Ottawa Foodies

2

These are probably the best vegan cupcakes I've ever had. After trying many in the past that can only be described and iced brownies (or hockey pucks) these are light and fluffy with light fluffy incing.

I've tried a few flavours - best in my opinion is probably the chocolate with vanilla bean icing. Perfect combination of the two flavours!

I've also tried the gluten free options and they're just as light fluffy and tasty.

It's a little expensive but well worth it!

2

Ugh.

I was really hoping to be able to write a great review of this place since it's always awesome to have a shop where people with food sensitivities can go for great treats and actually have some selection. I am SO sad to report that the cupcakes and ice cream we had today were really expensive and (I don't say this lightly) pretty terrible.

First with the positive things - the decor is LOVELY. Bright, super cute furniture, gorgeous displays, and the cupcakes are, aesthetically, way above par. The lady at the counter was polite and pretty friendly.

Now for the cringey stuff...

We bought 2 cupcakes and two scoops of ice cream. I was appalled that this came to $17 and change. 2 normal-sized cupcakes and 2 scoops, literally not more than 1/4 cup each? For the same price as a modest lunch for 2 people? Come on. If the products had been divine, I could have forgiven this, but I would still not have been happy about it.

Cupcake #1 - GF Vegan Pumpkin Spice - Icing was flavourless. Thankfully didn't leave a gross coating on the roof of my mouth, but I would have thought it could have been better than "Well...it didn't taste BAD." The texture of the cupcake was the worst part - mushy, soggy, and crumbly, and there was not really any pumpkin or spice flavour. It was almost oatmealy in flavour, with the most flavour of the whole thing coming from the sprinkle of cinnamon on top.

Cupcake #2 - GF Vegan Vanilla Blueberry - Truly, truly awful. Tasted neither of vanilla nor blueberry. I think there were dried blueberries in the batter since, after the cake was gone, you get a few chewy bits of berry left behind in your mouth. The cake was gritty, it fell totally apart when you bit into it (the icing fell off), dry, and other than a really unpleasant corn-meal flavour, it tasted of nothing. Again, the icing wasn't bad but it didn't taste like anything.

I'm more a cook than a baker, but I do make my fair share of vegan GF baked goods at home. I mix my own GF flour mixtures with rice, tapioca, arrowroot, potato, millet, etc until I can get a delicate, moist cake. If I can make baked goods that aren't dry, crumbly and flavourless in my own kitchen, surely a profesional bakery can do the same? Especially when charging outrageous prices??

Now on to the ice cream...

Ice Cream #1 - Chocolate Coconut - First, this was not frozen properly. It had huge ice crystals and was sticky. Not smooth or creamy at all. It had a really off-putting playdough flavour, remeniscent of really bad soy ice creams. I didn't finish it.

Ice Cream #2 - Coconut Peach Raspberry - Sickeningly sweet with just a hint of fruit flavour, was also ice-crystally and grainy.

Again, I make home made vegan ice creams in a vita mix - either with coconut milk, bananas, or avocados. Nothing special at all, but a heck of a lot better than this. Hubby and I have had phenomenal coconut ice creams at other places. A really huge letdown.

I really, really wanted to like this place, but they will need to revamp their recipes and prices before I would ever consider returning. In my view, they're setting the standards for vegan GF treats far too low.

2

A cupcake's view from the kitchen.

www.foodgypsy.ca

Eco-friendly. Nut free. As local and as organic as a commercial bakery can be, they compost, they recycle they use environmentally friendly papers and cleaning products and monthly they host a charity day where proceeds go to a local animal rescue shelter.

What’s not to love?!

Offering gluten free cakes, egg/dairy free cakes, sugar free cakes and of course traditional cakes filled with butter and sugar and gluten available daily… Thimble Cakes rotates their flavor offerings daily.

A clever idea to keep regulars coming back.

Truly... beautiful product.

2

Just tried Thimble this morning. Bought a day-old cupcake for my 4 year-old. The icing had clearly gone bad because it was foamy to the taste. When a child stops eating a cupcake there is something terribly wrong! When we mentioned it to the decorator, she said that it may have gone bad but we would be fine. She never offered to replace it or give a refund. We had to ask. I found my Red Velvet cupcake very small for the price (3.25) with too much icing. The cream cheese icing was good but the cake was disappointing. Far from the quality at Three Bakers and a Bike or Isobel's. Not worth the price and the customer service is very disappointing. Won't be going back for sure.

4

i stopped in thimble cakes on saturday. they were busy, but still had an assortment of regular and mini flavours. i picked up banana, strawberry and latte mini's. if you bought 6 there was no tax, so the total was $4.98.

i only had the chance to try latte, it was fine. the cake was moist, the icing was best i've had, but it was only a tiny amount. the icing was just a small smoosh ontop of the cupcake - this i was thankful for. cupcakes don't need an inch of frosting, if they do, it is usually to mask the cake.

i thought it was fine, the space was cute and i would try a large size sometime, but to be honest, nothing won me over enough to drag me back. if i'm in the neighbourhood and they are open, i'll try again, but i won't drive over there to buy.

for me, in comparison to flour shoppe and second ave sweets, thimble cake cupcakes are much better.

4

I recently visited Thimblecakes and I thought they were absolutely awful. First, the cupcakes are about $3.00 - cakes from The Flour Shoppe, Isobel and BeGood are about $2.50. The size of the cakes is about 20% smaller than TFS, I and BG. The cakes themselves taste more like muffins and the icing on top is too grainy and sugary. Plus, massive problems if you order take-outs: their boxes do not have placeholders like TFS and I. As well, they don't offer bags to carry the cake box!!! It is all very well if you live just a block away - but just so happens that I was walking over to the Byward Market and already had a handful of stuff. I was told that bags are bad for the enviroment - granted. But cupcakes are in general harder to carry (especially without the placeholders) than other groceries. I don't think it would be unreasonable to offer paper carriers as an options to customers. A new cupcake provider with an attitude. Good luck staying competitive amongst TFS, T or BG - the other three clearly give better value for the money (and they taste better!).

4

I decided to check this place out on opening day, and was very much surprised. I thought it would just be another bakery, with only cupcakes. As I walked in, it was like a blast of sunshine (in this -25 degree weather). The environment is very relaxing and uplifting, even though the space is limited. The sitting area is decorated with very cute vintage inspired furniture. The staffers were very efficient and smiley, they genuinely seemed to enjoy what they were doing.

I decided on a pumpkin chocolate chip cupcake, I believe with a vanilla bean butter cream topping. I then noticed the loose leaf tea they had on display. They have their variety in little test tube containers, so you are able to smell the tea before ordering which I thought was a nice idea. The teas were labelled as “Shanti tea” and were organic and locally made. I decided on the peppermint tea, which smelled just like candy canes. Other hot beverages were available as well (coffee, lattes etc).

The cupcake was absolutely delicious. I could taste all the amazing spices in it, which gave an earthy vibe to the cupcake. I even found the wrapping to be very cute. There is clearly a lot of care put into the making of them. The icing was AMAZING, so light and fluffy. I found myself licking the wrapper afterwards (classy I know). The tea was served in a little tea pot and was also very enjoyable.

After my cupcake, I went up and bought a mini cupcake just to try another flavour. It was a dark chocolate cupcake with chocolate icing, nothing more needs to be said here.

I sincerely hope this place does well. It is definitely worth a visit. You could go to a coffee chain and pay over 10 dollars for a drink and treat that are usually shipped in from a factory, or you can go to a locally owned shop where everything is made with care and quality ingredients.

3

Let me just say that I was recently hired to work here (you can see me in the above picture in the blue - thank you for the lovely photograph, dumpycact, it is my very first photo foray into the world of the internet and I have to admit that I had to suppress a squeal) and it is the most fabulous place I have ever worked. Ever.

The owner, Wendy, is an absolutely lovely person, inside and out, who is completely dedicated to making the absolute best cupcakes she can - which are, from my experience, really, really, REALLY yummy. This I have deduced from a mere 3-4 days of working with her. She had been doing this out of her house for 2 years (to my knowledge) and this is her first time plunging into the likely very scary and stressful world of storefront-dom.

From what I have seen so far, it is clear that no expense is spared to deliver her customers high quality cupcakes made with high quality ingredients (this is how I convince myself that it is okay to eat every cupcake she offers us to taste-test, that maybe they can be considered "healthy" because they are made with RAW sugar instead of plain white - yeah right) and no detail is too small, from getting the candy beads just right on top of the cupcake to making sure that the display at the front of the store is immaculate. Every cupcake is totally fresh, made that day with organic ingredients (as often as possible), and as far as I know thus far she plans to send the day-olds to homeless shelters. She also has a really sweet sense of style, and the place itself is as adorable as her cupcakes, in my opinion. I simply cannot wait until the frilly, 50's housewife-style aprons she ordered for us arrive from Etsy.com.

Don't think I am simply pandering to my boss. That's not what it is. Wendy is just so lovely and so dedicated and is doing it SO right that I cannot help but want her to do well, and this review is one way I feel I can help! If you ever get the opportunity to meet her (she is the redhead racing around like a mad woman, making sure everything is just right) you'll see what I mean.

So please come by Thimblecakes Cupcakery and see for yourself. :) We are just starting (thank you for the patience of everyone on opening day when we ran out of full size cupcakes!) but I promise it will only get better and better from here on out and I have total faith in Wendy's cupcake prowess and can't wait to see what other cool creations she comes up with!

Okay, my sappy plug is over. Come visit! Cupcakes, yay! ;)

3

Available is a variety of drinks, including espresso, lattes, tea, hot chocolate and organic milk.

The space is quite small, only seating 12. Open-view of a kitchen (or part of a kitchen) at the back.

Co-owner Wendy van Velthoven was part of the original staff at Atelier (per Marc Lepine's twitter)

And now the food:
They tasted quite nice, good texture, nothing too sweet or greasy or buttery. To be honest, I can't really tell with only half a bite of each one! I'd rather comment when full-size is available (and not their very first day!)

That's my report so far ^_-

(Photo by Rob Pietrzak, eyeslikelenses.blogspot.com/)

2

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