What Makes A Raspberry And Coconut Cupcake Frou Frou

frou-frou (froo froo) n. 1. Fussy or showy dress or ornamentation. 2. A rustling sound, as of silk. The word frou-frou is first recorded in English in the early 1870s. Its original sense was ‘a rustling, as of silk on a woman’s dress’. An example that the Oxford English Dictionary cites from 1871: "With a frou-frou of soft silk she arose." This sense also appears as a verb–"frou-frouing skirts," for example. The current sense, ‘elaborate or frilly decoration, as on women’s clothing’, is also found for the first time in the 1870s. The word frou-frou is a borrowing from French, in which it is first found in the 1730s. It is ultimately of imitative origin–the word is supposed to sound like the rustling of silk.

I like the word, it intrigues me. And I always wonder how it would sound slipping off the tongue and escaping from the dainty lips of a French Madame. Delicate? Romantic? Ethereal? ….ahhhh more words I love!! I actually came across this recipe while browsing "The Australian Women’s Weekly CUPCAKES", which is a must have for cupcake fans like myself. The recipe was simply called "Frou-Frou" and that was enough to spark my interest and head for my baking paraphernalia. The photo was a beautiful shot of 2 little miniature cakes covered in moist, white creamy textured icing and flakes and swirls of dried coconut topped with a little cluster of fresh, plump raspberries. I realised that I was missing one or two key ingredients that the recipe called for, so I improvised. Instead of the Cream-Cheese Coconut Frosting, I made White Chocolate & Sour Cream Coconut Ganache. The result was not only delicious, but visually stunning. Raspberry and Coconut are another of those "Marriage made in heaven" ingredients.

       Print This!