Unusual and delicious flavoursmake these cupcakes a coveted treat
BY JULIE GEDEON
STORES WE LOVE
The Cupcake Shoppe
2417 Yonge Street, Toronto
www.thecupcakeshoppe.ca
416-322-6648
A freshly baked and beautifully decorated cupcake is often just the right amount of sweet indulgence. “It’s your own personal cake and you choose exactly which one you want,” says Suzanne Cooper. As the owner of The Cupcake Shoppe, Toronto’s original bakery specializing in cupcakes, she should know.
Deciding among the 11 varieties baked daily and put on sumptuous display at 2417 Yonge St. is the challenge. Eight are standard favourites, including Cocoa Chanel (chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream icing), Pretty N’ Pink (with raspberry flavours), Red Velvet (cream cheese frosting on a red velvet cake), or Opposites Attract (chocolate frosting on vanilla butter cake).
“My staff and I come up with fun names that people remember,” Cooper says.
The store also features three seasonal varieties from more than 50 possibilities each week, such as S’MoreS’Mores (graham cracker, marshmallow and chocolate), Naughty N’ Spice (spice cake decorated with vanilla buttercream), and Candy Cane Lane (chocolate cake with candy cane buttercream).
“Some combinations have been suggested by customers,” Cooper says. “The Banana Pancake – banana chocolate-chip cake with maple frosting – is amazing.”
Cooper first invested in the Toronto enterprise because she appreciated being able to buy fresh cupcakes for her children’s birthday parties without worrying about nut allergies. “We never use any kind of nuts,” she says.
When the opportunity arose to buy the business 11 years ago, she took it. “I love that our cupcakes are made daily from scratch with all wholesome ingredients – no chemical preservatives,” she says. “They’re the way Mom used to bake them.”
In fact, they’re fancier. So fancy that they grace the star lounge at ET Canada where celebrities regularly devour them.
Cooper and her long-time staff masterfully apply the Italian-style buttercream or sweeter frosting. “We don’t use any kind of tracing or edible imaging,” she says. “We decorate and illustrate everything by eye and hand only.”
The Rose and Hydrangea cupcakes elegantly adorn many wedding tables. “A lot of couples are opting to have a smaller cake to cut together and a tier of cupcakes so guests have their own special dessert,” Cooper says. “The display looks grand and eliminates all the slicing.”
Her biggest pleasure is watching the faces of customers light up when she opens a box with their order inside. “It’s gratifying to see how much they appreciate our artistry,” she says. “Or their delight when they bite into a cupcake.”
Sometimes a second one is essential….
