Keep calm & make a cupcake
Do you know about the cupcake craze that is sweeping North America? I remember seeing cupcake stores open in New York City, and my thought was that any kind of store seems to be able to survive in my home town, with its eight million or so tightly packed shoppers nearby. But here?
Once the craze hit Montreal and stores dedicated to the little morsels started opening (Petits Gateaux in the Plateau, Itsi Bitsi on Notre Dame, Cocoa Locale on Ave du Parc, for example), I decided it was time to help you to start making cupcakes, because in a minute it’s going to hit your neighborhood. Cupcakes are cute. Cupcakes remind us of our youth. Cupcakes are so decorate-able. Cupcakes can be mixed and matched on a cupcake stand quite prettily for any kind of event, be it a little birthday party or a big wedding reception. I even saw a cupcake stand in a Walmart ad for $16.97 a couple of weeks ago.
If your arts and crafts genes are going wild from all those cooking and decorating shows, you can easily let them all out on wee cupcake toppings – and then you can eat your creations!
The stores below specialize in cake decorating supplies. With some of you planning weddings in the next few months, you too will need to know where to get the provisions to make that special cake for the big event. You can all meet at the stores below:
Vixit France Decor, 290 Henri Bourassa Blvd. West at Jeanne-Mance St. Phone: 514-337-0814. Hours: Monday to Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. For the multitudes of Montrealers who love baking, this is the shop for you! Treat yourself to professional equipment or just buy the many hard to find decorating items that you always need. Every kind and size of cake pan, mold (silicon ones too), decorating bags and tips, doilies, cardboard platters and cookie molds are piled as high as an elephant’s eye. Cake baking books can help you with ideas and cake decorating characters (even fisherman, hunters, sportsmen, graduation, etc.) can help with themes. Upstairs is the wedding cake, chocolate-making and candy-making center, with lots of boxes and ribbons to put them in. They stock Barry-Callebaut chocolates, which have different flavors depending on which part of the world they hail from – Cuba, Tanzania, Grenada, Santo Domingo, etc. Try them all and have a tasting party. http://www.vixit.com
Accessoires Rose Blanche, 665 1st Avenue at Provost St., Lachine. Phone: 514-634-0017. Hours: Monday to Wednesday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Thursday and Friday 10 a.m. t o7 p.m., Saturday 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. When you plan to bake a wedding cake or any fancy creation, head for this spot. The special items you’ll need, like rolled fondant, almond paste, covo shortening, apricot glaze, tips, clear gel and sugar flowers are here. Your project might require cake boxes, boards, ribbons and leaves or the brides and grooms and all other cake ornaments to top them off, and they’re here too. To save a buck you can rent specialty shape pans (newest ones are Diago, Tinkerbell and Little Mermaid) or cake fountains. Stuffings for balloons are stocked, and to adorn the top of your cake you can have an edible image made from a digital photo. A large selection of chocolate and chocolate molds and paper party supplies line the shelves. They will even bake specialty and wedding cakes for you.
Epices “Anatol” Spices, 6822 St. Laurent Blvd at Dante St. Phone: 514-276-0107. Hours: Monday to Wednesday 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Thursday and Friday 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. This by the pound wholesaler also sells retail, so the prices you pay are quite good. For baking decorating, there are all kinds of sprinkles: mixed rainbow sprinkles, mixed rice shaped sprinkles, chocolate sprinkles and ten shapes of the popular silver sparklies along with gold balls. You can top your cupcakes with caramel chips, carob chips, coconut chips, Smarties, M&M’s and other candies. Or how about some healthy dried fruits – papaya, pineapple, cherries or cranberries? For flavoring, Dutch cocoa powder comes in dark and light, and they stock coconut powder, carob powder, Belgian chocolate and vanilla beans. You may want to fancy up the outside with coconut flakes, sweet or unsweetened or toasted. And to wash it all down there is a huge inventory of tea with about sixty varieties, and it’s only $5.99 lb. for coffee.