Oursons Guimauve & Mikado Cupcakes

In the mid '90's, self-serve candy bars (like Glups on the Champs-Elysées) sprung up all over Manhattan. There was one close to my office at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza that I swear I hit almost every lunch hour. I had nursed a life-long obsession for break-up white chocolate and I never thought anything could replace that until the day I tasted my first chocolate-coated gummy bear. Pure heaven in a bite-sized morsel.
One day after we had moved to France, I found myself face-to-face with a blue and white plastic bag in the supermarket labeled "Oursons Guimauve." "What's this?" I thought, spying the chocolate covered palm-sized teddy bears hidden within. Giving in to my curiosity, I bought a bag and threw it in with my other purchases where it was quickly forgotten as I made my way home. It wasn't until later that evening after my son had gone to bed that I had a moment to relish the delicious treat inside. WOW! thought my brain as my mouth closed over the crackly milk chocolate and my teeth sunk into the tender, fluffy marshmallow at its center. Suffice it to say, I've eaten a lot (too many) of these little guys in the 5 years that we have been here. Alas, I have not been too kind to my friends, les Oursons Guimauve, in recent months as I know that once the pack is open, there is no stopping me (and nothing ruins a diet faster than ploughing through a bag of twenty).
Just the other day, I happened upon David Lebovitz's ode to the sweet Oursons Guimauve and I thought that hey, it's been a while, maybe I should call some up and see how things are going. So, here is my humble homage to les Oursons Guimauve. My fellow chocolate and marshmallow fans, I give you the devil's food cupcake, topped with a mocha marshmallow frosting and decorated with an Ourson and some Mikado (cause I just liked how those looked but truth be told I had a few boxes lying around the house as the Mikado are my daughter's current obsession!) Calorie counters: Beware!