I have never been a huge cupcake fan, but my sister has always loved them. From the ones you buy from the groceries store, to the ones purchased from specialty bakery shops... she just adores cupcakes. I've always thought that cupcakes were better-marketed muffins? Kind of like the No Name Brand vs. Kraft? My sister always seemed to enjoy them, even if they were the crappy store-bought ones.
Continuing on my mission to use up purchased vouchers prior to their expiry led me to For the Love of Cake. I have tried cupcakes from Bobbette & Belle, and The Cupcake Shoppe. The ones from the former wowed me, the ones from the latter, not so much? So I guess you could say that I had mixed feelings about cupcakes.
I had 2 vouchers that were good for half a dozen cupcakes each. I kept a half dozen for me, and gifted the other half.
I ordered:
Red Velvet
Tiramisu
Very Vanilla
Pecan Pie
Chocolate Hazelnut (Gluten-Free)
Chocolate Banana
The cost of a cupcake is usually $2.50 each, which means a half dozen will set you back $15.
So how were the cupcakes? Moist and delicious! There is nothing worse than a dry cupcake. The Red Velvet is topped with a light cream cheese icing and to my surprise there was a piece of rich chocolate surprise underneath the cream cheese, just wedged into the cupcake. The Very Vanillahad a buttercream icing, which I didn't care too much for as I am not usually a fan of buttercream for its lack of versatility in terms of texture. The cupcake possessed a very subtle vanilla flavour to it.
They have a stamp card system. You get one stamp for every cupcake flavour you purchase, and after you have tried all the flavours, you get a free half dozen of cupcakes free! I did the math, this would mean that you would have to have consumed $45 worth of cupcakes before redemption... I don't like how that adds up, both in calories or in dollars.
Verdict:
For the Love of Cake is definitely one of the better cupcake shops in Toronto. Their creations are visually appealing and gastronomically gratifying. From a customer service perspective, the staff were friendly and helpful. Unfortunately, the girl behind the counter was a bit sloppy and ended up dropping the Lemon Meringue that I ordered with my second Groupon.
It is also worth mentioning that they offer up a line of gluten-free cupcakes.
One thing I did notice is that their cupcakes are not uniform. The Red Velvet for example was slightly smaller in size with comparison to their other cupcakes. Lastly, their location is probably a hinderance to boosting business as it is located in Liberty Village (close to the CNE), and is a bit out of the way and really not close to anything that one would frequent often.