of the flour. Using the paddle attachment of your mixer (if you have one), combine the ingredients on low speed until flour is incorporated and then turn the speed up to medium and beat until well combined.
Add the remaining flour, combining on low speed at first, and then increase the speed to medium and beat well.
Change to the dough hook attachment of the mixer and beat on medium speed until the dough pulls away from the bowl and becomes smooth, approximately 3 to 4 minutes (for me this only took about two minutes). If you do not have a dough hook/stand mixer – knead until the dough is smooth and not sticky.
Transfer to a well-oiled bowl, cover, and let rise for 1 hour or until doubled in size.
On a well-floured surface, roll out dough to 3/8-inch (9 mm)thick. (Make sure the surface really is well-floured otherwise your doughnuts will stick to the counter).
Cut out dough using a 2 1/2-inch (65 mm) doughnut cutter or pastry ring or drinking glass and using a 7/8-inch (22 mm) ring for the center whole. Set on floured baking sheet, cover lightly with a tea towel, and let rise for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oil in a deep fryer or Dutch oven to 365 °F/185°C. (I used a wok).
Gently place the doughnuts into the oil, 3 to 4 at a time. Cook for 1 minute per side or until golden brown (my doughnuts only took about 30 seconds on each side at this temperature).
Transfer to a cooling rack placed in baking pan. Allow to cool for 15 to 20 minutes prior to glazing, if desired.

The Sweetest Thing : A Daring Bakers' Challenge

I've been a Daring Baker for almost 2 years now and have loved so many of the challenges. We've made things from scratch I would have never dared to try on my own, and I have discovered new recipes for some of my standard desserts which are so much better than what I had traditionally been making. This month's challenge, basic sugar cookies, falls into the latter camp. For years, I have given sugar cookies at Christmas as teacher gifts, to our neighbors, etc. and I thought I had an excellent recipe for them. That is until I tried these which come from Peggy Porschen (who by the way I am dying to take a Master Cake Decorating Class with if anyone wants to sponsor me to the tune of 973 GBP!).



The September 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Mandy of “What the Fruitcake?!” Mandy challenged everyone to make Decorated Sugar Cookies based on recipes from Peggy Porschen and The Joy of Baking.



These were so much fun to make; if I had the time, I would have spent hours on different shapes and ways of decorating them. Unfortunately, with my pop-up store at Printemps this month, I have had very little free time and so I actually made these as cupcake toppers, which was a little bonus for those of you who had a chance to taste them.



I made a batch of heart-shaped cookies and decorated half with yellow royal icing and a checkerboard band which was my take on a NYC Checker Cab (the theme at Printemps is I Love New York!).



For the second half of the cookies, I covered them in white royal icing and before they dried, made heart decorations with hot pink royal icing and Wilton Sparkle Gel. I loved how these turned out; the sparkle gel looked like stained glass inserts on the cookies. I used these as toppers for some of the 150 cupcakes I donated to their breast cancer research charity event.



I've seen some of the amazing cookies the Daring Bakers made this month and you really should check them out. To make your own, here's the recipe...

Basic Sugar Cookies:
Makes Approximately 36x 10cm / 4" Cookies

200g / 7oz / ½ cup + 6 Tbsp Unsalted Butter, at room temperature
400g / 14oz / 3 cups + 3 Tbsp All Purpose / Plain Flour
200g / 7oz / 1 cup Caster Sugar / Superfine Sugar
1 Large Egg, lightly beaten
5ml / 1 tsp Vanilla Extract / Or seeds from 1 vanilla bean

Directions
- Cream together the butter, sugar and any flavourings you’re using. Beat until just becoming
creamy in texture.
- Tip: Don’t over mix otherwise you’ll incorporate too much air and the cookies will spread during
baking, losing their shape.
- Beat in the egg until well combined, make sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Add the sifted flour and mix on low until a non sticky dough forms.
- Knead into a ball and divide into 2 or 3 pieces.
- Roll out each portion between parchment paper to a thickness of about 5mm/1/5 inch (0.2 inch)
- Refrigerate for a minimum of 30mins.
- Tip: Recipes commonly just wrap the whole ball of dough in clingwrap and then refrigerate it for an
hour or overnight, but by rolling the dough between parchment, this shortens the chilling time and
then it’s also been rolled out while still soft making it easier and quicker.
- Once chilled, peel off parchment and place dough on a lightly floured surface.
- Cut out shapes with cookie cutters or a sharp knife.
- Arrange shapes on parchment lined baking sheets and refrigerate for another 30mins to an hour.
- Tip: It’s very important you chill them again otherwise they’ll spread while baking.
- Re-roll scraps and follow the above process until all scraps are used up.
- Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C Fan Assisted) / 350°F / Gas Mark 4.
- Bake until golden around the edges, about 8-15mins depending on the size of the cookies.
- Tip: Bake same sized cookies together otherwise mixing smaller with larger cookies could result in
some cookies being baked before others are done.
- Tip: Rotate baking sheets half way through baking if your oven bakes unevenly.
- Leave to cool on cooling racks.
- Once completely cooled, decorate as desired.
- Tip: If wrapped in tinfoil/cling wrap or kept in airtight containers in a cool place, un-decorated
cookies can last up to a month.

Royal Icing:
315g – 375g / 11oz – 13oz / 2½ - 3 cups Icing / Confectioner’s / Powdered Sugar, unsifted
2 Large Egg Whites
10ml / 2 tsp Lemon Juice
5ml / 1 tsp Almond Extract, optional (I used Vanilla Extract)

Directions

- Beat egg whites with lemon juice until combined.
- Tip: It’s important that the bowls/spoons/spatulas and beaters you use are thoroughly cleaned and
grease free.
- Sift the icing sugar to remove lumps and add it to the egg whites.
- Tip: I’ve listed 2 amounts of icing sugar, the lesser amount is good for a flooding consistency, and the larger amount is for outlining, but you can add even more for a much thicker consistency good for writing. If you add too much icing sugar or would like to make a thinner consistency, add very small amounts of water, a few drops at a time, until you reach the consistency you need.
- Beat on low until combined and smooth.
- Use immediately or keep in an airtight container.
- Tip: Royal Icing starts to harden as soon as it’s in contact with air so make sure to cover containers with plastic wrap while not in use.

Candy Candy Candy I Can't Let You Go....

Some are born with silver spoons; I think I was born with a candy-coated one. I have had a sweet tooth for as long as I can remember. Some of my best childhood memories involve some sweet or another. I've always been preferential to chocolate though caramel does it for me too. A trip to NY would not be complete without a stop at Dylan's Candy Bar, and Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (with Gene Wilder) is on my list of favorite movies. I've daydreamed about candy-flavored wallpaper I could lick to my heart's content and a never-ending gobstopper filled with endless tastes and colors. Halloween has long been one of my favorite holidays. And I can remember saving my allowance as a child to buy Pixie Stix and wax lips from our local newspaper stand.

When I was little, I went to camp in Maine. The camp director's wife would often tell stories about a good witch who lived in the woods named Varna (this was long before the Blair Witch Project -- had I seen that, you can bet I would have never stepped foot out of Manhattan again!). Legend had it that Varna would do good deeds for all the good campers and if they were very very good, she might leave you a piece of candy. It was Varna who would leave a SkyBar (anyone remember those?) under your pillow if you lost a tooth while at camp and yes, I do admit to twisting and wiggling many loose teeth during those summer months.

One of the most memorable and secretive traditions at my camp (and I hope I am not spoiling this in case the tradition lives on) was Varna's Tree. This involved the campers from the most senior bunk decorating a tree in the middle of the woods in gold spray paint and candy...yes, candy! Late that night, they would creep into the youngest kids' bunk and lead them out into the woods. Once there, they were told that Varna had left the tree because they had been so good and as long as they kept it a secret, the tree would be there for them whenever they wanted candy (which was of course forbidden at camp). As soon as the little ones were led back to bed, the older kids would return to the tree, dismantle it and remove the evidence.

To this day, I can actually remember being woken from my sleep one night when I was about 6 years old and being lead out into the woods while still half-asleep. And I can completely recall the surprise and delight I felt when I saw the tree and gathered up some candy. Some of my friends and I returned the next day and found a few stray gold leaves but no tree. We were pissed as hell and didn't talk to one of the other girls in the cabin for about a week, convinced that she had spilled the beans. I also remember about 10 years later, when I was in the oldest cabin and the camp director's wife came to us one night to help her with that year's tree set-up. It was a fun night and of course the best part was we got to eat all the left-over "evidence" afterwards!

Many of my US friends will tell you that I often ring them up and ask them to send me care packages of impossible to find candies here in France. Tops on my list? Mike & Ike's Hot Tamales, atomic fireballs, Reese's pieces, SweeTarts, candy corn, candy canes, Peeps and Cadbury eggs. Wanna get on my good side? Send me some...puh-leese!

My cupcake menu actually includes versions of some of my favorite candies: Peanut butter cups, Rolos, After Eight, etc. and in the past year, I have paid homage to some of my favorite candy bars by recreating cupcakes around them like my Twix Hi Hats or Snickers cupcakes. My newest menu addition is the "Touch Me Tease Me" cupcake which is essentially a Malteser (or Whopper for those in the US) in cupcake form. I have been playing around with Nigella Lawson's recipe for the better part of a year, and finally have come up with an adaptation that I really like. I think my fans must like them too cause I put them out for sale last week at the pop-up store, and they were gone in about an hour!

Now I can't tell you the exact changes I have made to this recipe cause then I might have to kill you! But prepared exactly as is, Nigella's gets two thumbs up from me. I'll give you a hint as to the changes I made...it just didn't taste Malteser enough to me! Here's how you can make these at home:

Chocolate Malteser Cake
From "Feast", Nigella Lawson (2004)

Makes about 24 cupcakes
150g soft brown sugar (muscavado sugar is best for flavour)
100g caster sugar
3 large eggs
175ml milk
15g unsalted butter
2 tablespoons Horlicks powder
175g plain flour
25g cocoa, sieved
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

For the icing and decoration
250g icing sugar
1 teaspoon cocoa
45g Horlicks
125g soft unsalted butter
2 tablespoons boiling water
2 x 37g packets Maltesers

Take whatever you need out of the fridge so that all the ingredients can come to room temperature (though it's not so crucial here, since you're heating the milk and butter and whisking the eggs).

Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 3/170C. Butter and line two 12-hole cupcake tins.

Whisk together the sugars and eggs until light and frothy. Heat the milk, butter and Horlicks powder in a small saucepan until the butter has melted and the mixture is hot but not boiling. Beat the milk mixture into the eggs a little at a time. Fold in the dry ingredients thoroughly. Divide the cake batter evenly between the two tins and bake in the oven for about 12-15 minutes, by which time the cakes should have risen and will spring back when pressed gently. Let them cool on a rack for about 5-10 minutes and then turn lift out of their tins.

Once the cupcakes are cold, you can get on with the icing. Put the icing sugar, cocoa and Horlicks in a processor and blitz to remove all lumps. Add the butter and process again. Stop, scrape down, and start again, pouring the boiling water down the funnel with the motor running until you have a smooth buttercream.

Spread on top of cupcakes or use a pastry bag and tip to make pretty swirls. Stud the top of each cupcakes with a few Maltesers or crush them leaving large pieces and sprinkle on top. Eat, enjoy!