We’ve got buttercream on our fingers and cake crumbs all over our mouths. The milk cartons are getting lighter… but they’re not empty yet. We’re still gorging on cupcakes and will be for a while longer.
In the last few months, an army of new cupcake bakeries have opened up, and we’re taking down addresses.
In Part 1 of cupcake diaries, we covered the basics. The Cupcake Shoppe that started it all, as well as Dufflets, Kubo Radio, Sweet Tooth, Dessert Lady, Sweet Bliss, and Sugar Plum Bakery.
In Part 2 we dug a little deeper, we went out of city limits to Milton for Flourgirls, and even found few gems in Streetsville and Yummy Stuff. We also covered Swirls, Life Is Sweet, Flourgirls and The Cupcakery.
Cupcake Diaries Part III will take you to seven more locations across Toronto for another cupcake fix. And although there seems to be a surfeit of these bakeries around the city we’re finding that there’s no such thing as too many cupcakeries; everyone wants one in their own neighbourhood.
We continue our cupcake search with the following bakeries:
Flour Studio, It’s The Icing On The Cake, Sweet Escape Patisserie, Miss Cora’s Kitchen, The Bake Sale, Frostitution, Lollicakes.
It’s hard not to get distracted when you walk into this little cute sweet shop on Eglinton west. With a combination of alluring smells and colours and everything from beautifully dressed tarts to cupcakes, birthday cards and colourful accoutrements for your kitchen, your senses will be hooked. We stepped in one afternoon to sample the contents behind the cupcake counter, but found ourselves distracted by kitchen ornaments of all shapes and sizes. Like unsupervised kids in a candy store, we loaded up on large lollipops, taffee, toffee laced marshmallows, Hammond’s chocolate caramels, and banana cream tartlettes. Yes and we got a boatload of cupcakes as well, from peanut butter to an age old combination that sees fleur de sel sprinkled on chocolate frosting.
Texture: Vanilla cupcake was a little flaky, chocolate cupcake was moist and soft as it should be.
Flavour: Plenty of flavours, you can tell the baker likes to experiment. Notable ones: Mint Chocolate, Peanut butter, Carrot cake, the Fleur De Sel over chocolate frosting works perfectly. Custom orders upon request, and they can add fillings.
Frosting: Fluffy and light, not overly sweet or thick. A variety of flavours, with new ones added every month. This is the kind of store where your tastebuds can run wild. Our favourites were the mint chocolate, and peanut butter. It’s very easy to gobble up these cupcakes.
Presentation: Beautiful colours but the real highlights are the flavours.
Cost: $2.50 per cupcake, 6 cupcakes for $14, 12 for $27
Spotlight Says: Careful, you may walk in with the intention of trying 1 or 2 cupcakes but you’ll leave with a lot more. These cupcakes not only look good, but they deliver on their promise of flavours.
Hours of Operation:
Tuesday – Saturday: 10am-6pm
Sundays: 10am-3pm
883 Eglinton Ave, West,
416.789.0222
www.flourstudio.com
Lynda is known for her wedding cakes. The solitary cakery on Queen East also sells a small variety of other treats, including freshly baked cupcakes. They can make cupcakes with fruit fillings too. Cakes are generally moist and tender, basic flavours are available for sale.
Texture: Vanilla cupcake was too flaky, chocolate cupcake was moist and soft as it should be.
Flavour: Vanilla, Chocolate, custom orders upon request.
Frosting: Overly creamy and tastes like Betty Crocker mix, with a tangy aftertaste. We couldn’t make out the mysterious flavours, and the frosting made the cake less enjoyable.
Presentation: Very plain, you can probably make better looking ones at home.
Cost: $2.50 per cupcake
Spotlight Says: There is nothing special about the cupcakes here, we feel that for the general type of cakes you’re getting, they are overpriced.
1238 Queen Street East
416.469.4973
www.itstheicingonthecake.ca
These cupcakes are pretty phenomenal. We’ve tried several, and they just keep coming out with new flavours. Their cupcakes are kept at a cool temperature to keep them fresh – you’ll want to let them warm up for ten minutes or so before eating them or they’re not soft enough. The staff are friendly, and there are a wide variety of other notable treats (the macaroons are to-die-for).
Texture: The vanilla cupcakes are light, fluffy, and have a good texture. The chocolate cupcakes are dense, moist, and very chocolate-y. We like. Perfect cakes, no complaints.
Flavour: We tried a variety of flavours: peanut butter & jelly, carrot with cream cheese frosting, blueberry (real fruit!), vanilla with strawberry frosting, pina colada, and chocolate with vanilla frosting.
Frosting: Fluffy light buttercream, tastes exactly how it describes itself. Blueberry frosting has real blueberries in it, strawberry, peanut butter, cream cheese and pina colada frostings are exactly that. The flavours are just right.
Presentation: Beautiful colours but the real highlights are the flavours.
Cost: $2.25 per cupcake
Spotlight Says: After Swirls’ cupcakes, these are some of the best flavoured cupcakes we’ve tried, time and time again. They're not overly sweet, with light buttercream frosting that resembles the texture similar to fresh gelato. Sweet Escape is where Spotlight goes for our cupcake fixes.
Hours of Operation:
Mon-Thu: 10am-8pm
Fri,Sat: 10am-9pm
Sunday: 10am-6pm
416-214-2253
55 Mill Street, bldg 47
Distillery District
www.thesweetescapedistillery.com
This temperamental cafe is buried in the Bohemian centre of Kensington Market, serving more than just cupcakes. They’re popular though – when we arrived, there was only one of three flavours to select from. They’re also miniature sized. The three flavours are chocolate, carrot with cream cheese frosting and vegan coconut.
Texture: The chocolate cupcake was moist, rich, dense like regular cakes.
Flavour: Sweet, tasty chocolate cupcake.
Frosting: Dense, sugar frosting, very sweet but doesn’t overpower.
Presentation: Very small cupcake, no extravagant designs or colours.
Cost: $1.50 per cupcake
Spotlight Says: Simple cupcakes in a miniature size.
Hours of Operation:
Tues – Sun: 12pm-7pm
69 Kensington Avenue, Toronto
416.593.2672
www.misscoraskitchen.com
In Kingsway, one bakery has been ruling them all for the last 4 years – packed with an assortment of sweet treats. They’re very well known for their cookies (chocolate chip, peanut butter) and delicious chocolate cakes in a friendly environment where you are encouraged to browse around. Cupcakes come in basic flavours and are baked daily. You can smell and taste the freshness.
Texture: Cake is moist, soft, holds together.
Flavour: Lemon cupcakes have light icing that is flavourful and not overly sweet. The strawberry cupcake is slightly stronger in taste but very fruity.
Frosting: Thick, sugar based, slightly heavy. The frosting may be a little too sweet compared to other shops, but it is still very yummy.
Presentation: Solid colours, nothing fancy.
Cost: $2.75 per cupcake
Spotlight Says: Delicious cupcakes, building a loyal following amongst the locals. We received numerous emails from readers who asked us to check out the cakes here. They didn’t disappoint.
Hours of Operation:
Tue-Sun: 10am-6pm
3076 Bloor street west, near Kingsway
416.232.2253
www.bakesaletoronto.com
You’ll find these cupcakes under a glass hood on the front bar counter. They’re sold in a restaurant called Beaver café. The vanilla cupcake looks cute with its pink sprinkles but the consistency is cornbread-like and worse, it’s tasteless. The cake also tastes like it has been sitting out for a while. The chocolate cupcake doesn’t provide redemption. It’s also not fresh, lacks flavour. In our experience, these are the worst cupcakes yet. Hopefully, the food at the Beaver café is better. Emails from our readers also suggest that the cupcakes at Frostitution are disappointing.
Texture: Dry and bland. We taste cornbread, not cupcake.
Flavour: Chocolate or Vanilla, neither of which carry much flavour.
Frosting: Sugary frosting, not very good.
Presentation: Different colours, sprinkles.
Cost: $2.50 each
Spotlight Says: These cupcakes are old, baby. Walk away.
Hours of Operation:
Mon-Fri: 9am-10pm
Sat-Sun: 10am-10pm1192 Queen Street West
416.537.2768
www.thebeavertoronto.com
Perhaps the most colourfully decorated cupcakes you will find come from a little shop on Mount Pleasant called Lollicakes. The entire premise is nut-free (they also make egg free, dairy free, and lactose free cupcakes upon request), which is probably why their cupcakes are popular with schools. Your kids have probably tasted a Lollicake at school, or you have had one at a birthday party, wedding, or bar mitzvah. One peek through the cake catalogue at the store will reveal all the creative ways you can introduce this cosmopolitan snack into your event. At the store they also carry vanilla and chocolate cupcakes.
Texture: Both the vanilla and chocolate cupcakes are moist and have the perfect cake texture. They don’t crumble or fall apart. They also taste fresh based on our repeat visits.
Flavour: Vanilla or Chocolate for take-out. Custom flavours are available for larger orders, sky is the limit.
Frosting: The frosting itself is sickly sweet and very granular. It tastes like a combination of sugars, refined and granular.
Presentation: Plenty of kid friendly colours. Plenty of edible ornaments from stars to animals. A wide assortment listed on their site.
Cost: $2 per mini cupcake. $3 for a regular cupcake. We paid $4.75 for cupcakes with Belgian chocolate tips.
Spotlight Says: These cupcakes are great for events. They’re colourful and come in a variety of arrangements. But the taste is as plain as it can get. We couldn’t have more than a bite of each cupcake because of how sickly sweet they were. Don’t expect great flavours unless you custom order. These cupcakes are also pricey considering that they are basic flavours with colour enhancements.
Hours of Operation:
Mon–Thu: 9am-5pm
Fri: 9am-3pm
Sat: Closed Sun:9am-2pm
599 Mt Pleasant Road, Toronto
416.483.2253
www.lollicakes.ca
All Cupcakes Shot, Eaten, and Paid for by Spotlight Toronto. Basic information in the guide was provided by staff of the cupcakeries. If we misprinted the hours of operation or cost, please send us an email and we’ll update it.
