Jump to content
  • Welcome to the eG Forums, a service of the eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters. The Society is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of the culinary arts. These advertising-free forums are provided free of charge through donations from Society members. Anyone may read the forums, but to post you must create a free account.

Recommended Posts

Posted (edited)

They are excellent although I'm partial to the mini versions they sell. Last year, my wife and I were on our way to Blue Water for dinner but stopped by a friend's Yaletown establishment on the way. She was holding a one year anniversary bash and, among the finger food offerings was an enormous pyramid of those mini cupcakes. My wife and I tried a couple, then a few more, then a few more after that... Needless to say, ended up skipping dinner.

Edited by LordBalthazar (log)

www.josephmallozzi.wordpress.com

Posted
They are excellent although I'm partial to the mini  versions they sell.  Last year, my wife and I were on our way to Blue Water for dinner but stopped by a friend's Yaletown establishment on the way.  She was holding a one year anniversary bash and, among the finger food offerings was an enormous pyramid of those mini cupcakes.  My wife and I tried a couple, then a few more, then a few more after that...  Needless to say, ended up skipping dinner.

Cupcakes are quite popular with businesses. My wife's former company bought hundreds of them for Secretary's Day. They an inexpensive and easy to serve and eat, plus they can be presented in interesting ways. My wife's company spelled out the word "THANKS" in cupcakes.....

Always remember that you are unique. Just like everyone else.

www.leecarney.com

Posted

Interesting. I've never tried them (the shop is, after all, very close to Mondo Gelato :rolleyes:), but someone I know who has tried them thought they were OK but just OK...so I've never been that eager to find out for myself. Maybe I will give the gelato a miss one day and check them out.

Agenda-free since 1966.

Foodblog: Power, Convection and Lies

Posted

I blame the cupcake fad on Sex and the City. Ever since they featured the Magnolia Bakery on one of the episodes, cupakes have been selling like, um, hotcakes. It plays into that whole late 20s-30s female girly bourgeoisie chic that's so prevalent now and has paved the way for other retro-feminine treats, like meticulously decorated sugar cookies as party favours and anything decorated in pink. Getting on the ground floor of the marketing-girly-chic-to-monied-hipster-yuppies was a great move on Cupcakes' part.

That being said, their cupcakes make my teeth hurt. Seriously, I have never put such a sugary bit of food in my mouth, EVER. Even a mini one is almost too much.

Disgusting as this may sound, my favourite cupcakes in this town are at the IGA bakery out in Port Moody. Plain old fluffy cake mix cupcake topped with a frosting that is fluffy, puffy, and not too sweet at all. And each one is something like 69 cents.

Oh, and as for the folks to blame for this - the Magnolia Bakery - their cupcakes taste like a mound of wallpaper paste topped with a sugar-infused sugar pate with a sugar glaze. The only redeeming features of the place are a) the window looks cute, with all the little cupcakes lined up and b) it's about 30ft away from the Marc Jacobs store.

Jenn

"She's not that kind of a girl, Booger!"

Posted

nope, not a big fan of their cupcakes at all. they're very pretty to look at but i find that i'm always disappointed when i take a bite. the chocolate cake doesn't taste like chocolate at all, in fact, i find that their cakes all taste the same. sweet....and that's not even including the icing! i still haven't found a favourite cupcake yet in this city.....maybe i'll have to try snacky's iga find!

Quentina

Posted

snacky_cat, you have almost singlehandedly cured me of the so-far resisted temptation whenever I go past that cupcake place on Denman. I'm not a huge fan of tooth-jangling sweets either.

**Melanie**

Posted

I've had the cupcakes from the Denman place and they are too sweet, for me anyway. My kids hoover them down.

Paul B

Posted

^ I followed Daniel's lead from the 'cooking' thread and embedded toffee bacon into my cupcakes and it was delicious. Oh man. Seriously he's onto something!

"There are two things every chef needs in the kitchen: fish sauce and duck fat" - Tony Minichiello

Posted

i think they do do it from scratch.

secret confession time. sometimes, if i am craving a cupcake, i'll pick up a mix (dark german chocolate of some sort) and make cream cheese icing to smother on top. it makes me happy :biggrin: and i like it better than the cupcakes cupcakes!

Quentina

Posted
i think they do do it from scratch. 

secret confession time.  sometimes, if i am craving a cupcake, i'll pick up a mix (dark german chocolate of some sort) and make cream cheese icing to smother on top.  it makes me happy  :biggrin: and i like it better than the cupcakes cupcakes!

You'd probably like the cupcakes at Uprising Breads (I know I do :biggrin: ) - their smartie cupcake is a chocolate cake, cream cheese icing, and - surprise, surprise - smarties on top. We stop by there for morning coffee and muffins occasionally and I have been known to forego my muffin in favour of a breakfast cupcake.

Jenn

"She's not that kind of a girl, Booger!"

Posted
i think they do do it from scratch. 

secret confession time.  sometimes, if i am craving a cupcake, i'll pick up a mix (dark german chocolate of some sort) and make cream cheese icing to smother on top.  it makes me happy  :biggrin: and i like it better than the cupcakes cupcakes!

You'd probably like the cupcakes at Uprising Breads (I know I do :biggrin: ) - their smartie cupcake is a chocolate cake, cream cheese icing, and - surprise, surprise - smarties on top. We stop by there for morning coffee and muffins occasionally and I have been known to forego my muffin in favour of a breakfast cupcake.

ooooohhh, you probably shouldn't have told me that! :laugh: they're on my way to work when i'm at my other half's house (which is now). dangerous. :shock:

Quentina

Posted

My daughter loves the cupcakes that are strategically placed by the cash register at Cafe Artigiano. I haven't tasted them but they have pastry cream in the middle and a cream cheese icing and come in vanilla and chocolate flavour.

Cheers,

Karole

Posted

I agree, too sweet. The icing over-powered the cupcake and the cake part really didn't have much flavour, at all.

Disappointed.

Posted

a client brought in some mini cupcakes the other day, and with this thread in mind, i just had to try them again. chai cupcakes and cranberry orange cupcakes. both did taste like what they were supposed to, but oh, way too sweet!! thank goodness they were the mini ones!

yup, they're still way too sweet!!

Quentina

Posted

With regard to the 'Cupcakes' store on denman street.

My wife is now parading round the apartment shaking her clenched fists at you all after reading comments of displeasure that you may have encountered at this very store.

I for one have no emotion in the establishment what so ever.

* cry`s of "wimps" "cynics" to be heard in the background *

maybe she should get her own username

tt
Posted

The cupcakes are too sweet but they are an occasional enjoyable indulgence when my teeth long to ache with the pleasures of pure unadulterated sugar.

For those of you who want the recipe for these sugary delights, here's the link for the recipe that Heather from Cupcakes provided to Global TV:

Vanilla Cupcakes:

http://www.canada.com/cityguides/vancouver...fd-9f9f302aeb86

"There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea."

~ Henry James, The Portrait of a Lady

Tara Lee

Literary and Culinary Rambles

http://literaryculinaryrambles.blogspot.com

Posted
For those of you who want the recipe for these sugary delights, here's the link for the recipe that Heather from Cupcakes provided to Global TV:

Vanilla Cupcakes:

http://www.canada.com/cityguides/vancouver...fd-9f9f302aeb86

Ugh. Mystery solved. They're using just shy of 2-3/4 cups of sugar in the recipe to slightly less than 2 cups of flour. Nasty. Over in the cupcakes thread in the Pastry and Baking forum and in all the other recipes I've either tried or considered trying, the amount of sugar is generally equal to or slightly less than the amount of flour.

I am getting cavities just thinking about this. Blech!

Jenn

"She's not that kind of a girl, Booger!"

×
×
  • Create New...