But I’m back with some exciting news. This Sunday (Dec. 13), I’ll be participating in a #FoodieMeet Bake Off to raise money and awareness for The Stop Community Food Centre.

Here’s a bit more info from the FoodieMeet website:

The Stop started off as one of Canada’s first food banks but has since grown to offer an fantastic lineup of programs: drop-in meals, community gardens, pre and post-natal nutrition support, farmers markets, sustainable food education, civic engagement and many other valuable initiatives.

FoodieMeet started out on Twitter as a one-off meetup for foodies but has developed into a regular food/drink event for local food lovers and is organized by Andrea Chiu and Suresh Doss

Tickets to the event are $25 each and with your ticket, you will be given four tasting tickets, each redeemable for one baked treat and a voting ballot to help us determine the best baked goods. Additional tickets will be available for purchase at $2/each. All the proceeds are going towards The Stop.

The line up of baked goods for the evening was just posted this afternoon & looks fabulous! I’m thrilled to be amongst such incredible bakers, some of who I’ve admired from afar via Twitter for a while now (like Kristin Peres of Cake or Death)! I’m excited to finally have the chance to meet a lot of the lovely Twitter friends I’ve made face to face.

The theme is Escape from Toronto and I am re-creating a recent design I did for a wedding that was fun and most definitely appropriate for the theme.

If you are in the Toronto area and are looking to support a good cause, come out on Sunday!

I went to my dad’s cousin’s wedding on Saturday – a lovely outdoor wedding on a sunny day. It was a super late night baking, decorating, and packaging the 3 mini’s per guest but well worth the effort. My little cousin Katie tore into hers before the first course was ready. Seeing people, both young and old, enjoying the cupcakes I’ve made never, ever gets old.

She is by far the cutest little girl in the world. Speaking of mini’s, I’ll be introducing the mini cupcake here very soon. They’re becoming a popular “special request” and it’s time to bring it main stream :) Look for that to come before the end of the month.

Bachelorettes x 3 last weekend and 2 weddings on the go for this weekend, plus I’ll be attending a wedding myself as well. The photos above are from a “Cyn in the City” themed wedding shower. I did an assortment of cupcakes – Lululemon, Red Velvet, Cocoa Crazy, Vanilla Bean, Pretty in Pink, and Pina Colada. The toppers included little red sandals, a few different clutch purses and a classic black handbag.

It seems that “wedding season” isn’t limited to the summer rush any longer and has stretched out to last well into fall. I’m looking forward to the upcoming fall weddings I’ve got scheduled. Rich, bold colours take over from the softer pastel summer colours and I love love love working with such vibrant colours.

Photos above by Francis Roque

I recently finished an internship at The Bonnie Gordon School of Confectionary Arts

It was an amazing opportunity to learn firsthand from incredibly talented and creative individuals. Many thanks to the teachers at the school and of course to Bonnie herself for the chance to intern.

Although I went into my internship expecting to love the design courses the most, it was The Art of Baking series of courses that I finished thinking WOAH, I learned SO much in that class.

Without a doubt, my absolute favourite course was the B2: Specialty Cakes course. Charmaine Baan is a wicked instructor and I was so blown away by how delicious the cake is that’s made in the B2 class. The very next weekend I had to attempt the cake myself and I was SO happy with how it turned out. It’s a completely different style of cake from my usual cakes and it was refreshing to bake (and eat) something so decadent.

Rich chocolate cake, whipped chocolate hazelnut ganache, almond genoise cake, caramel pastry cream, vanilla cake, ganache = heaven

We are thrilled to be working with Petals n Blooms, a local flower shop, to bring you the perfect Mother’s Day gift. Choose from packages ranging from a simple blooming carnation with cupcakes for $15 to a beautiful bouquet with cupcakes for $40.

We are offering delivery all around the GTA (on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday), or offer pick up at no extra charge at the Petals flower shop, located in the Cachet Plaza at Woodbine Ave and 16th Ave in Markham.

Whether you are showing appreciation for your mother, a mother-like figure in your life, or an excited mother-to-be, there’s no doubt she’ll be thrilled.

To all the moms out there (in particular my mom, who I love more than anything!), wishing you a very happy mother’s day!

Easter weekend is fast approaching and I couldn’t be more excited! In addition to the short work week (which is enough to make me happy), my friend Sameer will be visiting. He recently moved to Washington, DC for work and I’ve missed him in Toronto! I’ll also be celebrating my 2 year anniversary with my boyfriend this weekend, and of course, will be baking up a storm for all the Easter orders.

For those who gave up something for lent (chocolate? cookies? I gave up cookies for lent and am eagerly anticipating my first cookie since February 25!), this weekend will be one to indulge.

Happy Easter!

Not to worry, thanks to Martha Stewart’s handy little guide of substitutions, I won’t need to drop everything and run out to the grocery store next time I’m out of a few baking staples.

Regardless, it’s as good an excuse as any to bake… and an even better excuse to have my first special promotion! Treat yours (or yourself) with a dozen Pretty in Pink cupcakes for only $20, until February 12.

I grew up baking with my mom (who, to this day, still makes the best desserts). Weekend afternoons would be spent anticipating the moment that oven door would open and our latest creation would be set on the counter to cool.

One of my first attempts to “bake” on my own was during midterm season, in my first year at the University of Ottawa. Stressed about upcoming midterms, my roommate Melissa and I fumbled our way around the residence kitchen and struggled to make these.
Not bad… but nowhere near as good as the ones I would make with my mom at home. Once I moved out of residence, with my own apartment and oven, I slowly began to experiment more and more. The end result wasn’t always pretty… and there were a few failed attempts – rock hard cookies after a failed accounting exam and mushy banana bread in the anticipation of coming home for the holidays, just to name a few.

Soon enough I began to feel as comfortable in the kitchen as I do at the mall and my focus began to shift to making everything I created look unique and well… pretty. I wanted my baking to stand out on a table surrounded by other foods and desserts. Before I knew it, I had friends and family requesting cookies and cakes for birthdays and special events.

After finishing my degree in Marketing and moving back to Toronto, I taught myself the ins and outs with a number of books, which only fuelled my interest even further. At this point, having taken a few courses at the Bonnie Gordon School of Confectionary Arts and Le Cordon Bleu in Ottawa, I am still as interested as ever in learning more and more.

Word of mouth began to spread like crazy, which eventually prompted me to look into renting commercial kitchen space and getting officially set up here. Much thanks to a few friends (Mark at Everpixel for my web design, Kamille for my logo, Gabe and Ryan for the photography, and Melissa at Style Communications for help with copy writing), who played a huge role in getting this site up and running.

At the end of the day, I’m just a girl who loves to bake and Sugar*Baking promises to be an adventure that I am definitely looking forward to.

Welcome to a long, LONG standing debate in my house. What’s the ideal cupcake topper? A luxurious buttercream swirl or a luscious pile of sweet frosting?

What is the difference you ask? Well, a frosting is butter creamed with icing sugar to make a stiff, sweet topping. Buttercream is made by heating egg whites and sugar, whipping them to stiff peaks, then beating in the butter. If done properly, the result is a smooth and airy taste of heaven.

Personally, the cupcakes I bake are topped with a buttercream 90% of the time. I like its stability, it’s subtle sweet flavour, its versatility and its ability to accept almost any flavouring or fruit puree I add to it. Most of the cupcake shops I’ve been to in and around the GTA (and oh man, I’ve been to many) top their cupcakes with frosting (which some places even make with shortening, leaving a greasy feeling on the top of your mouth – blech!). For my customers, I find that my older clients prefer the buttercream, as it’s less cloyingly sweet, while my younger clients often prefer frosting.

The icing can make or break your cupcake experience, and while I tend to lean more towards the buttercream, sometimes nothing can beat the sugary delight of the good old fashioned frosting.