Last Thursday after work I ventured over to Dessert Lady (12 Cumberland St.), which is just off of Yonge St. This location really can’t be beat, as it’s in Yorkville, and really close to both the Bay and Yonge-Bloor subway stations. The Dessert Lady specializes in wedding cakes, truffles, cookies and homemade ice cream. Four flavours of cupcakes on their site – Red Velvet, Amaretto, Chocolate and Vanilla. When I went into the store they only had Red Velvet cupcakes, which they have sitting out without icing; upon order they pipe cream cheese icing onto the cake.

Presentation: 3/5
Icing: 4/5
Cake: 3/5
Selection: 1/5
Location: 5/5
Total: 16/25

Despite the high cost of the Dessert Lady’s cupcake, it was exactly the type of cupcake you could make at home. While I know cupcakes in generally range from $2.50-$3, this cupcake fell on the high end of the price spectrum, though the quality of the cupcake did not justify the price. The Dessert Lady has a prime location, and with the higher overall price range of things in Yorkville, it’s understandable that they would have a higher price tag on their cupcake, but honestly, in the future I would buy a cupcake from Starbucks over this one.

For starters, the cake was really dry. I’m a huge fan of red velvet cake, but I was disappointed with the cake portion. The icing was fine, though I felt they should have topped it up much higher to compensate for the dryness of the cake. The icing was a light, cream cheese icing that wasn’t anything special, but was the best part of the cupcake. I also wasn’t impressed with the presentation of the cupcake, even though they pipe on the icing only after a cupcake is ordered, it didn’t cover the entire top of the cupcake, one of my pet peeves. It also wasn’t very visually pleasing, definitely not the type of cupcake I would as a gift. As I mentioned before, there was only one cupcake to choose from when I was there – I would have preferred to try the Amaretto cupcake as it is at least a unique flavour.

All in all, the only thing the Dessert Lady has going for it is the individual semi reusable container the cupcake came in, and the  location, though with three-four Starbucks in close proximity I’d rather go there for a cupcake than return to the Dessert Lady.

Republished school blog

Across the pond, Ins@fe is reminding you to: “think B4 U Post,” on the 2010 Safer Internet Day.

The Internet awareness event happens each February. It primarily targets youth, promotes the safer use of online technology. February 9, marked the fourth annual event, created by Ins@fe, a European network co-founded by the Safer Internet Programme.

In Canada, The Canadian Centre for Child Protection has launched a similar campaign called Respect Yourself.
Safer Internet Day reminds users to brush up on privacy policies in regards tog their own Internet use. The popular social networking site Facebook, released a new set of privacy policies in December.

Media education specialist, Matthew Johnson, encourages teachers to discuss online privacy settings, before they even enter the realm of social networks through a series of lessons. The lessons are an example of initiatives funded by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada to ensure youth understand the impact of the Internet on their personal privacy.

Tips on how to protect your privacy online:

• Think before you post anything online
• Pay attention to the privacy settings on sites such as Facebook
• Protect your identity by keeping personal information private
• Think about who can access what you are posting
• Know who your online “friends” are

Additional Links:
10 New Privacy Settings Every Facebook User Should Know
my privacy. my choice. my life.
Facebook’s New Privacy Policy

I adore this picture because it 1. has a Jack Russell and 2. has a cupcake.  Back at my parent’s house, lives my little brat, Kirby, the Jack Russell Terrier.  I can see him making these wide eyes at a tasty treat like a cupcake.  This is from the site that always cheers me up, Cute Overload.

Recipe for Chocolate Olive Oil and Blood Orange Cupcakes

When I was in Kensington Market on Tuesday, they had some lovely blood oranges. While this recipe contains many ingredients, they sound tasty and incorporate olive oil, meaning they have to be somewhat good for you. Right?

Fashion Cupcakes – Trendland

I know this is older, but these are amazingly styled cupcakes prop-styled by Lisa Edsalv.  Seeing as New York Fashion Week is underway, I thought it was appropriate to post this.  My favourites is the Christian Louboutin cupcakes, which have as much sex-appeal as the red-soled shoes.

Four Square Cupcakes – Flickr

You may have noticed my latest obsession with foursquare via my Twitter, so here is a “Mayor” cupcake picture I found on Flickr.

RIP Alexander McQueen

Check College Candy for my tribute to “l’enfant terrible” with the best from his collections.

College Fashion – Birthday Girl Fashion: 4 Outfits for the Best Day of the Year

This post combines two of my loves: cupcakes and getting dressed up.  Sarah of College Fashion suggests cupcakes for each of the attention-grabbing outfits; my favourite includes a Crave-o-licious cupcake.  It was recently my birthday (Jan. 22) and I was surprised by a yummy cupcake from my friend Carly – the icing on the cake of a perfect birthday.  I fully embraced the ability to dress up on my b-day, wearing my zebra dress, grey suede booties and a birthday necklace Meggie and Dayna gave me two years ago.

Food2 – Cupcake Cup

Food2 is having a competition for the best looking cupcakes, there is still over a month to submit your best cupcake photo.  Once voting starts, I’ll try and pick some of my favourites.

prettysweet Custom Cake Creations

A custom cake designer based out of Toronto with fashionable, musical, or just plain fun cakes and cupcakes.  I adore The Beatles’ cupcakes.

I went to the Wedding Cake Shoppe a week after going to Miss Cora’s Kitchen. One of the masterminds behind this shoppe, placed second during a Food Network Challenge. Though I had been disappointed by Miss Cora’s Kitchen, I went into the Wedding Cake Shoppe with high hopes. I purchased a Caffe Mocha Cupcake and a Spiced Chai Latte, which I feel were the perfect choices for my coffee/cupcake love affair.

Presentation: 5/5
Icing: 5/5
Cake: 5/5
Selection: 5/5
Location: 3/5
Total: 23/25
This cupcake was absolutely amazing. I am obviously a huge caffeine addict, so the combination of coffee, chocolate and cupcakes has me in heaven. The icing on the Caffe Mocha cupcake was mousse-like, making it very light with a hint of coffee taste. The crunchy coffee bean on top was the cherry on top for someone like me. The cake was perfectly moist, combining perfectly with the icing.

Presentation: 5/5
Icing: 4/5
Cake: 5/5
Selection: 5/5
Location: 3/5
Total: 22/25
The Spiced Chai Latte Cupcake was not as good as the Caffe Mocha cupcake, but it was still better than many I’ve had. The icing had a hint of flavour, but was much thicker, making it a heavier icing. As a result there was not as much icing on the cupcake, which I thought worked well well this style of icing. The cake was very similar, nice and moist. While I wasn’t as fond of this cupcake, it is a unique flavour I haven’t seen before, and I feel like it would be good for the person that prefers cupcakes with less icing.

The shop is located near College & Ossington, making it a bit out of the way from my usual College St/Kensington excursions, but on a nice day the walk was pleasant. As they do wedding cake consultation, there are a lot of tables in the shop. The atmosphere is very stimulating as there are lots of pretty cakes to admire in the window. They serve coffee there as well, though I didn’t eat in the shop.

Overall, the Wedding Cake Shoppe offered up a really good cupcake, and I would highly recommend checking it out. So far it they served up the best cupcakes I have found in Toronto.