I took my 4-year-old daughter this time and left my two younger boys at home with nana.  My daughter chose these sour gummies for herself.

Sour banana and sour strawberry, to be exact.  But they weren’t very sour.  They were so delicious, better than any sort of gummy treat you could buy at a supermarket.

And these marshmallows.  We got a pack of 8 assorted ones.  I just can’t get over how soft and fluffy these are, lighter than air.  I’m surprised that they don’t actually float in the air.  They each have a specific flavor (raspberry, passionfruit, mango, etc.) and they taste exactly like what they’re supposed to.

I wonder if they use egg whites in their marshmallows, or if they use a recipe that doesn’t have eggs at all?  I’d love to know, and I’d love to make them myself!  I’ve never made marshmallows before and these from Sweetness have inspired me to make my own vanilla bean marshmallows.  I just wish I knew if I should go for the egg white ones, or the other ones – does one give a fluffier result than the other?

I chose a pack of 2 toasted coconut marshmallows for myself (I had already eaten one before I took this photo!).  Words cannot describe, seriously.  I am totally blown away by these marshmallows.

I also got a block of peppermint fudge for msyelf.

I couldn’t decide between the vanilla fudge and the peppermint fudge, so I left the ultimate choice up to my daughter, who I knew was going to choose peppermint just because of the green stripes on it!  But next time I’m getting the vanilla fudge.

Because yes, of course, there will be a next time.  But hopefully not for a little while.  You know what they say about too much of a good thing!

View the treats from my previous visit to Sweetness The Patisserie.

The shop is indeed beautiful.  I wasn’t brave enough to ask if I could take a photo inside the shop, so all you get is this sideways shot of the outside!  The inside of the shop is loaded with sweet treats of all kinds, including macarons, marshmallows, fudge, toffee, truffles, or, easier yet, let’s just say that if it’s sweet, it’s in this shop!

I was a little overwhelmed.  I couldn’t choose what to get.  I had a brief look behind the counter, where a handful of people were handmaking the treats – that’s right, everything in this shop is handmade, right in the shop itself.  It’d be neat to spend a day behind the counter to see what it’s like to handmake all these treats.

There were tiny samples of a lot of the treats and my son and I took advantage of most of them.  The fudge was amazing!  Now that I think about it, I’m sorry I didn’t purchase any of the fudge!  But I could see that I could easily lose track of my spending in this shop, so I had to pass on a lot of things.

They also had a bag that they themselves had filled with their favorite and best treats.  Inside the bag was a generous block of hazelnut and cranberry nougat (in the style of Montelimar), a big block of rocky road that was chock full of their own handmade marshmallows and pate de fruit, a beautiful large shard of English toffee, and 4 soft, squishy, cloud-like marshmallows.  This bag of treats, $18.50, was what I chose first.

I never liked nougat, and even though I hoped that I would like the nougat from Sweetness, I didn’t!  This has nothing to do with the quality of this particular block of nougat, I just simply don’t like nougat, and now I know that I don’t, once and for all!

The rocky road and the toffee were my absolute favorites of everything that I purchased.  The rocky road was full of Sweetness’ own handmade signature marshmallows – in the block that I got, I believe I had a mix of raspberry and mango flavors.  Definitely the best rocky road I have ever eaten.  The toffee was not rock hard, as I expected, but had a lovely crunch instead.  And again, it was the best English toffee I have ever eaten.

Separately, the nougat is $8 for 150g; the rocky road is $4 for 100g; the toffee is $5 for 100g; the marshmallows are $2.50 for 2 squares, or $8 for 9 squares.

Sweetness’ marshmallows.  Oh, where do I begin.  If you think you’ve already eaten the best, most fluffiest, most squishiest marshmallows, you would be wrong.  You haven’t eaten anything like a marshmallow from Sweetness.  I could not believe how soft and squishy these were, like eating a cloud.  They also use real vanilla beans in their vanilla marshmallows, and they looked beautiful with the speckle of those beans throughout the marshmallow.  They even tasted like what they were supposed to taste like, and the passionfruit one was the strongest smelling one in the package that I got!

What I also loved about Sweetness was that they had a lot of their treats under glass domes.  They looked so pretty.  Under one of these domes were a variety of macarons.  I couldn’t tell what flavors they were just by looking, but I chose a chocolate one and a banana one.

Okay, so I have to be honest, after all, I’m writing a review, right?  I didn’t like the macarons.  They were stunningly gorgeous, sitting their under that glass dome in the shop, it took my breath away, it really did.  But I just wasn’t pleased with the taste.  The best macarons I have tasted so far were my very own chocolate and peanut butter ones, just FYI.  The chocolate didn’t really taste chocolatey, and there wasn’t enough filling, in my opinion, but I liked how there was a sprinkling of cocao nibs on top (I didn’t get a photo of these, unfortunately).  The banana one had a subtle banana taste, and was filled with chocolate, but just not enough.  What surprised me the most about these macarons?  Look at the photo below:

My first bite showed me a huge pocket of air inside the top macaron shell!  I didn’t think macarons were supposed to have a pocket of air inside, although I’m not a macaron expert, but it didn’t make me feel so bad when I discovered some pockets of air inside my own macarons that I have baked.  But look at all that gooey inside the Sweetness macaron!  The shell on these babies were perfect.  The shells on my macarons that I have baked never came anywhere close to the shells on these from Sweetness.  These were my first official macarons from an official patisserie, and even though I wasn’t happy with the way they tasted, I enjoyed every second of eating them.  If that makes any sense!

The macarons were $3 each, or $33.00 for one dozen.

My last choice from Sweetness was the dark chocolate shortbread (seen in the third photo up from here).  You’d think I would have chosen some truffles, or fudge, instead of a simple shortbread, but I’ve never tried chocolate shortbread before.  And they did look very nice.  These were under a glass dome as well.  They have a coating of dark chocolate on the bottom, as well as a zig-zag of dark chocolate across the top.  This shortbread cookie just simply melted in my mouth, what an amazing experience.  They were sooo scrumptious.  $2.00 each or $20.00 for one dozen.

After we left Sweetness, we went to Pablo and Rusty’s Espresso Bar, who gave me a great cappuccino.  I loved this little place and will definitely return if I find myself near one of their espresso bars again.

My visit to Sweetness was definitely worth it; it even made up for my nearly panicking on Epping station’s skyscraping elevator!  I would highly recommend Sweetness The Patisserie if you’re looking for treats for a party, or even just to treat yourself.  A lot of their products are gluten-free, as well.  So go ahead – indulge!

So, at the very next opportunity I had, I made my own version.

I used Martha Stewart’s devil’s food cupcake recipe for the cake.  I really like this particular recipe.  It makes a beautiful smooth batter and a very nice firm, yet moist and tender, chocolately cake.  I divided the original recipe in half and ended up with 17 cupcakes!

For the cream filling, I used Annie’s Eat’s marshmallow filling recipe that she used in her faux Hostess cupcakes.  I chose this because I didn’t want to take the time to make the 7-minute frosting that I have mainly seen used for filling in these cupcakes (next time I will use it though).  I have to agree with Annie that the filling isn’t as light as in the commercial version, but it is definitely suitable, and yummy, to use in these cupcakes.  As per Annie’s recipe, I also used the filling to pipe the swirls on top of the cupcakes (with added cream).

For the chocolate glaze I also used the same one that Annie used in her faux Hostess cupcakes.  I used the full recipe and ended up with exactly enough glaze to double-dip all of the 17 cupcakes.

They are reminiscent of the real Hostess cupcakes, but no, they are definitely not an exact replica!  However, they are extremely delicious!  I preferred the taste of these the day after baking.  I stored them in the refrigerator and also preferred them at room temperature.

They are a little time-consuming, but they are oh so worth it!

The first cupcakes I’d like to absolutely rave about are these peanut butter cupcakes with chocolate glaze from I Heart Cuppycakes.

These are amazing!  I’ve been reluctant to make peanut butter cupcakes because I thought that the peanut butter might make the cake heavy or dense.  But these cupcakes are so incredibly moist and soft and so full of rich peanut butter flavor!  I was blown away, this is one awesome cupcake!

This will definitely not be the last time I make these.  If you love peanut butter and chocolate, I highly recommend you bake a batch of these right now!  And make sure you have a tall glass of milk to go with them!

Now for the second cupcake.  The peanut butter cupcakes got me thinking about Nutella cupcakes.  Nutella can often be substituted for peanut butter in recipes, so I decided to give it a go with these cupcakes.  I used the same amount of Nutella, but I did decrease the sugar by about 1/4 cup because Nutella is much sweeter than peanut butter.  I did everything else the same as for the peanut butter cupcakes.

What I found was that the Nutella cupcakes sank slightly in the middle when they were done baking.  They seemed to rise higher as well, so next time I wouldn’t use a full 1/4 cup of batter in each liner; my Nutella cupcakes overflowed a little bit!

But, the cake did taste of Nutella and still came out very moist and soft.

I wasn’t sure of the type of frosting to use on Nutella cupcakes.  I didn’t really want to use more Nutella in case it ended up being a bit too much.  A friend suggested marshmallow frosting, which sounded like a winning combination!  I guess sort of like a fluffernutter cupcake, only with Nutella instead of peanut butter!

To finish off the Nutella cupcake, I spooned a dollop (or about a teaspoon) of fresh Nutella into the middle of the top of the cupcake and frosted them with marshmallowy Swiss meringue from the queen of Swiss meringues at How To Eat A Cupcake.  This frosting is definitely a keeper, it was fantastic!

The Nutella cupcake is quite sweet, but a flavor combination I haven’t yet experienced.  Next time I probably wouldn’t use so much frosting on each cupcake, but instead just spread a light layer on top.

What kind of frosting would you like on a Nutella cupcake, just out of curiosity?

The original recipe used regular marshmallows, but as you can see, these are pink strawberry marshmallows.

These are very chocolatey.  The strawberry taste of the marshmallow is subtle; I’d probably prefer to use regular marshmallows next time.  The cookie itself is cake-like and soft.

My opinion is that I most likely wouldn’t make them again, as I didn’t think they were that great.  The photos of them, especially the photo on Martha’s website, look great, but I personally didn’t care much for them.  My daughter didn’t like them at all, but my 2-year-old son did!

My ice cream cupcake tastes sort of like a mocha covered with marshmallows and hot fudge.  It’s really tasty.

The idea for the frosting came from the latest issue of Taste of Home magazine (June/July 2009); it was the frosting for a coffee and chocolate pie.  I lessened the amount from the recipe a bit, since I wouldn’t be needing as much as the recipe made.  It is very light and would be a good frosting for regular cupcakes as well if you’re after something light and marshmallowy.

The cake recipe I used is the same from my s’mores cupcakes.  It is a recipe from Martha Stewart and Trophy Cupcakes in Seattle.  I chose this cake recipe because it was very soft and moist in the s’mores cupcakes.  For my ice cream cupcakes, I divided the cake recipe in half.

Keep in mind that you can use any cupcake flavor you wish to make ice cream cupcakes, as well as any ice cream flavor.  I won’t post the recipe for the cake, as you can find a link to that on my s’mores cupcakes post, but I will post the instructions for assembling the ice cream cupcakes, as well as instructions for making the frosting.

Marshmallow Whipped Cream Frosting
Adapted from the June/July 2009 issue of Taste of Home magazine
Makes enough to frost 10-12 cupcakes

Ingredients
1 cup whipped topping
1/2 cup marshmallow creme
Warmed hot fudge sauce
Mini chocolate chips

Method
Just before frosting cupcakes, gently stir together whipped topping and marshmallow creme until combined.  Spread onto cupcakes.  Drizzle warmed hot fudge sauce on top of cupcakes and sprinkle with mini chocolate chips.

To Assemble Cupcakes
Bake cupcakes as directed in recipe.  Cool completely.  Freeze cupcakes in freezer for 15-30 minutes, as this will help keep the cupcakes firm and manageable while slicing and spreading with ice cream.

Unwrap cupcakes from liners (do not discard the used liners) and slice each one horizontally.  Spread 1-2 tablespoons softened ice cream on the bottom half of each cupcake, then top each bottom half with a top half.  Place the cupcakes back into the used liners, and put each one back into the cupcake pan and return to freezer for at least one hour.  Putting them back into the liners and the cupcake pan will help keep everything in place.

When ready to frost, follow directions above for marshmallow whipped cream frosting.

After storing these cupcakes in the freezer, I would suggest letting them sit out at room temperature about 15 or 20 minutes before enjoying them.  This will let the cake soften back up again.  :)

Thank you to Cupcakes Take The Cake for posting my ice cream cupcakes on your blog!