I believe in paying money to save myself time and effort. So that I can reinvest my saved time and effort on making more money to pay for more time and less effort.
The French don’t. And this is why they also don’t believe in ready-made frosting. So when I want to be a good girlfriend and bake my handsome French boyfriend a cake, I now have to consider the added time and effort that making my own frosting requires.
Good thing there are many French bakeries with ready-made cakes to solve this problem.
And good thing that my parents fulfill my bizarre requests for frosting, mayonnaise without mustard, Secret deodorant and quesadillas from Ruchi’s when they come to visit me once a year.
Still, the lack of grocery bought frosting, is just another thing I hate about France.
A girl can dream...
Haha! It’s so funny what we miss when we are abroad, isn’t it?
In turn, I can’t believe the surprise people show here when I bake a cake and it’s… gasp… from scratch 
Haha! Crazy foreigners baking cakes from scratch!
I’ve actually given up, my Dad is coming from Texas next month and I’ll just ask him to bring me some frosting, lol.
Wow, I never realized that! I lived in France for two years and one of the things I missed the most were certain brands of chocolate bars and cereals that I was able to get back home (I’m Canadian) and not in France.
Not that I’ve lived in Hong Kong for nearly two years, I realize how many things I can get here that I wasn’t able to get in Nice or Nantes (the two cities I lived in in France). HOng Kong nearly has everything I like… With the exception of Wheat Thins (you know, those Mr. Christie crackers)!
Wow,, I never realized that! I lived in France for two years and one of the things I missed the most were certain brands of chocolate bars and cereals that I was able to get back home (I’m Canadian) and not in France.
Not that I’ve lived in Hong Kong for nearly two years, I realize how many things I can get here that I wasn’t able to get in Nice or Nantes (the two cities I lived in in France). HOng Kong nearly has everything I like… With the exception of Wheat Thins (you know, those Mr. Christie crackers)!
Thanks for the comment! I actually have a list of “Things I Hate About France”, which of course I don’t truly hate, but it’s just strange that some products are so hard to fine, even with a large expat population here.
But oh well, when I actually get people to bring me these random products, they become so much more enjoyable when I can’t have them very often!
On the other hand, there are some expat shops here in which you can order stuff online, but paying 5 euros to get a couple of Reese’s Peanut Butter cups delivered to my door seems rather extravagant, especially when I have so many fantastic French bakeries with delicious stuff to discover within a 1 mile radius!
Oh yes!! I totally forgot about the dearth of Reese’s in France!! There were other things that my expat friends used to complain about… Like they couldn’t find Heinz ketchup in France… Nor white marshmallows (for some reason they only had pink?!)… Random, but those are the touches of home that add comfort!
This post got me thinking and inspired me to write one of my own about the things (including the aforementioned Wheat Thins) that I can’t get in Hong Kong… LOL…
Thanks for the inspiration, lady!
YAY! I loved your blog too, so now I’m following it. Can’t wait to read your post
Frosting is something that France is missing out on hard-core, I have to admit. But how about some positivity, girl? Chin up! How about some things you like about France?? The bread is delicious, admit it!
Hehee, it’s easier to be negative than positive! And I mostly write these things just to poke fun at life in France: so far I’ve survived fine without frosting
Frosting is plain DISGUSTING, and unhealthy!
If your BF is French, learn how to do it properly and GLAZE your cake. It is actually easy. Frosting comes from the French glacing. Sugar water and lemon juice. Oh and heat! That is all.
Thanks for the advice. I never thought about it that way, but I’m sure you’re right and frosting is unhealthy…
Glaze sounds good. I love glazed donuts, so I guess I will love correctly glazed cakes
Thanks for the tip!
I think glaze is so much better than frosting anyways
And as you said, so easy.
Carla, just buy powdered sugar and squeeze a lemon, lime, or orange. Mix juice and powdered sugar until it becomes somewhat stiffer. Really good!
OKkkk! I guess i’ll try… but actually, I noticed that on Sat. night I went to a dinner party, and somebody brought a cake. It was an unglazed, unfrosted plain banana cake. Delicious, but still surprisingly unglazed. This could be an option too
It’s not that the French do not value saving time. They do, however, put an emphasis on quality. This is a value that most European countries hold dear. Therefore, if you are short on time, buy your cake at a bakery where the quality is a given. The “slow food” movement emphasizes the concept that nutrition and quality should be preserved rather than taking shortcuts and producing anything mediocre.
If you inspect the list of ingredients on the can of frosting, you will find lots of things not included in French frosting. Likewise any fresh ingredient that the French are using is not going to be included in a can of frosting that has been sitting on the shelf for months.
Thanks for your comment Stephen! I just wanted to point out that I was being a bit sarcastic though: I actually LOVE the fact that the French favor quality over saving time. It’s beautiful.
But thanks to you and another commenter, I’ve realized that I should really look at the ingredients in the stuff I buy. Maybe frosting is not even legal here, because it doesn’t fulfill the EU standards for “safe” consumer products (quite possible!). Thanks for pointing that out though!