The Marshmallow Test

In recent weeks I have seen the story of the Marshmallow Test burning up the internet. Do you know of this study conducted by one of the psychology professors at Stanford back in the '60's? The basic premise was a child left alone in a room with a plate of sweets in front of him/her to see how he/she would react. A researcher would tell the child he needed to leave the room for about 15 minutes but before he went, he instructed the child to pick a treat from the plate (which included marshmallows). The child was told that he could either eat the marshmallow right away OR if he could wait until the researcher came back, he would get two marshmallows. The study was developed to identify the mental processes that caused some people to delay gratification while others simply ceded.



Of course, the kids who participated in the study demonstrated all sorts of behavior. While some were able to wait and receive the promised two marshmallows, others dove into the plate straight away and ate everything on it, others ate small bites of the goodies and put them back on the plate hoping no one would notice, and so on and so on. The study gets really interesting though when the researchers started to look into what happened to these kids about 20 years later. What they found was that those children who were able to wait for the researcher to return - the delayed gratifiers - were more successful in their lives than those who were not able to delay their gratification. Those kids "seemed more likely to have behavioral problems, both in school and at home. They got lower S.A.T. scores. They struggled in stressful situations, often had trouble paying attention, and found it difficult to maintain friendships." For more on The Marshmallow Test, click here.



I'd like to think I would have been one of the kids who was able to wait and get the 2 marshmallows instead of one. But I have always had a bit of a sweet tooth, especially when it comes to marshmallows. And lo and behold was I thrilled when I learned of the Daring Bakers' Challenge for July cause I have always had a thing for Mallomars - a beloved childhood treat that I haven't seen anywhere on these shores!



The July Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Nicole at Sweet Tooth. She chose Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies and Milan Cookies from pastry chef Gale Gand of the Food Network. We were given the choice to make either recipe, or for the more daring (and those with time to kill), both.

Mallows(Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies)
Recipe courtesy Gale Gand, from Food Network website
Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies
Prep Time: 10 min
Inactive Prep Time: 5 min
Cook Time: 10 min
Serves: about 2 dozen cookies (note: I thirded the recipe and ended up with about 30 cookies!)
• 3 cups (375grams/13.23oz) all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup (112.5grams/3.97oz) white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/8 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 12 tablespoons (170grams/ 6 oz) unsalted butter
• 3 eggs, whisked together
• Homemade marshmallows, recipe follows
• Chocolate glaze, recipe follows

1. In a mixer with the paddle attachment, blend the dry ingredients.
2. On low speed, add the butter and mix until sandy.
3. Add the eggs and mix until combine.
4. Form the dough into a disk, wrap with clingfilm or parchment and refrigerate at least 1 hour and up to 3 days.
5. When ready to bake, grease a cookie sheet or line it with parchment paper or a silicon mat.
6. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
7. Roll out the dough to 1/8-inch thickness, on a lightly floured surface. Use a 1 to 1 1/2 inches cookie cutter to cut out small rounds of dough.
8. Transfer to the prepared pan and bake for 10 minutes or until light golden brown. Let cool to room temperature.
9. Pipe a “kiss” of marshmallow onto each cookie. Let set at room temperature for 2 hours.
10. Line a cookie sheet with parchment or silicon mat.
11. One at a time, gently drop the marshmallow-topped cookies into the hot chocolate glaze.
12. Lift out with a fork and let excess chocolate drip back into the bowl.
13. Place on the prepared pan and let set at room temperature until the coating is firm, about 1 to 2 hours.

Note: if you don’t want to make your own marshmallows, you can cut a large marshmallow in half and place on the cookie base. Heat in a preheated 350-degree oven to slump the marshmallow slightly, it will expand and brown a little. Let cool, then proceed with the chocolate dipping.

Homemade marshmallows:
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup
• 3/4 cup (168.76 grams/5.95oz) sugar
• 1 tablespoon powdered gelatin
• 2 tablespoons cold water
• 2 egg whites , room temperature
• 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. In a saucepan, combine the water, corn syrup, and sugar, bring to a boil until “soft-ball” stage, or 235 degrees on a candy thermometer.
2. Sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water and let dissolve.
3. Remove the syrup from the heat, add the gelatin, and mix.
4. Whip the whites until soft peaks form and pour the syrup into the whites.
5. Add the vanilla and continue whipping until stiff.
6. Transfer to a pastry bag.

Chocolate glaze:
• 12 ounces semisweet chocolate
• 2 ounces cocoa butter or vegetable oil

1. Melt the 2 ingredients together in the top of a double boiler or a bowl set over barely simmering water.



I decided to make 4 varieties of Mallomars (or Mallows as they are called in the Daring Bakers' Challenge). The Classic, The Elvis (with a blob of peanut butter sandwiched between the marshmallow and chocolate glaze), The Obama (with a square of white chocolate hidden under the chocolate glaze) and The Cherry Kookoo a/k/a The Courtney Love (which sports a maraschino cherry at its center). They completely lived up to my childhood memories of these delectable cookies; who knew they were so easy to make at home yourself?

Speaking of Courtney Love, I doubt she would have been one of the kids who deferred gratification. But that's just my humble opinion of the gal - lord knows she's had a rough life. She looks like she could use a Mallomar or 20 these days. And hey, no need to wait, I've got a plate baked up fresh......

Just a reminder: Iron Cupcake Earth Herbs Challenge is now open for voting. Why don't you skidaddle on over there and vote for my luscious Lavender Loves Lemon Celebration cupcakes?

Strawberry Swing Cupcakes for IC:E Summer Berries

This is my first entry for the June Iron Cupcake:Earth challenge - Summer Berries. I was thrilled when this challenge was announced because I had been eyeing a recipe from the new Martha Stewart Cupcakes cookbook which I had seen on her site and then was able to drool over in person when my copy finally arrived from Amazon.co.uk! Hers is a Strawberry Cupcake with a Strawberry Meringue Buttercream. And lucky for me, it's strawberry season here in Paris.



The most common varieties on the market here are Gariguette, which represent 20% of the French strawberry production, and Mara des Bois. I used the latter for this recipe - it's a small, sweet, somewhat firm berry reminiscent to the wild strawberries we used to pick in the fields when I was a little girl at camp in Maine.



After taking a more in-depth look at the Martha recipe, I decided hers might be a little too full-on strawberry for a gal like me who is preferential to chocolate and caramel, and also a little bland for IC:E where the flavor combinations are key to the challenge. So I decided to scrap that idea - sorry Martha - save for the strawberries.

So, what did I come up with? A strawberry cupcake loaded with white chocolate chunks and topped with a strawberry and pistachio twist buttercream. It's name,"Strawberry Swing" is taken from Coldplay's Viva La Vida which I was listening to while I baked them.



I have to admit that despite the flavor additions, these were still a bit too strawberry potent for me. I think next time I may chop the chocolate finer so that you get more chocolate in every bite, and up the ratio of pistachio to strawberry buttercream.



In any case they make a nice summery dessert and would be perfect for sharing at a picnic or 4th of July party. The recipe follows. Enjoy!!!

Strawberry Swing 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 ½ cups flour
1/2 cup buttermilk /lait fermente
1/2 cup hot water
100 g. white chocolate, chopped
3 cups fresh strawberries, chopped in small pieces (you may want to reserve about 12 whole strawberries for decoration)

Pre-heat oven to 350F/180C. Grease or place cupcake liners into cupcake tins.
To make cupcakes, cream together sugar and butter until smooth. Add egg, vanilla, baking soda, salt and mix until well-combined. Alternate adding flour and buttermilk in 3 batches ending with a flour addition, mix well until smooth. Add hot water last and mix to combine. Fold in white chocolate chunks and 2 cups strawberries.
Fill lined cupcake tins 2/3rds full and bake for 18-22 minutes. Cupcakes are done when a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
Remove cupcakes from tin and allow to cool on a wire rack.

Pistachio & Strawberry Buttercream:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
3 tbsps. milk
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup strawberries (reserved from above)
1/2 cup pistachios, shelled and crushed

Place strawberries in the bowl of a small food processor; process until pureed.
In a bowl or mixer, beat together butter and sugar on low speed until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and milk and mix well. Divide buttercream into 2 bowls, fold strawberry puree in one; fold pistachios into the other. Mix well. Fill a pastry bag with pistachio buttercream on one side and strawberry on other so when you pipe, you get a half and half mixture of each coming out. Frost cupcakes. EAT!

I am competing for an ETSY PRIZE-PACK this month, which you will find right below the photo of my new tote! Why is there a pic of that groovy tote bag in the midst of my cupcake blog you may ask? Well, it's just my way of giving a shout out to my friend Melissa at Etsy shop: Haut Totes. I won a contest she was running on Twitter last week (I honestly never win anything!) and won an awesome, so very cool tote from her! Yay! Do you likey????


Here are the Iron Cupcake June prizes:

* A sweet cupcake ID bracelet by INSANEJELLYFISH
* A groovy linocut piece from BLOCKHEAD PRESS
* a sweet surprise from Sweet Cuppin' Cakes Cupcakery,
* PLUS, IronCupcake:Earth can not forget our good friend, CAKESPY, who is now going to be doing a piece for our winner each month until further notice - sweet!

Last and certainly not least, don’t forget our corporate prize providers: HEAD CHEFS by FIESTA PRODUCTS, HELLO CUPCAKE by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson, , JESSIE STEELE APRONS; TASTE OF HOME books, a t-shirt from UPWITHCUPCAKES.COM. Iron Cupcake:Earth is sponsored in part by 1-800-Flowers.

You Don't Bring Me Flours Anymore

Okay, sorry for this cheap play on words for the second time this month. It just seemed so fitting for this post.



I get asked A LOT if I have a store in Paris or if there is somewhere that my cupcakes can be tried before ordering. The short answer for the moment is "no." I am working on this (hopefully in time for the rentree) but it'll take some time. In the meantime, if you are thinking of placing a large order, get in touch and I'll arrange a tasting for you. 9 times out of 10, I can accommodate a small sampling and the upside is that you'll obtain the confidence of knowing I make a darn tasty cupcake!



The second question that comes up a lot is whether I deliver. Let me start by saying, I have two young kids and no childcare. It makes finding the time to bake tricky, and finding the time to deliver even trickier. I've currently reached a level of order volume where making deliveries is extremely difficult because it means time spent away from my kitchen. I have looked into courier services and the like but it's expensive. (If you happen to know of a cost-efficient one that is good with handling fragile perishables, please let me know).



So I am sorry to say that 9 times out of 10, I am going to have to ask that you come get your cupcakes when they are ready (unless you are real close by). Sure I'll make exceptions, especially for very large orders, and deliver when there is no other solution but until the day when you can find cupcakes on every corner in Paris, I have the luxury of knowing that you can either schlep to one of the few bakeries that is making them, or schlep to me (where you'll be 100% assured that your cupcakes were baked fresh from scratch for you, decorated exactly as requested, and darn tasty too!)



Today was an exception and I did make a cupcake delivery for Lea's birthday. It's Wednesday so I had both my kids home and pushing a stroller while trying to keep two cupcake boxes level is no easy feat, let me tell you! These are all Rogue cupcakes dressed up with marshmallow fondant flowers and butterflies, and white chocolate "nests." Oh, I'll continue to sing you love songs and quote bad '80's music lyrics here on my blog, but for now, sorry to say that I won't be able to bring you flours (as frequently as I have been) anymore.

Say It With Flours

**Spoiler Alert** This post is dedicated to my husband on our 8th year wedding anniversary. It may contain some sappy sentimental gunk so if you don't want to hear it, point your web browser elsewhere....



Upon meeting me, a lot of people wonder how on earth a born and bred New York City gal like me wound up in Paris. Which inevitably leads me to tell the story of how I met my husband. So for once and for all, here goes:

I used to date a really cool guy named Tom. At one point in our relationship it became pretty clear that we would be better off as friends versus boyfriend and girlfriend. Did I happen to mention we worked at the same ad agency? So we still saw a lot of each other and I think did (and still do when he's not too busy with work to talk with me) a pretty good job on the post-breakup friends part. Which is how I came to accompany him to a party one night as his "wingman." You see, Tom was quite smitten with a coat check girl he had met one day while lunching with some Clients. He had returned to the restaurant the very next day to ask her out and she invited him (and he me) to a house-warming party she and her roommate, newly arrived from Paris, were having.



So, we headed on down to her pad - it was a Sunday night (I remember because we always watched X-Files together and that night was no exception) - so not a serious partying night. We walked into the party and while Tom left me to go woo Mademoiselle French Fry, I gravitated towards a group of people at the center of the room who were discussing some such club they had been to the night before. A very tall guy in a beige linen suit immediately caught my eye. He reminded of a cross between Crispin Glover (you know the Thin Man from Charlie's Angels) and Ralph Fiennes, and just exuded elegance and charm. He had a girl on his arm who was regaling everyone with a story about how drunk he had been the night before and that the poor dear was so sick, he had barely slept and was now suffering with a terrible hangover. I of course reckoned she was his girlfriend and didn't think much of it as little by little, I found myself talking with him alone about French literature and culture. His English was so perfect, I didn't at first realize he too was French until he mentioned something about growing up in Paris.



From time to time, his girlfriend strolled over to chat; I was surprised that she wasn't bothered at all by the fact that we had been talking so long - it had been hours - and I mentioned this to him. He started laughing and seemed very amused by my comment. Because you see, she wasn't his girlfriend at all but the other hostess of the party and Mademoiselle French Fry's roommate. Well, that certainly explained a lot and so when he told me he was leaving for a short trip to Paris the next day, but said he'd like to call me when he came back, I didn't hesitate for a moment. For you see, somewhere in that space of our conversation, underneath a horribly colored hand-made patchwork blanket hung on the wall, something had happened to me. Something I had never felt before and couldn't quite explain. When I got home that night, I called up my best friend Jen and inexplicably blurted out : "I just met the man I am going to marry."



We were engaged a few years later during a truly romantic trip to the South of France. We had arrived at a beautiful chateau near Lyon and as we were getting ready to go down for dinner, he said to me, "You look beautiful but I think your outfit is missing something" and got down on hand and knee as he proposed and pulled an engagement ring from his pocket. It was a magical trip and one I will never forget.



We've been through thick and thin, ups and downs, laughter and tears over the years and we're two kids heavier than when we met. A more opposite couple you will likely never meet : he's practically never without a suit (even on a cross-Atlantic flight) while I prefer jeans and my Pumas. He's into opera and classical music, I can spend days watching MTV. He's a whiz with numbers, anything scientific and can speak intelligently for hours on any topic from Nietzsche to the Neolithic Revolution. I'll be the one helping our kids with their English homework...and did I mention I like MTV? Yet we somehow manage to make it work and have fun doing so. Well, except for that time when we were both unemployed and expecting our first child. That was certainly no fun but we got through it!

So to you dear husband I say, Happy Anniversary! I love you and look forward to another 8 to the power of 2 years with you (or 64 years if I am not mistaken -- I learned that the other night while he was teaching something to our 6 year-old!). And for this occasion, I baked up some of his favorites - 1 dozen mini cheesecakes in 3 varieties: lemon, raspberry swirl and pistachio/white chocolate. I think it makes a pretty cool flour arrangement (as my friend Elizabeth would say!) and a sweet way to mark our 8 year anniversary.

Daring Bakers Challenge - Cheesecakelets

Strawberry, Raspberry, Peanut Butter Cup Fudge Ripple, Turtle, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, Key Lime, Chocolate Coconut Cream, Pumpkin, Oreo, Dutch Apple Caramel, Chocolate Tuxedo Cream, Tiramisu, Dulche de Leche, Chocolate Mousse, Vanilla Bean, Kahlua Cocoa Coffee, White Chocolate Raspberry....Have I hit a flavor that tempts you yet? What do these all have in common you may ask? Look no further than the Cheesecake Factory's Cheesecake Menu and you will find these and many other delicious, mouth-watering flavors.



When we last lived in NYC, we had the Little Pie Company right around the corner from us and we went through a phase where we hit that joint weekly for their cheesecake and a few other goodies. Problem was they were a small business at the time and after a few months, I started getting a complex that I was maybe going there a little bit too frequently....that their employees were starting to notice those extra bumps and curves I was packing thanks to their sweet treats, and so I decided to back off for a while (and head to the gym a little more often).



The one offer I would never turn down though was a lunch and slice of cheesecake at the Cheesecake Factory in Miami on one of the many monthly pit-stops I used to make there when I worked for Burger King's ad agency. I have many fond memories of dining there with my former colleagues Pat & Holly; we would usually spend a couple of hours there between early morning meetings at BK HQ and the jaunt to Miami International to catch our flight back to NYC dishing about our Clients and bemoaning their reactions to whatever it was that we were presenting that day. Nothing made tolerating even the worst Client meeting better than a slice of Vanilla Bean or Oreo Cheesecake.



I was so ecstatic when the April Daring Baker challenge was announced and low and behold, it was cheesecake! This is hands-down one of my favorite desserts and I will never refuse a slice when offered. (Even when it came on the heels of a meeting where I sampled about 20 different Whopper sandwiches as part of R&D -- true story!).



The other day I was walking past a restaurant in my neighborhood that proclaims it serves the "Best Cheesecake in Paris." They apparently even won an award for it. I have been steering clear of them since. In the meantime, I am happy to content myself with the recipe you'll find below.



The April 2009 challenge is hosted by Jenny from Jenny Bakes. She has chosen Abbey's Infamous Cheesecake as the challenge. I decided to reduce this down to cupcake form, or cheesecakelets, and made 4 varieties:
- Abbey's as it is published below which yields a nice creamy slightly lemon-flavored cheesecake
- A Pecan Caramel Variety (Pecan crust with caramel de sel de Guerande topping)
- A White Chocolate & Strawberry/Rose Petal Variety (white chocolate cheesecake topped with fresh strawberries and a strained strawberry/confit de rose petal sauce)
- A Triple Chocolate Variety (dark chocolate crust with a 2-layer cheesecake - milk chocolate and white chocolate topped with milk chocolate shavings).



Here is the recipe. You can make this as a regular size cheesecake or do as I did and render it into cheesecakelets. I halved the recipe and ended up with 12 regular-size cheesecakelets. Enjoy! And many thanks to Jenny for this awesome and so simple recipe!

Abbey's Infamous Cheesecake:

Crust:
2 cups / 180 g graham cracker crumbs (I used crushed Speculoos cookies)
1 stick / 4 oz butter, melted
2 tbsp. / 24 g sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Cheesecake:
3 sticks of cream cheese, 8 oz each (total of 24 oz) room temperature (In Paris, you can find Philly cream cheese at specialty cheese stores or the American groceries. For this recipe, I used a mix of approximately 3/5 Mme. Loik fromage nature, 1/5 St. Moret and 1/5 creme fraiche. Next time I will definitely use the Philly cause nothing really compares!)
1 cup / 210 g sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup / 8 oz heavy cream
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. vanilla extract (or the innards of a vanilla bean)
1 tbsp liqueur, optional, but choose what will work well with your cheesecake

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (Gas Mark 4 = 180C = Moderate heat). Begin to boil a large pot of water for the water bath.

2. Mix together the crust ingredients and press into your preferred pan (I used a lined cupcake tin). You can press the crust just into the bottom, or up the sides of the pan too - baker's choice. Set crust aside.

3. Combine cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of a stand-mixer (or in a large bowl if using a hand-mixer) and cream together until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, fully incorporating each before adding the next. Make sure to scrape down the bowl in between each egg. Add heavy cream, vanilla, lemon juice, and alcohol and blend until smooth and creamy.

4. Pour batter into prepared crust and tap the pan on the counter a few times to bring all air bubbles to the surface. (If making cheesecakelets, you will want to fill each cupcake liner to just about the very top.) Place pan into a larger pan and pour boiling water into the larger pan until halfway up the side of the cheesecake pan. If cheesecake pan is not airtight, cover bottom securely with foil before adding water.

5. Bake 45 to 55 minutes (my cheesecakelets were ready in 21 minutes), until it is almost done - this can be hard to judge, but you're looking for the cake to hold together, but still have a lot of jiggle to it in the center. You don't want it to be completely firm at this stage. Close the oven door, turn the heat off, and let rest in the cooling oven for one hour. This lets the cake finish cooking and cool down gently enough so that it won't crack on the top. After one hour, remove cheesecake from oven and lift carefully out of water bath. Let it finish cooling on the counter, and then cover and put in the fridge to chill (You really do need to do this. I tried one about 2 hours after it came out of the oven and was not at all happy with the result. After letting them sit overnight in the fridge, they were excellent). Once fully chilled, it is ready to serve.



Little Miss Cupcake Varieties:
Pecan Caramel:
When you throw your cookies into the food processor add in about 1/2 cup of pecans. After the cheescakelets have chilled, top with homemade caramel sauce. Make it more savory by using salted butter or throw in some sel de Guerande - coarse sea salt.

White Chocolate & Strawberry/Rose Petal:
At Step 3 of the original recipe, melt about 100 grams of white chocolate with the cream. Let cool for a few minutes and then stir into the cheesecake filling ingredients. For the topping, slice strawberries, mix with some granulated sugar and allow to sit for a few hours in the fridge. Once cheesecakelets have chilled, top with sliced strawberries and then mix some of the juice that has accumulated in the bottom of the bowl with some rose petal jelly. Pour over tops.

Triple Chocolate:
Replace butter in original crust recipe above with about 100 grams melted dark chocolate. For the filling, mix all ingredients except for the cream and divide into two bowls. For the milk chocolate layer, add a few tbsps. cocoa powder to 1/2 cup cream and then mix into one bowl. Use this mixture to cover crust in pan half-way. For the white chocolate layer, repeat as above in White Chocolate & Strawberry/Rose Petal variety and pour this mixture over the milk chocolate layer. Once cheesecakes have cooled, use a carrot peel to make milk chocolate curls for decoration.



**To see more Daring Bakers' cheesecake creations, please visit our Flickr Group : Daring Bakers Look Good**

Beach, Bags, Bubbly & More

We're heading out this weekend for a short sejour at the sea. My husband's boss said "Take the days or you'll lose them" and who was he to protest? I won't be taking any orders until 20 April so if you try to get in touch, know there may be some delay in my reply.

Before I go, I want to tell you about a private shopping event I will be participating in from 6-8 May called Shopping & Bubbles being organized by MARIEluvPINK. I met Marie last week and I can't wait to see the group of designers she has rounded up for this sale; she is a true fashionista and has excellent taste. She tells me there will be bags, shoes, vintage accessories, etc. for sale at a beauty salon in the Marais she is taking over for 3 days. Did I mention there will be champagne? And cupcakes of course on opening night! Watch this space for more details as they come.



I was in a bit of a fog today as I prepared the cupcakes shown thanks to my son and his first sleepover date last night. We hosted and though I did my best to get the boys in bed at 8:30 promptly, there were several hours of giggling, footsteps through the house, bathroom visits, requests for food, water and much more that went on til the wee hours of the night. It wasn't until I got the bright idea of separating them in different bedrooms that we are all able to finally get some shut-eye. Lesson learned though I think it will be a while before we try that again.



These are some cupcakes made for a customer's godson. His name is Martin and he just turned 5. They are Cookies & Cream cupcakes (chocolate cake and Oreo buttercream drizzled with melted white chocolate) and I Love You Honey Bunny (carrot cake) cupcakes. I decorated them with melted white chocolate covered in rainbow non-pareils and formed into hearts, number 5's and the letters of Martin's name.
For Every Occasion A Cupcake. These are my sweet way of bidding adieu to you all while we take off for some R&R.

You Say Pistachio, I Say Pistache

The last NYC apartment my husband and I lived in was on the corner of Jane Street & Hudson. In an area known as the Meatpacking District. When we first moved down there, we practically were giving out maps to friends and family showing our exact location cause so many of them never ventured below 14th Street, much less even knew that there were actually unnumbered streets in NYC. "Jane Street? Where the heck is Jane Street? Are you still in Manhattan or did you guys move out to Brooklyn?"



I haven't been back to the old 'hood in about 4 years now, but the last time I did, boy, had it changed. High-end designer fashion; hip boutiquey hotels; a Starbuck's where one of the local bodegas used to be and even a celebrity chef had opened a joint where there used to exist a popular um, uh, "gentleman's club," to put it politely. Ever see that Sex & the City episode where Samantha is arguing with the tranny hookers out her window? Well, we lived that...honest!

We thrived on the local flavor, not to mention the awesome dessert places we had to choose from. Brownies from the Fat Witch Bakery and beautifully decorated sugar cookies from Eleni's in Chelsea Market. On 14th, the Little Pie Company for some of the best New York Cheesecake and Sour Cream Apple Walnut pies around. Of course, Magnolia Bakery, grand-daddy of all the cupcake shops, was just around the corner -- and in those days, you could just walk right in and take a cupcake or two. No 30 minute waits and no 15$ order minimum.



One of our favorite eating holes back then was Keith McNally's French-style brasserie Pastis which thanks to my husband's French roots, was where we could be found 2-3 nights a week. They made some great bistro favorites and their desserts - crepes suzette, a molten chocolate cake, creme brulée - one better than the other. Our all-time favorite though was their ice cream. Now I know what you are thinking -- why ice cream when you have all those delicious choices? Well, they got their ice cream from none other than il laboratorio del gelato which is IMHO, the best gelato you will eat outside of Italy. Period. We were addicted to this stuff, especially the heavenly pistachio and could easily finish off a bowl of said pistachio, chocolate and vanilla in minutes. Both of us jockeying our spoons for the last creamy morsel. I am actually salivating while I write this.



Suffice it to say, I came across a surplus of pistachios in my kitchen cabinet the other day and it made me think of this to-die-for gelato. I used them to bake up some vanilla cupcakes (next time I will make lemon) with pistachio buttercream and a dollop of pistachio-infused white chocolate ganache on the top. They are a very, very humble tribute to my long-lost pistachio gelato. It has been too long since I tasted this stuff! I don't know if Pastis still gets their gelato from il laboratorio di gelato but if they do, and you happen to be in NYC while reading this, trust me....run down there ASAP to Little W. 12th Street and order up a bowl. It's the best!



By the way, since I am totally this loving pistachio buttercream -- I honestly think it is one of the better toppings to come out of my home kitchen -- I wanted to share. I'll soon be adding it to the Little Miss Cupcake menu. Enjoy!

Pistachio Buttercream:

4 ozs. (1 stick) butter, room temperature
2-3 cups powdered sugar
6 Tbsp. heavy cream
1/2 Tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup shelled pistachios

1) Place pistachios in a ziploc bag and beat with a rolling pin until they are well pulverized. Alternatively, you can put them in a food processor but I find the rolling pin method easier to clean up after and a great way to let off some steam!
2) Beat butter until creamy.
3) Add sugar a 1/2 cup at a time. As the mixture stiffens, add the cream and vanilla. You want it to reach a spreading consistency. I don't like my buttercream to have an overly buttery taste, so I usually add all the sugar called for but you may not want to add all.
4) Whip in powdered pistachios and mix until well-incorporated. If the mixture is too stiff, add a little more cream. If too soft, add some more sugar.

I topped these with a dollop of ganache made from white chocolate, cream and powdered pistachio.

IC:E Wine: UltraViolette Kir Royale Cupcakes

When I heard the challenge this month was "wine," I figured it was a happy coincidence as I happen to live in the wine capital of the world! My immediate thoughts turned to champagne as we have several bottles on-hand leftover from New Year's. A classic champagne cocktail, the Kir Royale, mixes champagne and Creme de Cassis. Fairly straight-forward, though I know flavor-pairings are key in this contest. So, to make it a little more exotic, I added the secret ingredient of confit de violette to the cupcakes, and I gotta tell you these are out of this world delicious!

I've recently been seeing and smelling a lot of violet; our latest discovery is Hediard's Raspberry Jelly with Violet, and last week Sephora on the Champs Elysees gave me samples of Van Cleef & Arpel's Féerie perfume which they say is a "bright, woody-floral fragrance sparkling with violet, iris and rose accents." Perhaps it's this season's new black! :)

Here are my UltraViolette Kir Royale Cupcakes: a pink champagne cupcake infused with violet, topped with a kir royale buttercream, fresh raspberries and served in a white chocolate cup. This is more than decadent...it's a champagne lovers' sweet dream! (BTW, I love this ad for Piper Heidsick's Rosé Sauvage that I snapped at my local Monoprix. It says "I am pink and I sparkle").


Makes about 16 cupcakes
For white chocolate cups:
4 bars white chocolate
2 tbsp. shortening
16 cupcake liners

For pink champagne cupcakes:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsps. baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
4 ozs. unsalted butter, softened
1 ½ cups sugar
¾ cup pink champagne
6 egg whites
2 tbsps. Confit de Violette (or you could use a syrup like Monin), optional
Pinch salt

Kir Royale Frosting:
4 ozs. unsalted butter, softened
4-6 cups powdered sugar
2 tsps. Sirop de Grenadine (or for extra punch, you could use Crème de Cassis or Chambord)
2 tsps. champagne

Garnish:
Raspberries sprinkled with powdered sugar

To make chocolate cups: Melt chocolate and shortening in a double boiler. Stir until smooth. Slowly pour about 1 tbsp. chocolate into cupcake liners and swirl around so that chocolate coats bottom and 2/3 sides of the liner. Place on flat surface and allow to cool. To speed the cooling process, place in fridge. Once cups have hardened, repeat process to coat with a second layer of chocolate. Once the chocolate has hardened, peel off paper wrapper. Keep cool until you are ready to assemble cupcakes.

1) Pre-heat oven to 350/180 degrees. Grease 1 12-cup cupcake tin and 4 cups of second tin.

2) Sift baking powder, salt and flour in medium-sized bowl and set aside

3) Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Alternately beat in flour mixture and champagne, blending well after each addition. Briefly warm confit de violette in microwave to get it to a thick liquid consistency and stir in to combine.

4) Beat egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff and fold into batter, mixing just to combine.

5) Fill cupcake tins 2/3 full. Do not overfill as the batter really rises - must be the champagne! Fill unused cup molds halfway full with water. Bake for 20-25 minutes until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Once cool, remove cupcakes from tin and continue to cool on a wire rack.

6) For the frosting, beat 4 cups butter and sugar until creamy and soft. Slowly add champagne and sirop de grenadine and continue beating until frosting is of good spreading consistency. If too thin, progressively add more sugar. If too thick, add more champagne.

7) Frost cooled cupcakes and place in individual chocolate cups. Top with raspberries.

Tchin tchin, mes amis, a votre santé!

Here's more about this month's challenge:
The IronCupcake:Earth challenge for January is Wine! Red or White, Sweet or Dry, Bubbly or Still. What can you do with a bottle of wine and a sweet little cupcake?

I am competing to win the January ETSY PRIZE-PACK from artists:

* DOGBONE ART - http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=22042
* as well as a pair of cupcake earrings from LOTS OF SPRINKLES at http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6057281.
* PLUS, IronCupcake:Earth can not forget our good friend, CAKESPY, http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5243382, who is now going to be doing a piece for our winner each month until further notice - sweet!

As an added bonus for January, our friend at SWEET CUPPIN CAKES BAKERY AND CUPCAKERY SUPPLY will be tossing in another treat as well, http://www.acupcakery.com/index.html.

Last and certainly not least, don’t forget our corporate prize providers: HEAD CHEFS by FIESTA PRODUCTS, http://www.fiestaproducts.com, HELLO CUPCAKE by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson, http://blog.hellocupcakebook.com, JESSIE STEELE APRONS http://www.jessiesteele.com; the CUPCAKE COURIER http://www.cupcakecourier.com; TASTE OF HOME books, http://www.tasteofhome.com. NEW, BEGINNING IN JANUARY; our new friends at UPWITHCUPCAKES.COM http://www.upwithcupcakes.com/ will be providing our winner with one of their cute cupcake attitue t's! Iron Cupcake:Earth is sponsored in part by 1-800-Flowers, http://www.1800flowers.com.

Voting will begin no later than Thursday, January 29 at 8 p.m. at NO ONE PUTS CUPCAKE IN A CORNER and will be open through Wednesday, February 4 at 12 noon.

Oursons Guimauve & Mikado Cupcakes

In the mid '90's, self-serve candy bars (like Glups on the Champs-Elysées) sprung up all over Manhattan. There was one close to my office at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza that I swear I hit almost every lunch hour. I had nursed a life-long obsession for break-up white chocolate and I never thought anything could replace that until the day I tasted my first chocolate-coated gummy bear. Pure heaven in a bite-sized morsel.

One day after we had moved to France, I found myself face-to-face with a blue and white plastic bag in the supermarket labeled "Oursons Guimauve." "What's this?" I thought, spying the chocolate covered palm-sized teddy bears hidden within. Giving in to my curiosity, I bought a bag and threw it in with my other purchases where it was quickly forgotten as I made my way home. It wasn't until later that evening after my son had gone to bed that I had a moment to relish the delicious treat inside. WOW! thought my brain as my mouth closed over the crackly milk chocolate and my teeth sunk into the tender, fluffy marshmallow at its center. Suffice it to say, I've eaten a lot (too many) of these little guys in the 5 years that we have been here. Alas, I have not been too kind to my friends, les Oursons Guimauve, in recent months as I know that once the pack is open, there is no stopping me (and nothing ruins a diet faster than ploughing through a bag of twenty).

Just the other day, I happened upon David Lebovitz's ode to the sweet Oursons Guimauve and I thought that hey, it's been a while, maybe I should call some up and see how things are going. So, here is my humble homage to les Oursons Guimauve. My fellow chocolate and marshmallow fans, I give you the devil's food cupcake, topped with a mocha marshmallow frosting and decorated with an Ourson and some Mikado (cause I just liked how those looked but truth be told I had a few boxes lying around the house as the Mikado are my daughter's current obsession!) Calorie counters: Beware!

White Chocolate Cupcakes with Orange Buttercream Icing

Recently, I purchased some delicious orange chocolate Halloween candies at our local chocolatier/ patissier. They were creamy, luscious and tangy -- a real satisfying taste combination. And the fact that they were shaped as witches, goblins and ghosts made them an excellent holiday treat. I wanted to see if I could replicate this taste sensation in a cupcake.

There is a new white chocolate bar on the market here made by Nestle to be used specifically in baking, and boy, is it delicious. I started with some of these and melted them down to be added to a traditional vanilla cupcake recipe (though reduced the amount of sugar usually added to compensate for all the sugar in the chocolate bars). For extra white chocolate ka-pow!, I placed one square on top of each cupcake before baking. These finished up settling in the bottom half of the cupcake after baking, and made for a nice added surprise when eaten.

For the buttercream, I used my regular mixture of butter, powdered sugar and crème liquide and into this grated the zest of 2 fresh clementines. I finished it by adding the juice of 3 freshly squeezed clementines and some orange food coloring to really dial up the color.

My son proclaimed these "Yum-my!" I think they turned out pretty good and did justice to the candy that inspired the lot. Next time, I may try adding an extra egg or two; these cupcakes were moist and light the day they were baked and the day after, but became a little more dense and spongey the longer they sat.