Italians are among the most hygiene-conscious people in Europe, according to a new study.
A poll carried out by the Austin Research and Training group found that 91% of Italians wash their hands after using a public lavatory.

Only the Germans, Norwegians and the Swiss were more
cleanly, with 92% washing their hands.The Belgians were the least hygiene-conscious, with just 74% washing their hands after using public rest rooms, followed by the Russians, the Dutch and the Spanish with 78%.

The poll also found that 67% of Italians always dry their hands after washing them, while 23% only dry them most of the time.This compared to 81% of Finns who always dry their hands,
74% of Norwegians and 68% of Spanish and Russians.The Netherlands and Russia were also at the bottom of the list in this category, both with 46% always drying their hands.

source: ANSA

Now..did you wash hands.....???

Thanks to Arfi at Homemades the host of Cupcakes Spectacular 2008 and to Vi who shared the information regarding the blog event.

I found the recipefrom here and I modified the name. If you can not find Amaretti cookies you can make your self, Stephanie Jaworski from Joy Of Baking has posted this Italian macaron recipe.

Amaretti Cupcakes with Mascarpone frosting

For 12 Cupcakes

Ingredients, cake:
1.5 C. crushed Amaretti cookies, crushed finely
3/4 C. flour
1/2-3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4C. Sugar
1/2 Cup yoghurt or buttermilk
2 large eggs, room temp
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder

Ingredients, Frosting:
1 pckg Mascarpone cheese, the one I bought said 200g
1-1.5 cups Confectioners sugar
2-4 tsp instant espresso powder, but adjust this to your taste
2 tblsp butter, very soft

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F/170°C and line a 12 piece muffin pan with cupcake papers.

2. In a small bowl, combine all dry ingredients and set aside.

3. In a large bowl, cream the sugar and butter together till very smooth

4. Add the eggs one at a time. Combining well after each addition.

5. Now add the dry ingredients in 3 stages, each stage followed by an addition of the yoghurt or buttermilk. That is, a little of the dry mixture, combine it then add the liquid. Continue like this ending with the last addition of flour.

6. Spoon the batter into the prepared cups in the pan max. 3/4 of the way full.

7. Bake for 20-25mins until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

8. While they are baking, prepare your frosting by mixing in a bowl all the Frosting ingredients together. Cream it well until combined. I recommend you sift in the powdered sugar to avoid clumps.

Let the cupcakes cool in the pan for around 15 mins before transferring them to a wire rack for further cooling.

Allow the cupcakes to cool 100% before frosting them.