Gateau Frais Cupcakes, Or Fresh Cake Cupcakes
Inspired by the Gentilly cake from Rouses Supermarket, these light and moist vanilla cupcakes are stuffed and frosted with mascarpone cheese frosting, then topped with fresh fruit. Beautiful and delicious!
If you ever pass by a Rouse's Supermarket, do yourself a favor and stop in for their Gentilly cake or cupcakes. A real treat! Here is a glairy picture of some of their lovely creations. I dropped in to the Lafayette store last time I was home because I just had to see what all the fuss was about. The fuss about those delicious cakes and cupcakes.
Wished I had a better shot. There were several ladies behind this counter, busy as bees. I hurriedly took a picture before I drew too much of their attention. After one of them asked nicely if they could help me, I said, "Oh, no, thank you," and speedily drove my buggy away. (Stalker!) Anyway, aren't they beautiful? Just beautiful!!!
After strolling about the patisseries some more, I quickly gave in to the temptation of the Gentilly cupcakes that my sister raved about. It was their beauty that lured me to them, and sure enough, they tasted as good as they looked. Wished I had taken a photo before they were all gone, but here's their website, www.rouses.com, which shows their Gentilly cake. The cupcakes are just a mini version of them.
The Gateau Frais Cake
This Gateau (meaning, cake) Frais (meaning, fresh) was inspired by that Gentilly cake. They are a little lighter and have the flavor of vanilla instead of almond, like Rouses' has. I recently baked it for a treasured friend who was visiting us on her birthday. She is very familiar with Rouses' Gentilly cake, but is not a fan of the almond taste, so that worked out very well! In fact, her husband gave this cake its name.
The Tulip Papers
Now, I live too far away from Rouses' to stop by and pick up some cupcakes every time I want one. So this is my attempt to satisfy that Gentilly craving. Before baking, I decided that those cute little tulip cupcake holders would be great for keeping the fresh fruit on top. You know the ones like Joanna Gaines uses in her bakery at Magnolia Market Silos? Yeah, those are the ones. Not being able to find any nearby, I came across some clever gals on Pinterest who made their own, so I gave it a try.
First, I cut 6" square pieces of parchment paper and wrapped them around a small can of tomato paste, then placed them into a muffin pan like this:
It didn't quite turn out like I wanted, but it's a start.
The Gateau Frais Cupcakes
The batter for these little lovelies is very easy to make. You can use a cake mix of your choice, but I urge you to make your own from scratch. It tastes better and is much more rewarding than baking from a box, plus you know exactly what's in them.
After the cupcakes had baked, I cut a hole out of the center using a large pastry tip. I wanted to get as much icing in and on there as I could. I think Rouses does the same.
The frosting is made with cream and mascarpone cheese, plus powdered sugar and a bit of vanilla bean paste. You can find this paste in the cake decorating section of stores, or use regular vanilla extract. I stuffed them with frosting by using a pastry bag and tip, but you can use a butter knife or spatula.
📖 Recipe
Gateau Frais Cake or Cupcakes
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 15-20 minutes
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 2 - 9" layers or 24 cupcakes 1x
- Category: desserts, sweets
- Cuisine: American
Description
Inspired by the Gentilly cake from Rouses Supermarket these light and moist, vanilla cupcakes are stuffed and frosted with a Mascarpone cheese frosting and topped with fresh fruit. Beautiful and delicious!
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter, softened
- ¼ cup shortening
- 1 ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup milk
- 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
- 5 egg whites
- 12 ounces Mascarpone cheese, at room temperature
- 1 ½ cups whipping cream
- ⅓ cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
Fresh Fruit Garnish
Any of your choice. Berries work well.Instructions
For Cake:
- Prepare 2 - 9"cake pans or 24 cupcakes for batter.
- Cream together butter, shortening, and sugar in a large bowl for 3 minutes.
- Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl.
- Add dry ingredients and milk alternately into the creamed mixture, mixing until well blended.
- Stir in vanilla.
- In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold into the cake batter.
- Pour batter into desired cake pans or cupcake holders.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Remove from oven as soon as the batter is set and an inserted toothpick comes out clean. You don't want to overbake this cake.
- Frost cake layers and top with fruit before adding the next layer. Frost the outside of the layered cake and top with whole, fresh fruit to garnish. For cupcakes, make a hole in the center with a decorating tip and pipe Mascarpone Frosting into the cupcakes from the inside out. Pile the frosting high and top with fresh fruit of your choice.
For Frosting:
- Mix together in a large bowl Mascarpone cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla.
- In a separate bowl, beat whipping cream until stiff peaks form.
- Fold cream into the Mascarpone mixture until well incorporated.
- Frost cake or cupcakes.
Notes
You can be as creative with this cake or cupcakes as you want. It's not only delicious, but appetizing to the eye.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cupcake
"What draws people to be friends is that they see the same truth. They share it." C.S. Lewis
Your Gateau Frais was delicious. These cupcakes are little mini versions of it. Since I ate such large portions of the cake, I bet I couldn't eat just one of the cupcakes. LOL
Tina
Thanks! They just may be a safer portion.