The best cookie in Gatineau? Adrian Larose visits Gaïa

Cookies from Gaïa

Adrian Larose, a born-and-bred Ottawan, loves to eat and cook and write and explore, sometimes in that order. Escaping life’s grind for the pleasures of the great outdoors located mere minutes away is one reason Ottawa tops his list of places to live. He’s also passionate about environmental issues, and how those issues connect with food and social justice topics.

What brings me back to my favourite eating-places again and again is the dessert – the baked goodies. Most food places I love, it’s the goodies that stand out.

Gaïa restaurant and café, a teensy vegetarian operation in Gatineau, has cookies that keep me coming back, and that’s no small thing. Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies are among my favourite selections. Giant ones, that is, so full of PB they just melt in your mouth.

White Chocolate Oatmeal cookie from Gaïa

For the adventurous, there is usually a day’s special cookie on the rack, too (perhaps White Chocolate Oatmeal?). You have a large choice of teas or some coffee to dunk in. If you’re staying for lunch – do you still have room after that cookie? – Gaïa boasts an impressive selection of Quebec beers, for the restaurant’s small size.

Walking down Laval, I passed all manner of shiny restaurants with patios, but kept on going. The good stuff – Gaïa – is a full block past all the other Laval restaurants. (Located in Hull, it’s just a short walk from Promenade du Portage and the Place du Centre shopping mall.)

And the lunches are worth the quick trip north from the Portage Bridge. Gaïa has the old “sandwich with a soup or salad” combo. Boring and familiar, right?

Except here, some sandwiches are crammed with roasted veggies and sprouts, others with apples and brie melted just so. Many emphasize tangy goat cheese, and all are squeezed tight between thick slices of hearty bread. A sandwich alone is a real meal.

On a recent lunch break – since I work a short walk away, in the mother ship that is Place du Portage, Canada’s largest federal government office complex – I ordered a salad for about 10 bucks. Gaïa’s bandana-wearing chef/waiter/do-it-all employee, who would prefer that you parlez Francais (but yes, la carte is available en Anglais), brought a giant feast to the table just a few minutes later.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk cookie from Gaïa

All sorts of mixed greens formed a base, grated carrots added crunch and colour, sprouts upped the ante, and a generous handful of sunflower seeds plus salty tamari tofu topped it off, all crispy and fresh. It could have been dinner. The café also serves hot main-dish specials, which I still need to try.

If you find the prices a bit higher than you expect, it’s because of the serving size! Even the cookies are huge and share-able.

Be warned: Ambiance is not the point at Gaïa. The look is basic café style, with simple tables and chairs in an open room, no romance or privacy to be found. I have rarely seen it busy, though, so noise has not been a problem.

For a summer afternoon, why not just take your cookie (or two!) with you and walk down the hill one block to the big public park that’s right nearby? Sit and read at a picnic table, or play some soccer and Frisbee to run off the sugar high.

And enjoy every sweet bite.

Café Gaïa, corner of Laval and Frontenac, Gatineau (Hull –across from the hotel Les Suites Victoria). Call to confirm hours – usually lunch through dinner – 819-777-9019. 

Welcome to Local Tourist Ottawa Adrian….we can’t wait to see what else you have up your sleeve …and in your lunch bag!

The Ottawa Cupcake Challenge heats up: Hilary visits Auntie Loo’s Treats and reaches cupcake nirvana

Auntie Loo, from Auntie Loo's Treats

Hilary Duff (blog/Twitter) is a quirky 21-year-old who loves multimedia journalism, cycling, food blogging, and churning massive amounts of baked goods out of her cramped student kitchen. She is currently writing an LTOttawa series on her hunt for Ottawa’s perfect cupcake.

After an insanely busy week, I thought I deserved a treat by the time Friday afternoon rolled around (not that I ever need an excuse to treat myself).

My two good friends Laura Jane and Gord (check out his food blog: The Savoury Starving Student) were kind enough to accompany me on this week’s mission.  It’s always nice when I cupcake test with roommates and friends.  I can only try so many cupcake flavours after all, and any help from them is always a welcome treat.

On the docket for this week’s cupcake tasting was Auntie Loo’s Treats, which appears to be the only vegan bakery in eastern Ontario.

Auntie Loo's Treats is located at 507 Bronson Avenue

This means that cupcake eating is an inclusive experience for all, regardless of whether you have a dairy allergy, egg allergy, intolerance to gluten or are just vegan by choice.  If you’re one of those people who make a face whenever the term “vegan” is mentioned (like Laura Jane), you’re definitely making a mistake.  I too was a tad hesitant at trying a vegan cupcake but, as you will read later, my reservations were quickly forgotten.

The bakery location on Bronson opened in October 2009, but Auntie Loo has been baking far longer than that. She first started selling cupcakes in 2004 at craft sales, and eventually at the Herb & Spice where she used to work.

Gord and Laura Jane at Auntie Loo's

For those of you who have never been to Auntie Loo’s, it’s pretty easy to find – the door and window frames, as well as part of the roof, are painted a cotton candy pink, making it impossible to miss.

The colour continues inside, with pastel greens and accent pinks stretching throughout.  Pictures of Marilyn Monroe and James Dean hang by the front door, making the entranceway a star studded affair.

Auntie Loo's Treats sells everything from cupcakes to brownies and flax carrot cake

Something extra exciting also happened at Auntie Loo’s – Auntie Loo herself recognized me and knew about my search for the perfect cupcake!

Like many other bakers in Ottawa, Auntie Loo is fairly active online, and I was excited to hear she had seen the tweets and posts I had written about the Ottawa cupcake challenge.  She also had one special request of me: Auntie Loo’s should never be referred to as a cupcakerie.

Yes, she sells cupcakes, but her bakery is also chalked full of other baked goods, ranging from vegan brownies to flax carrot cake.

For more information on Auntie Loo's, visit http://auntieloostreats.blogspot.com/

Similar to the other bakeries I’ve been to, Auntie Loo’s has an open concept kitchen.

As soon as you walk into the store, you see it all.  A pink KitchenAid mixer. Huge bowls with kitchen utensils peeking out the top. Polka dot curtains.  Everything is out in the open so that, as Auntie Loo says, you get to see exactly what’s going into your product.

But lets move on to the cupcakes themselves.

Hilary was told through Twitter to try either the peanut butter chocolate, earl grey lemon, or mint chocolate cupcake from Auntie Loo's

A few weeks ago I received my first cupcake flavour recommendation.

Although I was already planning to try Auntie Loo’s cupcakes, I had absolutely no idea what flavour to try. Evan Hughes tweeted at me saying that I needed to choose the peanut butter chocolate cupcake, the earl grey lemon cupcake or the mint chocolate one.

Being the hardcore peanut butter lover that I am, I chose the first, and am happy to report that I reached cupcake nirvana.

Auntie Loo's is located at 507 Bronson Avenue

While I was talking to Auntie Loo about her bakery, Gord and Laura Jane had already gobbled down their cupcake and were eager for me to try mine so that we could discuss.

Since Auntie Loo’s doesn’t have a seating area, the three of us rushed through puddles back to Laura Jane’s car.

Once there, I gingerly lifted my cupcake out of its brown paper bag home, and had an impromptu cupcake photo shoot on the back of Laura Jane’s car.  Finally it was time to eat.

My cupcake was like nothing I’ve ever tasted before.

Auntie Loo's peanut butter chocolate cupcake

The peanut butter flavour in the icing made it taste more savoury than the traditional cupcake, and I felt like I was eating a creamy peanut butter cookie, only better.

The chocolate cake pleasantly surprised me as well. I’m not a huge fan of chocolate cupcakes, but found that Auntie Loo’s cake lacked that occasionally bitter chocolate zing that dominates all other flavours.

Not only that, but the cake was gloriously moist.

As Gord commented, there was also the perfect balance between icing and cake.  To solve an unproportional cupcake to icing ratio problem, Gord normally tears off the bottom of his cupcake and squishes it down on top of the icing, creating a homemade cupcake sandwich.

For more info on Auntie Loo's products, click this photo.

That action wasn’t necessary with Auntie Loo’s cupcake, since every delicious bite of cake was met with an equally good mouthful of icing.

The cupcake itself had an inherently homemade look to it and, like Auntie Loo told me, was supposed to look like the ones your mom used to bake from her kitchen.

My trip to Auntie Loo’s most certainly means that my current cupcake rankings need to be rearranged.

Auntie Loo’s Treats is officially tied for first place with Isobel’s Cupcakes and my first sampling of a vegan cupcake led to the sweetest of successes.

Cupcake personality: ***½

Cake: *****

Icing: ****½

Cupcake overall: ****½

So, who else is hungry? And where should Hilary go next?

From France to Ottawa: Noémie tries cheesecake at the ByWard Market’s Memories Restaurant

Memories Restaurant is located at 7 Clarence Street, Ottawa

Noémie is a 25-year old woman from France, and a newcomer in Ottawa with a hunger to discover and share everything she learns about the city. When she is not looking for new foodie experiences, she is an online marketing and social media specialist.

During my very first week in Ottawa, I chose to be a true tourist and do the bus tour of the city.

…and what was the most important thing I remembered from the tour guide’s speech? He said: “In the ByWard Market, there are 88 restaurants and 35 food retail establishments; so you can eat every day for two months, changing the location of each meal.”

Memories: white chocolate and raspberry cheesecake

After that I decided I just had to test all of it – I have already visited more than 20 and written about it on my blog.

But the most interesting part of this adventure is my latest discovery: the cheesecake from Memories Restaurant. I went there with a huge craving for something  sweet…and believe me, I was satisfied!

Located on Clarence Street, the atmosphere of this restaurant/bakery is peaceful and pleasant. I choose a place near the window, to watch the historical ByWard under the snow. It was not crowded, only few couples enjoying a sweet break together. What a romantic afternoon!

Memories: lemon and blueberry cheesecake

I tested both the classic white chocolate and raspberry and the lemon and blueberry cheesecakes. And I was not disappointed – just look at these photos!

The cakes were smooth, frothy and cold enough to truly enjoy. The good thing with the cheesecake is that it is easy-to-eat: you have the impression that is like eat a cloud (but stop dreaming it is not low in calories).

*

I went the Saturday before Valentine’s Day and the decorations were also very cute – hearts on all the tables added even more to the already very special atmosphere.

Another thing that I did not try (but I heard a lot about it after going there) is the carrot cake. Apparently, it is really amazing, so if you go there and chose to try it, let me know if is worth me making a second stop into this lovely little restaurant.

The hunt for Ottawa’s perfect cupcake – Part IV: Little Cakes

A brownie cupcake with marshmallow buttercream from Little Cakes

Hilary Duff (blog/Twitter) is a quirky 20-year-old who loves multimedia journalism, cycling, food blogging, and churning massive amounts of baked goods out of her cramped student kitchen. She is currently writing an LTOttawa series on her hunt for Ottawa’s perfect cupcake.

Two weeks ago I received a lovely Twitter message from Shakira Whitton at Little Cakes asking when I would like to sample their cupcakes.

Shakira Whitton of Little Cakes

I was immediately excited, since Don from Ottawa food blog foodiePrints said I needed to include this very talented baking duo (co-owners Shakira and Colleen Rhedey both bake out of their homes) in my hunt.   This was my first “no storefront” sampling, so Shakira and I settled on meeting at the Bridgehead by my house.  Now, since I can’t ramble on about store décor and atmosphere as I usually do, let me instead tell you a bit more about Little Cakes.

After opening their (oven) doors in March 2009, it seems like Shakira and Colleen have experienced a sugary success story.

The two take orders from their website and bake out of their individual kitchens.  Just earlier that week they miraculously baked 48 dozen (that’s 576!!) cupcakes to fill Valentine’s Day orders.  Simply put:  these women must be magic, because to me that seems like an impossible, insanity-inducing feat.  While Shakira says they aren’t planning on opening a storefront anytime soon, Little Cakes’ signature baking can sometimes be found at the Timothy’s in Bayshore.

To learn more about Little Cakes visit http://www.littlecakes.ca

They’re also looking to mobilize their business, and are thinking of buying a special cupcake-friendly van to drive around Ottawa like a modern day ice cream truck.  Until this van does come rolling into a neighbourhood near you, Little Cakes offers monthly cupcake sampling events so that brides or cupcake lovers alike can try out their different flavours.

But on to the cupcakes themselves.  I was truly spoiled with this week’s sampling.  Not only did Shakira drive in from Kanata to deliver these treats, but her and Colleen put their heads together and decided on three different flavours for me to try: a cherry cupcake with cherry buttercream, a spiced cupcake with cinnamon buttercream, and a brownie cupcake with marshmallow buttercream.  As you can imagine, I was in cupcake paradise and experienced my earliest sugar coma yet, thanks to a three-course cupcake breakfast at 10:30 a.m.

Little Cakes cupcakes: a cherry cupcake with cherry buttercream, a spiced cupcake with cinnamon buttercream, and a brownie cupcake with marshmallow buttercream.

Like I said, I’m dreadfully spoiled.

To somehow justify me eating cupcakes for breakfast, I decided to eat the cherry one first.  The fact that there was a fruit mentioned in the name of the cupcake made me feel slightly better and shamefully healthier.

Please don’t judge me too harshly.

Also, have you ever heard of a cherry cupcake? Cherry is a flavour that I more often associate with pies or cheesecakes, so I was absolutely delighted to hear that it was now in cupcake form.  Overall, it was really quite yummy, with little cherry bits scattered throughout the cake, giving you a surprise blast of flavour when you were least expecting it.  The one downfall, I thought, was the inconsistency of cherry flavour.  Since the name of the cupcake did have cherry in it twice, I was expecting a little more of a fruity punch.  Nonetheless, it was nice and light, and the cake was fresh and moist.

Walking home after meeting Shakira, I shared the other five cupcakes with my roommates, carefully staking claim to half a spiced and chocolate brownie cupcake for my own tasting purposes.  As a side note, it’s kind of funny how critically we’re all eating cupcakes now – since my roommates are often included on my missions, they too are starting to pick out things they like and dislike.  We ended up having a mini cupcake forum around the kitchen table that morning.

Like the cherry cupcake, the spiced cupcake was good overall, but lacked the punch I was expecting from something boasting the word “spice” in its name.  The icing was smooth and subtly cinnamon-flavoured, which was a lovely contrast to the occasional gingerbread hint of the cake.

A spiced cupcake with cinnamon buttercream from Little Cakes

As for the brownie cupcake, this one was made for chocoholics.  Not just your everyday chocolate cupcake, I peeled back the liner to find the most dense, moist, and rich brownie I’ve ever tasted.  I have this weird reaction where I sneeze whenever I eat really rich chocolate, and this cupcake set me off like it was allergy season.  With the chocolate brownie cupcake you need to know what you’re getting into.  If you’re looking for an actual fluffy cake base, then you’ll be out of luck, but if you want something to please the chocolate-obsessed family member, friend, of class of kindergarteners, then this is the thing for you.  The icing was again sugary smooth, but any slight marshmallow taste was overwhelmed by the taste of the brownie itself.

The cupcakes themselves were all modestly decorated, with small garnishes topping the point of the perfectly swirled icing. At the end of the day I was so pleased to try out my first home bakery-baked cupcakes, and hope to try out many more private bakers in the upcoming weeks.

Keep an eye on your inbox, dear bakers of Ottawa; you may just be getting an e-mail sometime soon.

Cupcake personality: ***

Cake: ***½

Icing: ***

Cupcake overall: ****

For more information about Little Cakes, please check out their website or Twitter. Do you want to chat with Hilary about her adventure? Please leave a comment below!

The search for Ottawa’s perfect cupcake: Part II – The Flour Shoppe

The Flour Shoppe

Hilary Duff (blog/Twitter) is a quirky 20-year-old who loves multimedia journalism, cycling, food blogging, and churning massive amounts of baked goods out of her cramped student kitchen. When she’s not living the chaotically busy life of a Carleton journalism student, she also enjoys winter jogging and exploring the ins and outs of her Ottawa neighbourhood.

She is currently writing an LTOttawa series on her hunt for Ottawa’s perfect cupcake.

Hilary's roomates...out to get their cupcake fix at the Glebe's Flour Shoppe

Since I’ve been talking about my cupcake challenge non-stop with my five roommates, they couldn’t resist the opportunity to accompany me for a review.  As a result, five of us piled into my roommate’s small hatchback and, surrounded by her arsenal of cross-country skiing equipment, drove down to The Flour Shoppe at the edge of the Glebe.

Unlike many of the other cupcakes that I’ll be reviewing, I’d tried The Flour Shoppe cupcakes before.

Like many restaurants and bakeries in Ottawa, The Flour Shoppe has a great online presence.  An example of their social media savvy is how on slow days they sometimes use Twitter to post neat little challenges in order to rally people into coming to their shop.  One challenge I responded to was “the next ten people to come in and say ‘tweet, tweet’ get a free cupcake.”  When I see these messages pop up on my Twitter homepage I have absolutely no choice but to somehow get down to the shop and claim what is rightfully mine.  On occasion I have been in class for these announcements, and have promptly texted my roommates telling them to get down there and grab their share of the glory.

My obsession with free cupcakes has brought me to the shop in snowstorms and mini-typhoons. What can I say?  I’m hooked.

Toffee almond cupcake topped with chocolate ganache

But on to the review…

Distracted as I may be by the setting of the shop, it is impossible to miss the cupcake display.  Behind a glass pane are the objects of my affection: small cupcakes sitting upon white pedestals.

As I inch my nose closer to the glass I feel as though I’m a small child intently examining some sort of museum display.

Behind the counter stand two steel racks, holding identically cloned versions of the cupcakes on display.  To further emphasize this artful showcase, track lights line the ceiling, directing light towards the main dessert attractions.

As for flavour diversity, I’d like to send a major kudos to The Flour Shoppe for their wide variety.  If you go online you can see the shop’s flavour schedule for the week, featuring everything from an Earl Gray flavour (another of my favourite hot drinks in cupcake form, I see a trend!) to s’mores, maple brown sugar to toasted coconut lime.  Since I’ve decided that I’m either going to ask an employee for their cupcake recommendation or try a shop’s featured flavour, I settled on Sunday’s feature: a toffee almond cupcake with chocolate ganache.

Cupcakes at The Flour Shoppe

Sitting down to eat my cupcake, I made a few preliminary notes.  I immediately notice that The Flour Shoppe focused way more on icing than Thimble Cakes, with each cupcake donning a perfectly-piped frosting chapeau.

Carefully peeling down my cupcake liner, I take my first bite.

To tell you the truth, it was a little underwhelming.  The icing was delicious and rich with a nice crunch of almonds, but was contrasted by a cake that I thought to be a tad dry and crumbly.  This may be just a personal thing, but I love a moist cupcake, and this one just didn’t cut it for me.  By the end of my cupcake, I had a large pile of crumbs surrounding me on the table.  Although I quickly blotted the tiny morsels up and popped them in my mouth, it meant that almost as much time was dedicated to eating crumbs as it was to enjoying my cupcake as a whole.

I will, however, say that this cake issue may just be with a few flavours; I tried a bite of my roommate’s carrot cupcake and was met by the most wonderful and moist ginger zing.

While my roommates and I were eating our cupcakes, the shop maintained a steady Sunday buzz, with a young family sitting next to us and several people coming in as we were leaving.  Although The Flour Shoppe may not have the same cozy “I’ll stay here for hours” feel as Thimble Cakes, the shop is a nice place to drop by for an afternoon treat.  Heck, with four tables, you might as well bring the whole family.

Final verdict?  You should probably go and try the flavours for yourself, since the icing/cake probably varies greatly for each.  With all the variety available, there is sure to be a unique flavour to satisfy everyone’s sweet tooth.

Cupcake personality: ***½

Cake: **

Icing: ***

Cupcake overall: ***

Store atmosphere: ***

Want to check out The Flour Shoppe? It is located at 617 Bank Street (at Strathcona). Do you know a cupcake shop that Hilary should try? Leave a comment below.

The search for Ottawa’s perfect cupcake – part I: Thimble Cakes

Hilary Duff (blog/Twitter) is a quirky 20-year-old who loves multimedia journalism, cycling, food blogging, and churning massive amounts of baked goods out of her cramped student kitchen. When she’s not living the chaotically busy life of a Carleton journalism student, she also enjoys winter jogging and exploring the ins and outs of her Ottawa neighbourhood.

She is currently writing an LTOttawa series on her hunt for Ottawa’s perfect cupcake.

I decided that my search for Ottawa’s best cupcake should begin by visiting the city’s newest cupcake venue.  Thimble Cakes had its grand opening just weeks ago, on January 15.

Walking into Thimble Cakes from the cold outdoors is like entering a different world.  A warm and welcoming refuge from the cold, the shop definitely isn’t lacking charm.  I promptly regain feeling in my cheeks and get the familiar surge of excitement as I anticipate my next sugary fix.

Hilary's choice: a vanilla cupcake with strawberry cream cheese icing.

Stepping up to the counter to order is when I meet my first dilemma.

An indecisive person by nature, I am dealt a complex challenge when asked to make any sort of decision, especially when that decision involves frosted desserts.  In an attempt to speed up my sluggish decision-making process, I ask several questions of the cashier, gently interrogating her as to the flavours of cake and icing.  While there are several flavours including pumpkin spice and the traditional chocolate and vanilla, one that catches my eye is a cupcake called “hot chocolate.”

Immediately drawn in by the thought of my favourite hot drink in cupcake form, I ask what it is.  Gently taking down the parchment paper wrapped cupcake from its home on the shelf, the cashier explains to me that upon purchase, they pile mass amounts of whipped cream on top of the cupcake, finishing it off with just the slightest sprinkle of cocoa powder.

Not for the faint of heart.

As delicious as this sounded, I decided to leave this one for a special occasion, and instead chose a vanilla cupcake with strawberry cream cheese icing.  As I reach to pay, a mom and her young daughter walk by, the latter waving and pointing frantically at the delicious looking displays in the window.

Unlike many store bought cupcakes that are topped with loads and loads of frosting, my cupcake had the perfect little dollop swirled on top.  While there was a solid icing/cupcake ratio, I found the frosting could have been a tad fluffier and light.  The cake was yummy though. Unwrapping the cupcake from its paper cocoon, I was delighted to taste cake that was moist and full of a genuinely wonderful vanilla flavour I’ve had in awhile.  They even gave me a fork to eat my cupcake with and, although I’m normally a eat-my-cupcake-as-fast-as-I-can sort of girl, I took the time to cherish this one, slowly scooping tiny bits of the cupcake off my plate and into my mouth.  It was quite graceful, actually.  The only thing that my cupcake was lacking was a bit of personality.  I’ve had some pretty extravagant cupcakes in my 20 years of life, and this one didn’t look like anything special.  Don’t get me wrong – it was yummy, but a little curb appeal wouldn’t have hurt either.

Now that we’ve established the delicious quality of the cupcakes, lets talk about the atmosphere of this new cupcake café.

Thimble Cakes

A large white chaise and several wingback chairs complete the cozy feel of the shop, making me feel like I just walked onto the set of Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette.  Jazz music pours through the loudspeaker, making me want to close my eyes and sway with some invisible partner.  Two chandeliers light the pale blue walls, which are lined with pictures and five silver framed mirrors, reflecting the cuteness of the shop back onto itself.  I’m sitting in a cushioned, cream-coloured chair, enjoying the comfort of the moment.  In front of me is a tiny chair – perfect for the cupcake-loving tot.  With its plush blue cushioning it almost looks as though the cookie monster has been transformed into a lazy wingback.

Thimble Cakes

Speaking of the chill, it’s not keeping customers away.  Although the Weather Network is calling today – January 24 – the coldest day on record for Ottawa, a steady stream of customers keep coming in, curious to see what offerings Thimble Cakes has.  The shelf that holds the cupcakes is more than half empty, a display of the impressive selling power that these frosted treats hold.

And so, my verdict on Thimble Cakes is that the store is about so much more than just the cupcakes.  It’s about a feeling of warmth, vintage chic and glee.  For anyone looking for a cute date idea, this one has got the Hilary seal of approval.  It’s an intimate and, for those who are concerned, inexpensive ($3.26 per cupcake) way to spend an afternoon or evening relaxing in a fuzzy, sugar-induced coma.

Cupcake personality: **

Cake: ***

Icing: **

Cupcake overall: ** ½

Store atmosphere: ****

Want to check out Thimble Cakes? It is located at 369 Bank Street (next to the Herb & Spice). Do you know a cupcake shop that Hilary should try? Leave a comment below.

The search for Ottawa’s perfect cupcake

Hilary Duff (blog/Twitter) is an indescribably quirky 20-year-old who loves multimedia journalism, cycling, food blogging, and churning massive amounts of baked goods out of her cramped student kitchen. When she’s not living the chaotically busy life of a Carleton journalism student, she also enjoys winter jogging and exploring the ins and outs of her Ottawa neighbourhood.

Ladies and gentlemen of the blogging world, I am going where no blogger has gone before.  In a mission of tastiness and partial disregard for my health, I hereby begin my search for Ottawa’s perfect cupcake.

Hilary Duff

So how is this going to work?

Well, I plan on visiting all the cupcake shops/bakeries in Ottawa so I can relay my findings back to you through the magic of words and pictures.

But here’s a full disclosure:  I’m not pretending to be any sort of food critic or cupcake connoisseur.  Heck, I’m just a university student who thinks that any type of cheap dessert is awesome.  But I am, dear readers, a cupcake lover, and I hope this love alone can help me in naming the top cupcake in the city.

I believe that eating a cupcake is an experience.

This being said, in addition to judging cupcakes on their level of decadence, I’ll also be ranking the overall atmosphere and vibe of cupcake’s environment (read: I will sit in your bakery and lurk about until I get a feel for the place).

My goal is to hit up at least one bakery a week (maybe two if I’m feeling really ambitious and sugar deprived). Also, since I will likely be travelling to some bakeries out in the middle of nowhere, I will probably have some pretty decent OC Transpo adventure stories to share…

Last but not least, I know that Ottawa has plenty of privately operated bakeries/caterers, so if you want me to try your cupcake you’ll have to let me know!

Please feel free to comment on this post or tweet at me (@hilaryduffcu).

Let the Ottawa Cupcake Challenge begin!