They have arrived. The cupcake trend that blasted its way through major cities across the USA in recent years (thanks in part to Sex + the City of course), has landed in Paris in the guise of Cupcakes & Co., a tiny, pink tinged storefront on a funky street in the 11th. The bakery is run by two French women and it is cleary an ambitious endeavor in a city filled with such magnificent pastries. They offer a wide range of flavors-which is sort of where the concept goes French-options such as vanilla with fleur d'orange and vervene, Chocolate and violet, pistache and framboise. Like the mecca of cupcakes, Magnolia Bakery, they could stick with the basics-vanilla + chocolate + use the magic of pastel food dye for effect. The results were a little dry and average. I was also a little dismayed by the big plastic container they put it in to-go--when people clearly scarf them down upon exit-a napkin would do fine in place of plastic, and they need to import the cupcake doily here as well because the paper holder is hard to remove and takes half the cake with it as well. All and all I think it is a fun and clever idea-why not have the mother of American sweets in city of macaroons and mille feuille? Cupcake & Co., 25, rue de la Forge Royale.
5 comments:
I posted pretty much the exact same review a month or so ago - and I also found they were dry (the cheesecake was alright though and they get bonus points for making it with real philly cream cheese).
I don't know - I've tried some of the other cupcake places in Paris as well and they've all had the same results. I'm starting to think the dryness is just a cultural preference...
*Dry* cupcakes ... quelle horreur! A cultural preference? Do French gateaux tend to be on the dry side? European genoise cake has a different character than the traditional American creamed butter cake, and takes well to being soaked in a flavoring liquid .... But a dry cupcake ... this is just plain wrong.
Hi! IMHO, I think the "problem" with the French cupcakes is that they use a base that is similar to the quatre quart, or pound cake, which is not at all what those of us from the US grew up with. I'm not sure that it's a preference just moreso that they may not know what an authentic cupcake should taste like.
This might call for some cupcake diplomacy ...
I agree with Ksam and Little Miss Cupcake,
I was very disappointed by the dry and dense quality of these "muffins with frosting." They weren't at all like a cupcake.... they weren't even as good as a muffin... I'm very picky, but I'm also a baker and I am very critical... These cupcakes did not taste good at all....
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