In France we are so proud of our pâtisseries that I never thought this day would arrive…. the first cupcake bakery in Paris has opened its doors! Luckily for me it is right beside my daughter’s favourite playground on Rue de La Forge Royale in the 11th arrondissement.
Cupcakes and Co. is the brain child of two sisters Maddie and Rebecca, a trained patisserie chef. They spent years baking cupcakes for their family and friends and decided to turn their hobby into a business.
And the time was right. Cupcakes and Co opened in September and they have been overwhelmed by the response. Last week they were able to showcase their cupcakes at Colette, and in January they will be at Gallerie Lafayette, and the list goes on and on. It seems that the whole of Paris has been secretly yearning for cupcakes….
What I love about this place is that they stock classic cupcakes like carrot, chocolate and vanilla, but they also continuously come up with new ideas like a moelleux au chocolat cupcake or a violette flavoured cupcake. You never know what flavour you are going to find when you go to the shop, but you know you will never be disappointed….
Last but not least, the cupcakes are made out of organic ingredients, without any additives or colorants. There you go: the perfect excuse to indulge yourself…
– Emilie
Comments (10)
Yum! I guess I should be on the lookout for a cupcakes shop in Amsterdam!!
you guys got me so into this cupcake caper (I have never even considered making cupcakes) that I decided to make my first every batch and pile them up into a cake for my boy’s birthday. it was a MISERABLE failure. I was aiming for that chic, pale blue and white spot look that was posted in an earlier cupcake thread. Apparently that is made from fondant, which I had never even heard of (!!). Instead, I dyed them with beetroot juice and got this sad (but quite yummy coz I added bananas) looking batch.
http://flickr.com/photos/sachaindie/3007485423/
not any new shop in sight here…. but I’m baking my first ever cupcakes today!!!
Were they good?
Gabrielle: I don’t think your cupcakes look bad at all!!
CUPCAKES IN PARIS! How exciting. And what great timing – maybe I don’t need to bake all those cupcakes for my son’s fourth bday party next week! Thanks for the tip ladies!
Gabrielle: They don’t look that bad and I think using beetroot juice to dye the icing is actually quite ingenious. I would not have thought of it….
Gabrielle, I think your cupcakes look delicious. I have a very simple fondant recipe if you decide to bake up another batch.
I recently tried Cupcakes & Co. and while good, I think they miss the mark a bit on the texture of cupcake we Americans grew up on. Yes, they do some great flavor combos but I found them to be a little too dense and cakey and not moist how I like them (or how I bake my own for my customers!). Don;t get me started however on their carrot cake, which is too die for.
It’s exciting though to see this trend take off here in Paris! I am hoping to open a cupcakery sometime in the near future, right now BB #2 is my priority. These ladies have definitely jumped into the market when the time is right!
Mmmmmmmmm …
I don’t agree at all with you Cat B (LMC) !!!
I’ve been many times to Cupcakes and Co and their cupcakes are right like the americans ones !!!
I was even amazed how much they tasted like the us ones !!!
I live in Ny for 5 years while at the university and I discovered cupcakes back then and since then i’ve been searching for them in Paris without results until Cupckes and Co arrived !!!
Now i order them for every single event (birthdays, babyshowers, office reunions etc …) and everybody loves them !!!!
I cannot recommend that shop enough, if you want a bite of America, try “Cupcakes and Co” !!!
Jessica, I wonder if it’s not a cultural thing. I don’t know what nationality you are, but I have found through my research that there are definite slants in taste when it comes to cupcake consistency and there is a difference between US and France. Most Americans from my generation grew up with cupcakes made from boxes like Duncan Hines and Betty Crocker. These tend to be more moist and gooey.
Then there is the camp that likes their cupcakes more cake-iness and these tend to be airy or dense depending on the amounts of flour, butter, etc, used. And for me, the cupcakes at Cupcake & Co. are more in the vein of the cake-iness version.
Now I never said they weren’t good cause I think they do some awesome stuff there. Just that they were not in the same consistency of what I personally appreciate in a cupcake. And I think my tastes run more American on principle.
What?! Cupcakes in Paris?!!! That’s formidable! We’ll go check it out and see what’s up…
For Cat B. I’m a BIG fan of the “moist and gooey” cupcake textures that I grew up on from box mixes in the States. But, since cake mixes here are DRY and dense, I make all of my cakes and cupcakes from scratch but use recipes for moist and gooey textures. Also, cream cheese (though it IS sold here at $7 or so a container (about 6 oz) is not found everywhere so it limits my excess unless I take a trip up to Paris and pay and arm and a leg… Fromage nature works good for the taste, but the texture is more like whipped cream cheese so the icing doesn’t come out with the same texture as Philly cream cheese…
I wanted to be the “first” in Paris to open a cupcakery, but I don’t have the money to do so… So, I bake for friends… : ) — CP