It takes the Cake - Edmonton’s Best Cupcake
Sunday, October 24, 2010 CityandDale 
After months of scouting out the best cupcake in Edmonton, it came down to a cupcake battleground (party!) to determine a winner. Judges arrived with a dozen cupcakes from Edmonton’s best cupcake bakeries – Flirt Cupcakes, Fuss Cupcakes, Whimsical Cake Studio, Sweet Krumblz, Big City Cupcakes, and Upper Crust Café.
A competition this sweet needed to be completed in rounds. Each tasting session focused on a classic cupcake flavour, and a complementary wine/liquor (thank you to deVine Wines & Spirits on 4th Street Promenade for recommending perfect pairings for sipping while tasting.)
Tastes like some winners...
Round #1: Fluffy vanilla cupcake topped icing rolled in flakes of coconut.
Winner: Whimsical Cake Studio
The tart lemon sugar icing enhanced the coconut just right.
Round #2: The ultimate classic - vanilla cake topped with vanilla icing.
Winner: Flirt Cupcakes
Simply the best cake – just the right amount vanilla flavouring!
Round #3: Vanilla cake with raspberry or strawberry frosting.
Winner: Fuss Cupcakes
Razz in the City has the yummiest raspberry butter cream frosting.
Round #4: Red velvet with cream cheese frosting.
Winner: Whimsical Cake Studio
The luxurious red velvet cupcake featured speckles of chocolate chips to enhance the cocoa.
Round #5: Chocolate addiction - chocolate cake with chocolate frosting.
Winner: Whimsical Cake Studio (barely)
Preference in the chocolate category is really about what makes you go cuckoo for cocoa – dark or milk chocolate, rich or subtle, or perhaps cake stuffed with more chocolate (a la Big City Cupcake!).
This challenge has a sweet ending. All the cupcakes tasted were delicious, and really, each bakery shines with its twists on the standards. Nothing delivers sweetness like Big City Cupcakes’ Truffle – a chocolate cupcake filled with a ganache truffle centre topped with ganache icing and chocolate shavings. For a flavour surprise try the Limelight and Pucker Face from Sweet Krumblz. And, for a really big crowd pleaser, nothing beats the incredible size of cupcakes from Upper Crust Café.
Big City Cupcakes (Kingsway Mall, 780-477-6096, bigcitycupcakes.com)
Flirt Cupcakes (10158 82 Avenue, (780) 757-4899, flirtcupcakes.com)
Fuss Cupcakes (Two locations: 17298 Stony Plain Road, (780) 444–8845 or 10441 - 82nd Avenue, (780) 761–3877, fusscupcakes.com)
Sweet Krumblz (6861 -170 Street, 780-486-2253, sweetkrumblz.com)
Upper Crust Café (10909 86 Avenue ,780.758.5599, cafeuppercrust.ca)
Whimsical Bake Studio (8716 109 St, (780) 988-2253, whimsicalcakestudio.com)
Reader Comments (4)
I had the biggest sugar hangover from this party! The price for providing authentic journalism for city and dale.
Wow! Many of our clients came in telling us about your awesome cupcake party taste off! Sounds like it was lots of fun...Now, being that we only won 3 of the 5 rounds, you have most definitely encouraged us to step it up and play more with our recipes...so watch out for some new takes on our old favourites! Thanks for blogging.
You have a great blog and we will definitely be following your culinary journey!
Ailynn & Ken
Any chance that you could post the wine pairings that deVines recommended? I think I may do this for my next girls night in...
Ailynn & Ken - thank you for your message! Your cupcakes are absolutely delicious. One day soon, I hope to be able to come join you for a Sunday workshop to learn some of your magic.
Cheers,
Kendall