ottawa foodies

Not sure if it's just me, but I'm noticing cupcakes everywhere lately. My friend served some at the brunch she hosted a couple weeks ago. It was like I was having them for the first time.

So, I just had to pick up Martha Stewart's Cupcake book. I've made her one-bowl-chocolate cupcakes (very nice) and will try the coconut ones next. I heard they were amazing.

Anyone else having strange cupcake cravings? Some kind of (near) mid-life crisis??

... long live the revolution!

I'm noticing that too, cupcake bakeries seem to be popping up everywhere these days. Def very trendy. I heard there is a new one opening soon (or maybe even open already) in Ottawa called the Flour Shoppe on Bank near the Queensway in the Glebe. Has anyone heard of it or tried it?

I was looking at the Martha Stewart cupcake book in Chapters the other day and really tempted to buy it...so many great ideas. I should try her chocolate cupcake recipe. I've been searching for the perfect one, but I think I may have found it in Barefoot Contessa's book "At home'. She's got a chocolate 'cupcake' recipe AND a chocolate 'cake' recipe in this book, I tried both and the chocolate cake recipe made FAR better cupcakes (at least in my opinion).

One-bowl cupcakes sound like a lot less clean up though! LOL

Before you go an buy Martha's book, you can always give a test run of some of her cupcakes on her website: www.marthastewart.com

I know we've talked about the cupcake revolution before. It's picked up in Ottawa a fair bit. What's funny is how in other (bigger?) cities, the trend du jour changes much more quickly. I've heard of people in New York and Chicago talking about doughnuts as the new trend.

Roadtripfood - I have heard of the Flour Shoppe - I have seen them on Twitter - people seem somewhat excited twitter.com/TheFlourShoppe - I will try it :)

Also, I agree - Ottawa seems bustling with cupcakes. Also it seems to be a trendy thing to do cupcake wedding cakes.

thanks guys, I have browsed a few of her cupcakes online too, I just haven't made any yet. Her coconut ones look really good!
I've been following the Flour Shoppe on Twitter the last couple days and it looks like they may be opening in the next week or two (early April by the sounds of it). thanks for the link Proulx, it looks like it'll be a pretty snazzy shop. Looking forward to checking it out! (even though I still don't like the idea of paying $2 for a cupcake ;)

i'd say the cupcake revolution is done. so ottawa getting its first cupcake shop is right on track. my guess is the cupcakes will be more than $2. how many cupcakes will they have to sell each day to pay the skyhigh rent in the glebe?

i had cupcakes instead of wedding cake. i was married 10 years ago and we couldn't afford the cake cutting fee ontop of everything else, so we had cupcakes.

Were cupcakes ever 'in' or 'revolutionary'? I think they're a classic baked good, and line-ups down the street at Billy's, Magnolia Bakery & other well-known cupcake shops/bakeries in NYC would suggest that there is no 'revolution', only good taste...

What I want to see is a proper doughnut revitalization, Timmy Ho's has DESTROYED doughnuts. They're disgusting. The only places in Ottawa that do fresh doughnuts anymore are Carling Bakery (occasionally) and Tom & Sons (best apple fritters ever). Fraser Café also has them on the dessert menu, but I want accessible, doughnut & coffee shop types of doughnuts. If anyone has been to Portland, Voodoo Doughnuts is AMAZING and I'd love to see a shop like that open up in Ottawa.

+1 to NyQuil doughnuts.

(sorry to derail the thread)

I just read a good article on running a cupcake business and how it exploded but it seems to be dying off a little. Sounds like it's really hard to make it work & make a profit, even when most of them are selling their cupcakes b/w $2 and $3...I guess getting into the more catering angle (weddings and such) may really help boost business. I bet the rent in the Glebe for a storefront would be pretty high too!

Here is the article if anyone's interested in checking it out:
www.nytimes.com

(sorry I don't know how to link within a post, I'm still fairly new here...if anyone can show me how to do that, that would be great! :)

I have heard there's a big trend toward cupcake wedding cakes, and the ones I've seen look fabulous. I didn't even know there was a cake cutting fee, wow! Well at least with cupcakes it's much easier to share...

I can attest to the Martha Coconut Cupcakes... they were amazing. I did them for my son's wedding last summer. In the photo obviously the white ones are the coconut.

As for donuts, if you are in New York City the Donut Plant is a must. You can check it out at:
www.thedonutplant.com

These are the best donuts I have ever tried, so far of course ;)

in the globe and mail today is an article on food tattoos. cupcakes tattoos are supposedly very popular.

chimichimi - where is tom & sons? i miss fresh apple fritters. you used to find them at bakeries all the time and i haven't seen one in years.

HFF - Tom & Sons is on Bentley drive out in Nepean, they're a wholesaler, but you can submit an order and pick up fresh doughnuts between 2pm & 6pm (or get them delivered if you have a $20+ order). They supply apple fritters to Marcello's, Hasty Market, etc... very tasty, if you can find one.

foodntravel - I have experienced the Donut Plant. They are truly amazing and make Tim Horton's look like garbage. Bad coffee... bad donuts... Canadians struggling with their identity is what keeps T-Ho's profits flowing (and their numerous, 'convenient' locations).

Chimi - you missed one and its worth the drive. Best apple fritters in the city goes to the Carp Bakery. Made fresh daily, I think they cost 90 cents, and you don't have to order more than $20 worth. Timmy's sucks, especially post homogenizing all the stores to using the exact same recipes across canada.

Even worse then that, Tim Horton's stores don't actually use any recipes anymore. All of the donuts are produced in a factory and shipped frozen to the stores, where they are re-heated and served.

www.genx40.com

Sourdough - if you're willing to drive, you can put in an order for less than $20 to pick up at their bakery on Bentley drive...

Really good apple fritters can also be had at the Hall's Apple stand at the Carp Farmer's market and Landsdowne. They don't seem to last long. I'll have to try the one's at the Carp Bakery. Thanks for the tip.

Rideau bakery has fresh handmade donuts every day. i love the jelly donuts, old fashioned donut rolled in sugar. Jack the baker makes awsome donuts!

Richmond Bakery does doughnuts as well and they are definitely a step up from Tim's.

A friend and I cycled to Carp today to try the apple fritters at the Carp Bakery. Yep, that was the goal. :) Certainly VERY fresh fritters - a bite sinks/squishes right in and leaves a nice crust of sugar glaze on your lips - but, overall, nothing great we both agreed. And we wanted it to be delicious.

I want a knobbly, sizeable and delicious fritter. These were not.
So...to Tom & Son's or I've heard Grahame's in Kemptville is also good. I need to find a winner. We're having a Fritter-off soon. A group of us held a Butter Tart-off a couple months ago and tarts from Mike's Restaurant in Marysville won.

Nothing to say about cupcakes. Sorry.

I had a good fritter from a place in Perth, ON, a few years ago. From Google Streetview, I think it might have been North Coffee, but since I can't find anything online that establishment may have fallen victim to the higher profit margins of Timmy Ho's. :-(

Their Apple Fritter had a unique-sounding name, incorporating some local term (a tree? wildlife? I can't remember!). Does anyone know what I'm talking about?

7 North Coffee (it's on Highway #7)

pretty sure it's still open FF. it was previously a Robin's Donuts franchise.

Back to cupcakes- I prefer to simply eat them myself, but some enjoy studying the geographic patterns of cupcakes shops and other trendy food purveyors. Yes, there is a theory of cupcake gentrification: "According to Dr. Kathe Newman, a lecturer at the Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University, it turns out that a spatial analysis of cupcake proliferation could also reveal the flow of capital investment in cities" from www.ediblegeography.com

I saw a show advertised on tv last night called "The Cupcake Girls". I think it's on tonight if anyone is interested. The show summary from tvguide.ca has a good description: "Running a growing chain of cupcake shops with your best friend is no piece of cake. Just ask Heather White and Lori Joyce, founders of Cupcakes, a Vancouver-based bakery specializing in whimsical confections. Between their booming business, handling a large group of young employees, Heather's involved parents and Lori's ongoing fertility treatments, things are about as hectic as they can get."

Cupcakes are great (have been to Magnolia's in NYC) but what I really miss are the Tim Horton's Chocolate Coconut donuts. If anyone knows where they still sell em I'd love to hear!

Cheers

Hee, hee :

consumerist.com

Do Not Market Your $8 Cupcakes By Insulting Fat People
By Laura Northrup on June 3, 2010 12:00 PM

There are a lot of things to keep in mind when launching a small business. One of them: try not to build your marketing around an insult a substantial portion of the American population. A small bakery in North Carolina forgot this important truth, and launched with the tagline “So Good It Makes Fat People Cry." The slogan didn't make anyone cry--it just pissed people off.

OK, I've been on the sidelines for the whole cupcake thing - just brushing it off as yet another foolish trend. I still pretty much think this to be the case, even after my wife made these INCREDIBLE cupcakes this evening! Oh man they are good!

Lemon Lime Zucchini Cupcakes

urbanhippy.ca

Nonetheless, I'll continue to mock the cupcake fad :-) While gorging myself with these ultra-delicious cupcakes!

Hall's apple stand at the Lansdowne farmers market has not been making doughnuts all summer.
last summer I did get Hall's doughnuts once and they were super burned and apparently they had a "new person" making them.
I remember before the Ex they moved the market to a park and it was since then they do not have doughnuts,

I think Cupcakes are kind of overhyped.
But I have to add I do like cupcakes,but generally like all pastries.
Cupcakes are just small "round" cakes..or other shaped cakes.

For doughnuts rideau bakery has some good ones and are downtown.

Golden Baguette on bank at Lisgar usually makes fresh doughnuts every day.
But they only have 1 kind of dough and 3 toppings.
Their doughnut is kind of softer and more "bready"
the flavors are sugar cinnamon sprinkled, chocolate topped-but not w icing they use real melted chocolate, the third one looks kind of like maple? or brown sugar mixed with melted chocolate drizzled on top.

Their doughnuts are either $1 or $1.25 and they are allright,very fresh though.
They do not make many and are usually sold out by most afternoons (the bakery is small and it is one man who makes everything daily)
-so they might have 24 or so doughnuts at most....

Honestly, the best cupcakes I've had around Ottawa are from Chrystal's Cupcakes aka daretoindulge.ca
They were so fresh and moist... icing not too sweet, which is a personal disliking. I also detest fondant, none on these! A little taste of heaven in my mouth!

Gee, Zymurgist- those cupcakes look great. I've been wanting to make some lately and I think I will give them a go.

I agree the cupcake bit is way over hyped. I think it started with the Sex and the City/Magnolia bakery hype and grew.

I've tried the Dufflet ones from Loblaws and they're disgusting, in my opinion.

agreed pan - dufflet is the absolute worst. i've heard good things about thimblecakes on bank st. i love cupcakes, but i am feeling done with the fad. i don't want another cupcake shop. i don't want another tea shop either. these days, i want a great cup of hot coffee and a freshly made apple fritter. why can't i have that in this city?

I will resist comment on whether the cupcake trend is hitting Ottawa too early or too late, but will share Frank DeCaro's method for eating cupcakes which I have been successfully employing for a couple of years now. Typically when you eat a cupcake piled high with frosting, you get some cupcake with a preponderance of frosting, but are left with a bit of cake at the bottom. If you slice the cake part of the cupcake in half horizontally, then invert it on top of the icing, you get a delicious cupcake sandwich with frosting in the middle, and the perfect ratio of cake to frosting in every bite. It ain't pretty, but it's tasty :)

Glad I did not try the Dufflet ones then.
I am also wondering if Loblaws gets them in frozen?

A few times I have been to Independent and AP when that was around and they had just put the bagels and crumpets out and they were still frozen.
Same for some of the PC pasta I bought.

(and even one time at AP I went to pick up some bagels that were still frozen and they were expired and they still put them out...).

Since Dufflet is Toronto based, how fresh can their items be here?

Cupcakes are good as long as they don't have tons of icing...and for me cream cheese icing is the worst!

A few weeks ago I saw an ad online for a soup company called Yummy Tummy and they had a special with soup and a "cupcake in a jar".
Apparently it is a cupcake that is sliced and put in a mason jar and there are layers with icing, cake, candy,more cake and it is a large jar.
-looks neat but not sure I really want to eat that.

Second Ave sweets has some interesting cupcakes, they are quite large and have filling in the middle and a lot of icing on top.

So far I really like Aunty Loo's cupcakes.
They are not huge and the icing is vegan and she does not put tons of icing.
Strawberry lemonade cupcake is nice and so is chocolate mint.

I adore baking cupcakes. But their transportation is always such a big problem for me. What is the easiest way to transport cupcakes? I used strawberry boxes, but it wasn't a good experience. What about those cupcake carriers: www.justinscafe.com Have you ever used any of them?

FirstSpringFlower, I haven't used those specific cupcake carriers, but ours is similar to the one pictured here and it works very well. I can't imagine transporting cupcakes any other way.