Gourmet Cupcakes?

[AmandaEd]

Anyone know of gourmet cupcake purveyors (other than The Cupcake Shoppe)? I heard that there are a couple of great websites that do online orders.

[hungryabbey]

Again, I'm goin to recomend 'Sweet Tooth' on the Danforth at Logan. They even just LOOK too good and cute to eat.

[LissyDee]

http://www.eini.ca/

I got this on my sweetspot newsletter today.

[sunder1025]

We ordered a sample batch a couple of weeks ago as we're looking for cupcakes for our wedding. Theirs were terrible, the icing tasted like shortening with a little bit of sugar added and left such a greasy feel in your mouth when you were done. They were gross,

[shana]

Sweet tooth is not that great - we had their cupcakes and the cake was dry and dense with little flavour and the icing was very high in vegetable shortening and not butter. I truly want to love the place as it's so cute and their products look great but I've been disappointed several times.

Has anyone tried the babycakes from Kubo Radio? Are they any good?

[Full tummy]

I have tried Kubo's cupcakes a number of times and, alas, the icing is tooth-tinglingly grainy with undissolved sugar. Also, they refrigerate the cupcakes after they're made, making the icing and the cake hard. Too bad; I really wanted to like them.

[hungryabbey]

damn, how disapointing, I wanted to try it too. and really really wanted to like it.

[NovoCuisine]

I was eating there one day and some cupcakes came out fresh, so I grabbed a couple chocolate peanut butter ones before they were sentenced to the fridge. So so good!

[hungryabbey]

what did you eat there? was the food good?

[NovoCuisine]

I've been to Kubo Radio many times, and when it was just Kubo on Bay Street before then. Never had bad food or bad service at either.

[red dragon]

Good to know, thanks! Sounds worse than a Loblaws cupcake.

[Full tummy]

I have enjoyed a number of Sweet Tooth's items, including their cupcakes, which, in my opinion, are pretty good. I must say I am surprised at your report of vegetable shortening in the icing. I have one of their vanilla 'n vanilla "pan cakes", which is, I think, the same base and icing as the vanilla cupcakes. The ingredients read: cream cheese, sugar, butter, soy oil, unbleached flour, icing sugar, eggs, vanilla, baking powder, cream of tartar, confetti sugar candy, and tender loving care.

That, to me, is about as good an ingredient list as you can ask for.

Did you ask if there was vegetable shortening in the icing? How do you know this?

[Full tummy]

Just in follow up to the discussion and my own post. I dropped in at Sweet Tooth Bakery on the Danforth, and things look very different than they did last summer. There were maybe three cakes in the refrigerated display, which was, instead, full of packages of almond bark seemingly to fill space. The refrigerator at the rear which used to be packed with cakes and squares in foil pans for take-out was pretty much bare, and their cupcakes are from a different supplier; they are no longer frosted with a cooked buttercream, and they were not so good. I asked one of the staff if the place had changed hands, and she said yes, about eight months ago. Maybe I haven't been since before that? Anyway, things don't look or taste as good as they used to when they first opened.

[chalenegirl]

went to kubo and really liked the crowd and atmosphere. very nice place and the service was pretty good.
the table order 3 babycakes and they werne't very good. one was strawberry and it was yuck. dry and sacchrine. the icing was disgusting. we wiped it off with a knife.

they all came out of the refrigerator - i think it's stupid to put them there in the first place but whatever. the best one they had there was red velvet. nothing outstanding but the best out of the vanilla, and strawberry ones that i had.

[fortheloveoffood]

http://www.eatmywords.org/

They are not cheap, and I can't vouch for how they taste, but they are the most beautiful cupcakes I have ever seen...

[AmandaEd]

Oh YES! My friend received a delivery of these at work last year - they were absolutely gorgeous, you are right - and delicious!

[Zengarden]

And proceeds go to Out of the Cold. The gift that gives twice.

[MiniMom]

We recived these at christmas at work...oh my god. excelletn cupcakes and the presentation was gorgeous hand made sugar flowers & teddy bears. they were FABULOUS

[thenurse]

They sell them at kubo radio at Queen and Logan... www.kubo.com

[Apple]

I don't know how gourmet these cupcakes are - but dessert lady in Yorkville makes the most moist, crumby vanilla cupcakes with buttercream frosting I have ever had. I usually order a dozen and then over-indulge. They are quite lovely to look at and the their tiny size means you can have a few and not despise the person in the mirror the next day.

[Hello Dimsum]

I third EatMyWords. Beautiful presentation and very yummy. Nice packaging in the hat box too!

[Otonabee]

I would also agree with the Eat My Words. They always sell them at Valentines Day in Scotia Plaza.... mmm I could really go for one of those right about now.

Two other good spots are the cupcakes at All the Best in Rosedale and also Sweet Bliss on Queen Street in Leslieville. The chocolate ones at Sweet Bliss are almost brownie like in texture...

[minto]

Where is Sweet bliss located on queen st?
What else is good from there?
Do they make their sweets on site?

[Otonabee]

Sweet Bliss is East of Leslie on Queen. Their telephone number is 416-916-7895. They do make their stuff on site and even bring their own flour from a small supplier. The other things I have had there that are really good are their cinnamon buns (really really excellent!), Blondies, Cakes. OK Pretty much everything... They don't have a huge selection so I think that helps.

[chalenegirl]

thanks. i will def try this place out

[bobotheoboe]

i went to sweet bliss bakery in leslieville today.. their cupcakes werent as good as i expected.. i ordered 3 different cupcakes.. a chocolate buttercream on chocolate, strawbery buttercream on vanilla, and a strawberry chocolate cupcake... all 3 of them had a very desne cake texture.. and the icing was very hard.. hard to the point of cracking.. i was quite disappointed..

[Full tummy]

That's too bad. Had they been in the refrigerator?

[bobotheoboe]

definetly were.. they had like 5 dozen of each variety in the refridgerator...

[Full tummy]

Bad move. That'll cause that crispy frosting crust every time, especially with an uncooked "buttercream". Which is one of the things I love about a cooked buttercream; it just holds up better, in my opinion.

[CIRCLES_SQ]

The difference is between an American-Style Buttercream, which has a majority of icing sugar, and Swiss or Italian-Style buttercream which is mainly butter. That's why the swiss/italian style leaves a greasy feeling on the roof of your mouth. Also, if you use an american-style buttercream, all you have to do is let it come to room temperature if it was refrigerated and it will be fine.

[Full tummy]

I have never had that greasy feeling on the roof of my mouth, thank goodness. I grew up on this style of frosting (thanks to my German mother) and find it much more palatable than the tinny, gritty "American-Style" version, which is a lot cheaper and less labour-intensive to make.

You are right about letting the cupcakes come to room temperature; sometimes it's hard to wait, tho...

[CIRCLES_SQ]

It should never be gritty, I know the buttercream we use is never gritty, but I suppose it could be, I think it depends on the ratio of butter:liquid:icing sugar. I think some places cheap out on the butter and delude the ratio to be far too much icing sugar and liquid (ie. milk, etc.). Sometimes when someone doesn't know exactly how to make an icing they just keep adding icing sugar or milk until they get the consistency they want, and in the process make delude the butter content which gives it its smoothness.

[Ediblethoughts]

I don't think it should ever be gritty. When I make icing, I tend to like it more on the sweet than the buttery side---and so I add more icing sugar and it turns out more like vanilla fudge. Definitely not gritty.

[thegreatfoodhunt]

I heard Babycakes cupcakes from Kubo Radio is suppose to be pretty good. I wonder if they're as good as the cupcakes from the Babycakes cupcakestore in NY.

Toronto Babycakes Link:
http://www.kubo.com/babycake/index.html

New York Babycakes Link:
http://www.babycakesnyc.com/babycakes_press.html

I know this is a bit off topic but I just want to share this site that is devoted to cupcakes and only cupcakes. They have some of the most colourful and creative cupcake designs I have ever seen, but you have to go into their archives to see the better designs.

Link:
http://cupcakestakethecake.blogspot.com/

CFO
http://thegreatfoodhunt.blogspot.com/

[qtxniki]

Dessert Lady is good.

If at all possible, do not go o My Cupcake Shoppe @ yonge and eglinton. Very expensive, $3.50 each?. The cupcakes are very bland, and the icing taste of melting oil. Each flavour I have ever tried there taste exactly the same, but with different food colouring.

[Nux2]

Totally agree re The Cupcake Shoppe at Yonge & Eglinton -- really gross. The Bake Sale on the Kingsway (3076 Bloor St. W. 416-232-2253) is awesome and everything is from scratch. They only have vanilla and chocolate cupcakes but they are yummy.

[Food Tourist]

Swirls' cupcakes are far better than Bake Sale's, both in terms of flavour and icing. However, Bake Sale's chocolate cupcake is decent. Wasn't impressed with their vanilla version. Bake Sale's icing is stiff, sugary and thickly applied, whereas Swirls' icing tastes fresh and light.

[AmandaEd]

Totally agree - that's why I specifically left them out of the equation. I HATE oily icing. Nasty.

[Food Tourist]

If you are in Mississauga, go to Streetsville to Swirls Bakeshop on Queen Street. Affordable and high quality.
http://mississauga.701.com/sites/701/...

[NovoCuisine]

I always pass by and mean to go in for one. I wonder if they'll do a few dozen custom ones for a party.

[Nux2]

I went to Swirls on this recommendation the other day -- yummy cupcakes!

[Food Tourist]

Although yesterday's Callebaut marble cupcake was a bit disappointing. Not moreish.

[Food Tourist]

Yeah, I think they were just having an off day a couple of Fridays ago!

[wazoo]

Swirls is nothing special. The cakes was dense and not very fluffy and I hated how little they are... the icing was the best part... but I've been too spoiled by quality cupcakes outside of Toronto

[RedSonia]

I agree, Swirls does taste good, but not sure about quality.

The girls working at the shop admitted to me that they use pre-packaged icing and baking mix. I had to ask because my son is allergic to peanuts.

[PitaFalafel]

We tried them and they were horrible. Greasy and frosting tastes of shortening. The cake was greasy too.

Not a fan and really surprised to hear they use mixes. Nothing special at all.

[Ediblethoughts]

Agreed---not my cup of tea either.

[Food Tourist]

I guess they have gone downhill in the past 4 years or so...sad. I was looking forward to trying their Toronto location near Dundas and Royal York.

[Jayna]

I agree that Eat My Words has beautiful cakes/cupcakes. Though they are pricey, part of the money you spend goes to a great cause. According to their website: "All prices include your generous donation of a 3-course hot meal to the homeless, through Out of the Cold."

www.eatmywords.org

[Food Tourist]

I used to volunteer for Out of the Cold and definitely think it's a great cause; however, I'm always a little suspicious of companies that inflate the cost of an item so that they can say they are giving to charity. I wonder how much profit they actually keep vs. how much they donate. That being said, I've always wanted to buy cupcakes from Eat My Words and probably will in the future now that I know they are truly yummy.

[CIRCLES_SQ]

I don't get that at all, if I want to make a donation to an organization, I do it. Why build it into the price? I don't know why people don't understand that it's totally built into the final price. To be honest, they don't donate anything to charity at all, if it's built into the price and it's used as a selling feature, than its the public that is spending the bit extra and not them. If they sold a cake for $30 and then donated 5-10% to charity, than I think thats slightly different, but this hiding behind a charity name to excuse high pricing I think isn't right.

[farmers]

I agree, but that's not what Eat My Words is doing really. They are based out of a church and a 10% donation is part of the belief system I believe. Tithing.

[CIRCLES_SQ]

That doesn't really address what my post was. If they are based from a Church and want to tithe, that's fine with me, I go to Church, I understand the entire 10% tithing idea. My point is that I believe that they are justifying a very high selling point by stating that they give part of the price to charity. The point is who is donating/tithing money? Eat My Words or the person who says "I know its sort of expensive, but some of it goes to charity"?

I'd argue that it's not Eat My Words that is doing the good thing, but the person who agrees to pay above market value for an item for the reason of charity. I still don't agree with it, what if Bell Canada raised it's prices $2 and then gave that to charity, should we thank Bell for being charitable when it's really us that is paying the amount?

[spigot]

There are some very good cupcakes at Pusateri's (I go to the Avenue and Bloor location). They sell mini-cupcakes and two types of standard-sized ones. Skip the strawberry, chocolate and red velvet; they're bland and too sweet. The peanut butter and the chocolate mint (the brand with green icing with chocolate chips, not white icing) - they are GOOD. Although occasionally slightly stale :-/

[chalenegirl]

are there any of these places in scarborough or markham?

[Food Tourist]

Dessert Lady in Yorkville can make 6+ cupcakes to order if they are out of stock. Calling ahead is helpful. However, their amaretto cupcakes ($1.25 each) taste like heavy nutty muffins with a dollop of creamy icing on top. Tasty, but not cupcakes. I'll have to try their other flavours (one of the employees said the vanilla cupcakes are better than amaretto).

[AmandaEd]

So, on the recommendations of the hounds, I tried one of each type of cupcake from Dessert Lady on Saturday: vanilla, chocolate, amaretto, and a new flavour: lemon vanilla, and was, sadly, extremely disappointed. They were overly dense and cakey and the buttercream icing was clearly disproportionately favouring the butter; hence the shiny, oily slick left on the roof of my mouth. I was hoping for a light cake with a light, sugary icing - along the lines of the heaven that is the product of the Magnolia Bakery recipe. Perhaps there is a serious hole in the Toronto market for a lovely cupcake...

However, on a side note, Dessert Lady's lemon cranberry biscotti and peanut butter cookies were delightful, so we will definitely return, just not for those cupcakes.

[cwong5]

I totally LOVE Dessert Lady. My buddy swear by their chocolate cupcake. I like them too. (Is it dense, yes, but I like it that way). But you are also correct with their biscotti and cookies. If you are there again, I recommend their rice pudding (if you like that), and their tirmisi cup. They are both very good. And their lemon moose is very nice too. (If you like strong tart lemon)

[bobotheoboe]

i definetly recommend Dessert Lady's cupcakes... their icing was sweet and light. their chocolate cake was not too dense and crumby... mmm very good.. definetly BETTER than sweet bliss, cupcake shoppe, and babycakes :)

[cwong5]

One of my favorite pick for Cupcake is definitely Dessert Lady. www.dessertlady.ca

[hautecocoa]

while i was impressed by the service (and the apple rosemary sorbet - unusual, but quite good) at dessert lady, i've to agree with a previous post about their frosting. i felt like i ate a mouthful of grease. sweet, pink, pretty grease, yes, but still grease.

the best cupcakes i've had so far are the ones by flourgirls ( http://www.flourgirls.com ), which i found at pusateri's. sadly, i don't think they have an actual store, and pusateri's didn't have any the last time i went. i've only been able to try their mini halloween chocolate ones - really moist dark choco cake with an out of this world chocolate icing, so scrumptious that i'm optimistic about their other varieties.

but be careful when buying cupcakes at pusateri's as they sell cupcakes from other places. i made the mistake of trying these red velvet ones them and found them horrible.

[futronic]

I've made a few trips to Milton recently for work and stop in at Flour Girls to pick up cupcakes. I think they are fantastic, and some of the better cupcakes I've had. Good crumb to the cake; nice and moist. Cooked buttercream, and a fantastic texture. They don't have a store in Toronto, but they do have a storefront in Milton. The are closed on Mondays, unfortunately, so I didn't get to eat cupcakes there this week. Very friendly people there, as I had the chance to chat with the owner for a little while. I ate a couple cupcakes while chatting and took a six-pack to go.

[CuriousCat]

I second (third?) the Swirls recommendation. I went there based on the posts here, and they were delish! I got the Raspberry, Mango, and Vanilla kinds, all on a vanilla cake base. The raspberry and mango icings were great -- tasted of the fruit, and not too sweet or heavy. I didn't try the vanilla, but apparently it was very tasty. The cake itself was moist and dense... yum. We didn't eat the the cupcakes until a day after I'd purchased them and they were still fresh as anything (granted, they were freshly baked not long before purchase). $18 (no tax) for a dozen, and they also have mini versions and full-sized cakes that I'm sure I'll be trying before long. Thanks for the rec, FoodTourist!

[wazoo]

Been to swirls and brough home a cupcakes for a few people and each person said that the cake was too dense and not very fresh. I did get them on a Sunday at noon time...

[jaxson18]

Lollicakes - mt pleasant s. of eglinton. They are great - give them a try

[Full tummy]

It is important to note that Lollicakes' cupcakes are also dairy free. So, the icing does not need to be refrigerated. It is also made of vegetable shortening, which just doesn't do it for me, but some may like it...

[Suresh]

Didn't do it for me at all.
They also only have 2 flavours (different coloured icing) atleast that's what the owner told me.

[Full tummy]

And the price! Don't recall what it was, but it seemed hefty at the time, especially for a vegetable shortening-based cupcake.

[mcdemasi]

try www.lavishcupakes.com

[freelancer]

I'm also looking for a gourmet cupcake place where I can pick out cupcakes from the display counter. I plan on stopping in and grabbing a dozen or so as a gift when I'm in town. I want them to look amazing but to also taste amazing (which I've heard the Cupcake Shoppe does not). Any ideas for places that I can get them from without ordering?

[freelancer]

Has anyone tried Dufflet's cupcakes? I heard good things about their cupcakes but thought I should ask here before doing an important order while I'm in town.

[Deborah B]

For a recent work function, we ordered Dufflet's cupcakes and they were really good. Cake is not my preferred sweet and I'm not fond of icing. We got vanilla cupcakes and I was particularly impressed with the icing. Nice texture and not too sweet.

[jlunar]

I do like the cupcakes at The Wedding Cake Shoppe. My preferred icing is passionfruit, though she doesn't always have them. I believe she naturally flavours all her icings, but I'm not 100% positive.

Plus, I find her custom cakes not terribly expensive!

[kasey j miller]

I recently tried Lolicakes on Mt Pleasant - delicious! There is also a great cupcake shop on St Clair, west of Bathurst but I forget the name.

[AJMC791]

its called the cupcakery! best cupcakes in the city (IMHO)

[millygirl]

agreed

[Ediblethoughts]

It's very good. Though it ties for my fave cupcake place.

[berbere]

stopped by mcewan's at the don mills centre today - they were providing free cupcakes made by Sweet Definition: the baker was there herself explaining the different flavours and answering questions - they were beautiful and very yummy - she said that she does custom orders including vegan, gluten-free and diabetic ordeers - althou mcewan's will carry her cupcakes orders can be placed directly with her - www.sweetdefinition.com (looks like a work in progress, too bad cuz the cupcakes were really beautiful with handmade roses)

[Full tummy]

What kind of frosting was on the cupcakes?

[LemonLauren]

YUMMY STUFF is the best, hands down. they let me order single large cupcakes in five diff flavours (lemon curd, so good, carrot cake,m with best cream cheese icing, red velvet, phemonemal, choc-vanilla and choc-raspedberry) and then five minis of each when i threw a thank-you mani-pedi party for my bridemaids. they are worth the trek to queen west.

[penelope116]

I also LOVE Yummy Stuff cupcakes. The red velvet cupcake is delicious and chocolatey with a good quality cream cheese icing that is on the sweet side. My sister loves the lemon cupcake. My only complaint is that the cupcakes are smaller than I expect -- BUT that is quite common for cupcake stores in Toronto.
http://yummystuff.ca/

Babycakes cupcakes (sold at Baci on Queen East?) are really tasty, but way too small for the price.

In Calgary, there is a business run by a couple of sisters called CRAVE. They are the best cupcakes I've had in the country. The are also large (1.3-1.5 times the size of most Toronto cupcakes, not as big as Dufflets though). And the icing is great and in the most beautiful variety of colours (though I think Magnolia Bakery in NYC has the prettiest pastel colours). Flavours come through in icing (mint, orange, coconut, cream cheese, vanilla etc...). Every time I visit the city, I buy a big package. They also freeze well.
http://www.cravecupcakes.ca/

[Ediblethoughts]

Your taste in cupcakes is very similar to mine based on what you like. Have you tried Sweet Bliss? It's my latest cupcake love place!

[BokChoi]

Have you tried the Viva Puff Cupcake at The School Bakery and Cafe? I have loved all their baked items so far, but am not sure of the selection. You could call and ask. They had other varieties beside the Viva on display the day I went.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bokchoi-...

[yum1982]

Has anyone heard of the "Chocolate Brunette" I think that was her name, I remember seeing her on Breakfast television months ago. Anyone know where they sell her products? I am really interested in her nutella cupcakes!

[Manybears]

No mention of the nutella variety but here's the link for more information... http://www.chocolatebrunette.com/

[JenBear422]

Has anyone herd of or tried the Cupcakery ? http://www.thecupcakeryto.com/cupcake...

They look well priced but are they any good?

[millygirl]

JenBear422, I have special ordered the magnolia cupcakes for a few showers. They were so beautiful and quite yummy. The last time I was in the store, the staff weren't all that friendly but to answer your question, yes they are very good. They don't have a lot of flavours from what I recall but they certainly do a beautiful job decorating them.

[JenBear422]

Thank you millygirl,for you quick reply :)

[Ediblethoughts]

I agree-they're good. Though I do think they have a reasonably large number of flavours just a limited number in the store at any one point. I find their vividly coloured icing a bit disconcerting--sometimes the vanilla icing is brilliant purple for no particular reason--but the cupcakes are good.

[jnine]

The Cupcakery uses a commercial cake mix, so the cake won't be much different than a grocery store bakery. They're decorated nicer than Grocery store cupcakes, and the icing is slightly better quality, but the cake is basically Duncan Hines.

[millygirl]

Whatever they use - I like 'em. And look amazing! The staff aren't all that friendly though I gotta say. In fact for a place selling such pretty cupcakes, they seem miserable.

[Ediblethoughts]

Tried Sweet Bliss today and ordered 4 cupcakes, a strawberry scone and cherry buttertart square. So far I've tried the latter two and the scone was quite nice and the cherry bts was wonderful! I've never had a cherry bt before and it's such a great idea (not into raisins in dessert things so never able to completely love a normal butter tart). The cherries were tart and crust was almost buttery graham crack-tasting with the filling all squishy, sweet goodness. Looking forward to trying the cupcakes--but I'd go back for the cbts in a flash------distance being the only problem for me.

[Ediblethoughts]

Having now tried a part of a chocolate/chocolate cupcake and one chocolate with vanilla icing cc, I'll say I really love this place! It's now tied for my fave cc place. Of course, one is in the far east and the other the far west. Sigh.

[Ediblethoughts]

I tried For the Love of Cake (in Liberty Village) and really not impressed. I bought six different cupcakes and while the filling is a nice novelty, I don't find the overall product very tasty. The icing is OK---not sure if it's cooked or raw but it's not very... luscious. And the cupcake has little... nubbly things in them that I just don't like (and I really don't understand---I mean, I've tried 5 of the 6 kinds I bought and they all have these weird little bumpy things in the texture.

Give me Sweet Bliss and Yummy Stuff!!

[Boodah]

Finally made it over to both For The Love Of Cake and Yummy Stuff. FTLOC was ok, the coconut one in particular was excellent. The regular chocolate one and the chocolate hazelnut one were just ok, but I wasn't that much impressed with the vanilla cupcake. They had no "Mancakes" available the day we were there so I didn't get to try any of the more exotic flavours they make.
All the hype about Yummy Stuff was completely lost on me. We had a raspberry, lemon, chocolate and a maple bacon. First of all, every single one of them (both the full size and the minis) were dry. Like, REALLY dry. Yeah, we got there near the end of the day so they'd obviously been sitting in the case for awhile, but I've had cupcakes from other places sitting around in my house for multiple days and they never became that dry. The raspberry one was the best out of all of them flavour-wise and was the least dry of all of them because it had raspberry puree on the inside.. The frosting on all of them (American frosting, not cooked buttercream) was a bit overly-sweet and it was dry enough that the outside of the frosting had developed a pretty hard skin. Now, for the maple bacon cupcake...it is probably the worst cupcake I have ever eaten from a "gourmet" cupcake shop. The frosting was very badly flavoured, tasting like neither bacon nor maple to me, it simply tasted like salt that had gone a bit off. The cupcake itself was actually pretty good, it was some type of oatmeal/cinnamon/chocolate thing that, on it's own, I actually enjoyed (I peeled the frosting off and chucked it). But the cupcake and frosting together was just overwhelmingly salty and really unpleasant, plus there were so many contrasting flavours going on it was a real collision instead of what was likely intended to be a fusion.

Out of the two, I'd say For The Love Of Cake was the better of them.

[Ediblethoughts]

Huh. I guess I've never been to YS near the end of the day. But when I go, I always buy cupcakes to last for at least a couple days and I've never found them dry. I've only tried the chocolate cupcakes and the red velvet and they've always been very nice and moist. It helps that I prefer greatly t he uncooked buttercream. I'm perplexed with your dry experience....

[Boodah]

It can't be a coincidence, we got two normal sized ones and two minis and they were all dry. If that isn't your normal experience there then someone was not on the ball (messed up the recipe, baked them too long, etc...) since I'm assuming they were baked at least yesterday and 30 hours old cupcakes should still not be that dry [assuming they're stored properly].

[Ediblethoughts]

It sounds like something like that. I should qualify that I haven't been there since around July so it's always possible things have changed....

[Manybears]

I agree, something must have gone wrong in the shop that day. I often pick up cupcakes at the end of the day there and have them around for a day or two past that and have never had them get too dry to enjoy.

[tuttebene]

Your experience with Yummy Stuff mirrors mine; they sold me stale, dry, cupcakes coupled with indifferent service. I did, however, quite like the flavour of the lemon curd ones.

[Ediblethoughts]

Has anyone tried So Into Cupcakes? Curious website gives no store locations.

http://www.sointocupcakes.com/

[TorontoJo]

It's pretty clearly yet another bake from home or rented space business. No store front.

[Full tummy]

When you say "yet another bake from home", do you actually know of any that do so?

[TorontoJo]

I know of a few businesses that run only via web and phone. One is a chocolate business and she definitely makes her chocolates from her home kitchen. I don't think that there is anything illegal about that, btw. It's just an observation that when you see a web site that doesn't list a store front, it's often a home based business. Some do use rented commercial space for production, though -- it's still cheaper than renting out and maintaining a public store front.

[Full tummy]

Actually, I believe it isn't legal. Which is why I questioned your assertion. Those who publicly promote or advertise their goods (by website, for example) put themselves at risk, in a variety of ways, if they're using their home kitchen.

http://www.tasteto.com/2009/02/02/sta...

[mlukan]

Nice link. When I recommend companies to clients in the future I can check if they have gone through the correct process. Although everyone has to start somewhere, I'm not a fan of people who don't go through the due diligence to start their company. Totally unfair to people who have jumped through the numerous hoops this city has in place.

[Arcadiaseeker]

We bought cupcakes at Leah's bakery at St. Clair and Wychwood and they were excellent. Tried a vanilla with raspberry icing and a chocolate -- both were the best I have had in the city.

[dachopstix]

I've always enjoyed Life Is Sweet cupcakes - it's a small place located at the tail end of the Beaches, towards Vic Park.

http://lifeissweet.ca/

[freelancer]

One of my favorite places too when I visit. The lemon drop is amazing. Mango tea with key lime frosting, earl grey with orange frosting. Mmm. And i like the texture of the cupcakes - dense and heavier, but with a fine crumble.

[AverageJo]

I live in the Beach so Life Is Sweet is a regular haunt of mine. The cupcakes are as tasty as ever, but recently I noticed that the quantity of icing had diminished. It was positively stingy on some of the cupcakes; I could see a whole lot of bare cake where there should be frosting.

I hope this is not a new permanent cost-cutting feature, but rather maybe just some new employee didn't know how to frost a cupcake...for the amount a cupcake costs, I expect a nice generous swirl of icing on top.

[Manybears]

Since we're here again... has anyone else tried Dlish, recently opened at Queen/Claremont? They are focusing on using natural, high-quality ingredients for their cupcakes. American-style buttercream for those of you with a preference. I thought they were pretty good-- they'd be in my top 3 in the city-- with salty caramel and red velvet being my favourites so far (less a fan of the dulce de leche and cookies and cream, which were just a touch too sweet for me).

[ms. cornbread]

Been wondering about this place. I was surprised to see a cupcake place open up.
I haven't tried any yet, but those were the four flavours I was wanting to try, so thanks for the recs. I'm also wondering about the Marshmallow flavour and what the plain vanilla is like.

On their Facebook page there is a photo that lists what flavours they offer everyday, in case your interested in certain flavours.

[jlunar]

Passed by today. Bought four kinds.

RED VELVET
Though I liked the frosting - tangy, but not too cheesy - I didn't taste any chocolate in the cake base. Very red cake used for the base.

CHOCOLATE MARSHMALLOW
Chocolate Marshmallow was interesting, but I wanted more marshmallow filling. Reminded me vaguely of a Hostess cake (just the look - I've never eaten a hostess cake). I think I liked this one best out of the lot.

SALTED CARAMEL
The frosting was too sweet and didn't have enough of a caramel taste. Cake base was vanilla, dense, and not my thing. Sadface.

MOCHA
Mocha had a good icing flavour and I liked the sprinkles (good texture). Sat on a chocolate base.

Having tried umpteen cupcakes across 11 places recently, I feel like I have a good idea on what Toronto has to offer. Dlish uses a fairly dense cake-base and American buttercream - I don't prefer either of these traits in my cupcakes. But despite my texture preferences, I found flavours to be a little too subtle for me.

I appreciated that they used a proper cupcake insert/holder in their boxes for easier transport and allowing for not-smashed take-home treats.

[jlunar]

update: Just tried them again, and it was only the salted caramel that was really dense. The rest were not light-'n'-fluffy, but weren't as solid as I had thought they were. Lightest was the red velvet.

[kwass]

I was there on Monday, and have to say that the cupcakes were simply average!!

[battenberg]

Sweet Tooth does not make their own stuff and the cakes are dry most times I have tried (I have had them 3 times already)

[Missust]

I really like the ones at The Bake Sale - one on Bloor Street West and one in Six Points Plaza - both in the West End.

[peppermint pate]

I finally made it out to The Wedding Cake Shop, thanks to the recs on this board. For me, they are the best cupcakes I've found in the city to date (though I haven't done as exhaustive a search as other 'hounds). They had a dozen flavours to choose from - between us, we tried the Maple, Hazelnut, Passion Fruit and Raspberry. The cake was moist and light, the icing was a bit on the buttery side but the flavours were good as was the proportion of icing to cake. Each of the cupcakes had a distinctive flavour. They were really very yummy. Some of the other flavours I remember were Red Velvet, Dulce de Leche and Cookies and Cream.