Tags: Dessert

Cupcakes at Holland's Cake and Shake
Cupcakes at Holland's Cake and Shake
Cupcakes at The Flour Shoppe
Cupcakes at Thimble Cakes
Cupcakes at The Cupcake Lounge
Cupcakes at Glitz
Cupcakes at Glitz
Cupcakes at the girl with the most cake
Where to get Cupcakes
Comments

2014 Jul 17
I fear I will not have another cupcake now that The Flour Shop has closed. They were, hands down, my favorite cupcakes in Ottawa. A lot of people are raving about the Cupcake Lounge but I don't love their cakes. I find the cake part tastes much like boxed store bought cakes and the icing feels like it has shortening it it which I find gives it an unappealing mouth feel. Also, I find the flavours lacking depth and uninspiring. I have not yet tried Thimble Cakes - I guess that's what I will try next.

2012 Jan 23
I must needs mention

www.twiceasnicetreats.com/

No store-front, it's a contact and order business, but i've had their cupcakes thrice now and put them squarely on par with anywhere else in O-town. The Guiness/Bailey's fudge thing is just wrong, in a totally good way.




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2015 Jun 14
The cakes continue to be hit or miss here. The "Captain Crunch" cake (pictured in foreground) with peanut butter pastry cream and candied peanuts was dryish and not particularly peanutty. The candied peanuts were the high point. Pro tip: the cardboardy shards of sweet cracker on the tops of these cakes are better consumed visually than orally.

In the background, you can see the "Tresh Leche" cake. It was positively delicious! Milk-soaked vanilla cake guaranteed no dryness, and the milk pastry cream and whipped cream added richness without dominating the flavour.

The "Double Chocolate" cake was (by reports) unexceptional, as was the "Chocolate Beet" cake. Again, the style of icing is extremely sweet--likely a matter of personal preference, but also a good way to increase product shelf life.

This place is Ottawa's "Suzy Q Doughnuts" of cake shops. Clever and photogenic product, but a bit of a gamble from a flavour perspective. A gamble I'm likely going to keep taking! ;-)

2014 Jul 27
The Banana and Nutella cake made for a perfect breakfast. Holland's cakes are an ideal hybrid in that they combine the deliciousness and beauty of layer cakes with the single-serving decadence of cupcakes. At $4.25, the price seems about right: gourmet cupcake price plus a $1 premium for extra quality and torteyness.

The banana bread cake was moist and tasty -- unlike most cupcakes, it would be great even without icing. But the icing brings in the subtle Nutella component and kicks this confection over the top. This is definitely on the sweet end of the cake spectrum. But it is cake after all. Go big or go home. :-)

The upcoming The Ministry of Coffee presence at the bakery will provide an ideal accompaniment to these cakes. I can totally see this place becoming one of the growing number of foodie attractions that brings visitors to Ottawa.



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2013 Dec 31
There seem to be two distinct types of cupcake in Ottawa. One emphasizes a moist and delicious cake balanced with a sweet icing, the other uses the cake as an incidental "holder" for a mountain of tasty and well balanced icing. Based on my sampling of The Flour Shoppe 's Peanut Butter Chocolate cupcake, their version is firmly in the latter camp.

The chocolate cake was dryish--almost crumbly--as others have noted. But this peanut butter icing was amazing. I'd compare it to that delicious cream layer in Gezellig's famous Peanut Butter Finger dessert. While I've enjoyed the "great cake" cupcakes at other places, I have to agree with The Flour Shoppe that cupcakes are really all about the icing. And in that area they certainly deliver.

So if you approach the cake here as more of an ice cream cone whose main role is to hold the feature ingredient I think you will be very pleased.

2010 Jul 13
I had a free sample (chocolate) over a month ago during Art in the Park (can't remember its new name). The cupcakes were not overly sugared, which is a definite plus. The chocolate frosting was decent and fresh tasting, but the actual cake was dry, crumbly, and disappointing. I could neither taste the eggs, nor detect any sponginess in the texture. For my money, I'd walk the extra ten blocks to La Brioche for French pastries or baclava.

2010 May 8
Being relatively new to Ottawa and the Glebe area, I was pleasantly surprised to come across The Flour Shoppe this week! I guess the shop is brand new and has been opening for trial hours this week, with a regular schedule to be coming soon. On Thursday they were having some oven troubles, but were still welcoming customers (like me) into the store for a looksy and the owner offered me a free cupcake card, which I used for an amazing Lemon Raspberry cupcake.
The cake was moist and fresh, as was the smooth frosting. You can definitely tell they use real butter and not shortening substitues as the cake and icing both melted in the mouth nicely with none of the typical plastic after taste that other more commerical bakeries leave you with.
They seem to have a great selection with a rotation of flavours throughout the week....can't wait to see what they all are...definitely making a return trip!
Oh and I also love the decor...clean, white, minimalist, reminds me of Europe! :)



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2009 Apr 15
I'm copying this from the Cupcake area, I didn't notice Isobel's listed in the vendor section.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, when it comes to food, mine just happens to be the correct one!! Hey - I just came up with my tag line!!!

Finally an actual "cupcake" shop in Ottawa. Isobel's on Beechwood. Absolutely fabulous. A friend brought a dozen to Easter dinner the other night. They looked so good we were almost fighting over them.

I managed to get a chocolate with white icing…. But it wasn’t plain old vanilla icing it was a white chocolate butter crème with crème cheese…. OMG…. And the cake part so moist and flavorful.

Needless to say, I had to go check the place out.

1st thing I noticed as I drive up… the pink and white, so welcoming. Then…. The door was opened and the smell that lingered in the air, I’m not even sure how to describe… sweet, fragrant, yummy… that’s it, yummy.

In I went…. Décor, very classy, pink and brown and very clean and the people, professional and friendly and to see them pouring this fresh made lemon curd into the bowl for the cupcake’s, I’m not talking sheriff’s here, the real thing… lemon zest and lots of squeezing J

At first I thought… more than $2 for a cupcake then I used my brain…. Look at the place, look at the ingredients, all nature favors, look at the art… WELL WELL Worth it. Go to the supermarket and get one of their deserts and compare… you’ll be back on Isobel’s doorstep pretty quick.

I settled on the chocolate ganache, lemon, the lime coconut, of course the white chocolate chocolate etc….

I tried the lime coconut for myself last night, I’m not going to try to explain the favor, you have to try. I quickly grab the other one in the box and hid it from my family.

This brings me to the end of my very 1st blog entry…. I’ve just finished my “best hidden secret” lime coconut cupcake and freshly brewed coffee… I’m sitting here with a smile on my face, I used a fork… and it’s been licked clean (I can do that, I’m in the privacy of my own home) it was truly a breakfast of champions.

Til the next time – Welcome to Ottawa Isobel’s, I’m sure glad someone finally had the business sense to make this move to cupcake specialty with a retail front!!! I’m not dissin’ the others who operate from home, I’m sure they are good… but to be able to go to New Edinburgh and get a coffee and a truly “gourmet” cupcake can’t be beat by having to order ahead….. wait…. Pick up or wait…. For delivery.

I can’t wait for my next celebration, I’ll be bringing cupcakes from Isobel’s, because there is no doubt in my mind everyone will walk away happy.

Sincerely,
Food Lover Ottawa

2009 Apr 8
FANTABULOUS!

Agreed, I will be back for more.

2009 Apr 4
delectable, buttery, fresh, rich ganache, moist cake, beautiful,

will be back for more. perfect cupcake.



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2011 May 12
I picked up 1 dozen cupcakes to take home for the weekend. They were delicious! I tried a bite of them all.
Flavors included: lime, espresso, red velvet, coconut, strawberry, maple, and some combo's for chocolate vanilla.
yum yum yum
I will definitely be going back.
my favorite was the strawberry. The maple was also great!

2011 Apr 7
Tried a tiramisu flavoured cupcake from this new shop today - the cake was lovely, with a nice coffee flavour. I found the icing a bit sweet, but I'm not really an icing person. And surprise - it was a filled cupcake, meaning an extra ball of icing inside? I would have rather had more cake, but that's just me. The shop is cute, although I didn't hang around. Cupcake was decently priced at $2.63 after tax. Check it out if you have a sweet tooth and are in the neighbourhood. I'm not sure our population base can sustain all of these cupcake shops, but I guess we'll see. :)



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2012 Mar 15
My wife Tracy and I tried 4 cupcakes from ThimbleCakes. Here is the breakdown:

Chocolate love: This was Tracy’s choice and it was so good that she wouldn’t even let me try it. Not even when I played the “blog research” card. So you’ll just have to take her word for it. She ate it like an ice cream cone, savouring the chocolate buttercream frosting.

Red velvet: I ordered a red velvet cupcake because it seemed like the thing to do but, to be honest, I’ve been fooled by the pretty allure of the red velvet cupcake craze in the past. I usually find that, at best, they taste like an inferior version of a chocolate cupcake. And although I am a sucker for pretty things, when it comes to cake I’ll choose taste over form any day. My expectations were low for this one, which just meant that I was even more amazed when I bit into the moist red cake that seemed to melt in my mouth. I kept trying to convince Tracy to taste just a little piece because I was so astonished by the flavour but she was feeling far too monogamous about the chocolate love to indulge me.

Latte: This was my second choice and I can say with complete honesty and no hesitation that it was the.best.cupcake.I.have.ever.had. The frosting was plentiful and decadent and the cake was fluffy and delicious. Have you ever eaten something so good that you couldn’t stop thinking about it after? That’s how I’m feeling about this one right now.

Gluten-free banana vanilla: This was Tracy’s second choice and as it sat alone in the box she was wishing she had just ordered two of the chocolate loves instead. That is so my wife! Always happy with what she has and never looking elsewhere (lucky for me not so lucky for the cute-as-a-button cupcake left alone in the box). After a few moments of pouting she finally tried the last cupcake and was no longer disappointed. The cupcake seemed to be a combination of banana bread and vanilla cake and the icing was every bit as delicious as her precious chocolate love.

My full review of the store is here: www.mondayswithmac.com








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2011 Sep 13
I've tasted a variety of cupcakes from The Cupcake Lounge, and I can definitely give them a big thumbs up on texture, quality of ingredients, size, and icing:cake ratio, but as far as the very important category of flavour goes, they fall seriously flat. And I was really excited for a delicious Strawberry cupcake, at last! Sigh.

While the majority of their flavour combinations sound absolutely delectable on first sight, such as Key Lime or Ginger-Orange, they are only a barely-there sensation for the tastebuds. Disappointing, given that the cupcake itself, flavour aside, is very good.

I continue to visit, however, for their vanilla cupcake, which is always my go-to at any cupcake shop. The subtlety of flavour actually compliments this particular cupcake quite well and is definitely my favourite vanilla cupcake in all of Ottawa. Vanilla die-hards beware, however, there is also a taste of white-chocolate mingling in there, so it's not 100% vanilla in my opinion - but delicious nonetheless.


2011 Aug 31
After dinner boyfriend and I were looking for desert when we came across the Cupcake Lounge.

I've been here once before and tried their key lime cupcakes and enjoyed them.

This time I decided to try their Strawberry cupcakes. I use to make cupcakes all the time, so I was a little disappointed when they didn't have chunks of strawberry pieces in the cake. Which means they use some strawberry puree since the batter did have a light pink hue, with some strawberry flavouring.

The big plus is that they use butter, you can taste it in their icing which is a huge plus for me since I don't eat shortening.

Would I go back?? Maybe, the cake was moist, the icing perfect. Will probably go back if I'm in the area and in the mood for something sweet.

2011 Aug 23
I have tried cupcakes across North America, in Ottawa, and recently a couple at The Cupcake Lounge. They had a lot of different flavours. We took the key lime and the red velvet for a test drive.

The key lime had a delectable cream cheese icing, just the right combination of sour and sweet, and the cake was pretty moist...

The red velvet was very good and I have tried a lot of red velvet cupcakes in my days. The cream cheese icing in my opinion was not too sweet at all, had a great taste to it, and the cake was not dry either but moist... in fact I would have to say these were better than any cupcakery that I have gone to in LA, Washington or NYC.

They didn't cheat on neither icing nor cake so we feel we got our money's worth.

I heard they only opened a month or two ago.

2011 Jun 25
I was excited seeing the coming soon sign on the door and the butcher paper in the windows. Watched them as they moved in and eventually open but decided to be patient and waited a while after opening to make sure they were set.

Today I had a my first cupcake from The Cupcake Lounge! I opted for a favorite - The red velvet cake because I was so happy to see it on a menu. (Admittedly it is probably not the best choice as it is usually done quite poorly or really well. Not much in between.)

(Background: My first red velvet cake was years ago and was a killer example of just how good they can be. It was at Jacques-Imo's Cafe with a bunch of New Orleans locals/friends for my birthday. It was unexpected and lovely and left such a food memory.)

I really wanted to love their stuff but was greatly disappointed. (I suppose I still might if I opt to try something else?) We shared one and had waited till we got home to slice it down the centre.

I tried a bit of the cake itself (bottom) before diving into the icing top. *sigh* It was moist enough (my guy was critical of its texture, I thought it was fine) but sadly it was mostly flavourless. Skipped over to the top and tried the icing. The sweet cream cheese frosting was a bit on the too sweet for me side. Then tried the whole thing together,( as intended for a cupcake) thinking that the whole would be greater than the sum of its parts. All I tasted was icing but a bit better than before. I think the cake helped dilute the sweetness a bit and then I did taste a bit of the cream cheese tang.

I feel that saying it was mediocre would be generous and it was definitely not worth the price (or calories). If you have a better experience with another flavour please let us know. I may try again.

2011 Jun 3
Where is the shop? I thought you could only get them at the candy shop on weekends.

2011 Jun 2
Wanted to try the new cupcake shop in my work 'hood this week, so I picked up a carrot cupcake at lunch on Tuesday. I liked how they actually spread the icing out so it wasn't just a pretty and inedible pile in the middle of the cake. Good cake-to-icing ratio also - and awesome carrot cake goodness with nuts! And good cream cheese icing, not too sweet. Overall - a hit! The ladies behind the counter were super nice there too. Time will tell if there is enough business in the market for two cupcakeries, but I think this will be my go-to cupcake shop!




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2010 Dec 22
i had the lemon earl-grey. good texture, and moist. the lemon was overpowering the tea quite a bit, also because the cake is not too sweet (in a good way). icing had a nice texture, not too heavy or greasy. quite sweet, but it's icing...

disclaimer: i had this the next day after leaving it on my counter, so the icing hardened a touch on the surface... maybe next time i will try it fresh, because the texture of that walnut toffee square was deeeeeelicious

2010 Sep 9
these vegan treats are out of this world!

normally i'm pretty skeptical of most foods labelled vegan but these treats are the real thing!

the cupcakes are moist and flavorful, the frosting a little on the sweet side for me but when I'm feeling something less sweet I usually go for the vegan gluten free soy free brownies. I assure you, fellow food hounds, these are the definitive moist, fudgie, delicious and melt in your mouth brownies I have ever had.

You can not go wrong with this one!









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2010 Feb 28
i tried my first starbucks cupcake today and hated it. i bought the red velvet. the colour was terrifying and the cake was bland. it wasn't dry, but it was flavourless. the icing wasn't awful, but it wasn't special.

this will be my first and last cupcake from starbucks.

2010 Feb 6
Those red velvet cupcakes are the most expensive cupcakes I've ever purchased - they're DELICIOUS and ADDICTIVE - last year I ate one every day and had to buy new trousers as a result. Thanks Starbucks. I'm staying away from them this year ;)

2010 Jan 18
Cupcakes are a seasonal thing for Starbucks--arriving in January and leaving in March or so. Usually found in three flavours and for the last few years these have been vanilla, chocolate and red velvet.

If I were to do a taste test of the vanilla bean cupcake with that of 3 Bakers and a Bike and 3 Tarts and a few other bakeries, I would find that Starbucks holds its own against these bakeries, IMO. The cupcakes are fresh, moist and cakey. The icing is a shortening base, but doesn't have that oily feeling in the mouth afterwards.

And yet, I do not *want* to like them, simply because they are not from a small bakery.








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2010 Jun 1
on saturday my husband picked up 3 cupcakes from three bakers as a surprise. there was chocolate, a coffee flavour (with chocolate covered coffee bean on top) and vanilla. the price was a lot cheaper - less than a dollar each.

positive - the icing was much better than i have had previously from them. i did not have that greasy, oily film in my mouth afterwards.

mildly negative - the cake was small - i'm actually ok with that given the lower price - the issue was it was too light, too fluffy. there were some air pockets. frankly it tasted from a mix. i am also ok with cupcakes from a mix, as long as you know that is what you are getting. the chocolate and coffee definitely had that synthetic light as air texture. the vanilla was slightly denser and heavier.

given the lower price, i would stop in here again if i am in the neighbourhood and want a small treat to go with my bridgehead coffee.

2009 Apr 16
For a long time, I thought that these were the best cupcakes in the city. And frankly, the cake itself is some of the best I've had. The lemon cake is moist and sweet with a good tang to it--sadly though, it's not available in cupcake size.

The last few times we went, we found that the cupcakes were good, but--as Chimichimi mentioned--the icing contains shorterning, which in my mind isn't quite as good as buttercream.

I've also found that the service has gotten considerably worse over the past year and a half (since we first went there), and it's no longer worth the hassle.




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2009 Jun 30
L'Oven is now offering their amazing cupcakes at Credible Edibles and Thanks A Latte! I just had their vegan Just Beet It cupcakes (chocolate with beets and chocolate-avocado icing).. AMAZING!

You dont' taste the beets, it's just so incredibly moist and rich, and the icing tastes like ganache, but without the cream!

My mouth is watering just thinking about it....

2009 Feb 26
I just ordered two dozen minis for a party, they're so moist, delicious, and flavourful! I LOVE L'Oven!

2009 Jan 8
They don't have a store. You have to e-mail for a menu l-oven@live.ca

It's worth it. The menu is incredible!




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2009 Jun 12
Cupcakes are basically available in two sizes, individual or as “mini-cakes” which will feed two. Mini-cakes are just that small sized cakes (they don’t really resemble a cupcake). They come in the same flavours as the larger specialty cakes… so a great way to try out something that one might want to order later on a larger scale.

The decoration is breathtaking (even on this small an item)… I still can’t figure out how they do that. And the cake is moist and delicious while the icing is perfectly executed butter cream… sweet and smooth without being overpowering.

Mini-cakes come in specially designed containers to protect them in transit, they can also be popped directly into the freezer so that the mini-cake can be enjoyed at a later date (they provide written instructions on how to freeze & thaw).

I would definitely purchase again.