Moving from 'French' to more of the North American vibe (but still with Canadian touches) the first of our next three sweet shops to visit would be Les Glaceurs, and although some will claim the trend is played out I still love the concept of individual sized desserts that allow me to sample a variety of flavors and therefore while it may seem outside my 'gourmet' tastes that means I still love a well made cupcake.
Apparently a small chain centered in Montreal, Les Glaceurs had originally been left off my agenda as we had planned to get ice cream at Bilboquet, but when the shop was inexplicably closed and we found ourselves faced with cupcakes AND ice cream as an alternative we figured 'why not' - a surprisingly good decision that eventually led to us ordering three great cake including the standardizing Red Velvet, Salted Caramel, and the monthly special Tire d'Erable.
Priced at $3.00-3.50 each and perhaps only 3-4 bites per cupcake expectations were high for the quality of these tiny treats and beginning first with the Red Velvet we were adequately impressed (aside from the red hot on top.) As the only un-filled option of the three the cake to cream ratio was spot on with the former dense and cocoa laden while the later was light and smooth with a bit of added sugar on the outside for texture. Moving next to the filled options, Salted caramel was an equally well constructed cake with a light vanilla batter topped with rich buttercream frosting and a drizzle of caramel, but what set it apart was what was inside - a liquid caramel center rife with sea salt plus a light dusting of fleur de sel on top.
Moving last to the Tire d'Erable, an obvious choice given the season, our location, and my predilection to anything Maple - it was probably the best cupcake I've had in 2012. Beginning first with the same dense vanilla base as the Salted Caramel but this time swirled with maple in the batter and then replacing the buttercream ice cream with one of whipped maple butter before adding caramelized maple syrup and maple candied walnuts this was a flat out embarrassment of sweetness that pined for a glass of milk or coffee while also wishing I'd have ordered another - or picked up a few for breakfast the next day.