Lollicakes
Lollicakes has a collection of personalized cupcakes that evoke a question often posed of creative confections: Can you really eat that?
It's not the cupcakes themselves that take on extraordinary form, but the hand-painted Belgium chocolate lollipops that adorn the chocolate and vanilla cupcakes in store. I spy Dora the Explorer, a pair of ballet slippers, and a gleeful yet somewhat pained-looking bride and groom. They look more like toys than chocolate treats, but then I think back to the countless sleepless nights I've tried to remedy watching Cake Boss, and figure I should probably know better.
Lollicakes was started by Barbara Rotberg after word about her cupcakes began to spread from parent to parent. She opened this shop on Mount Pleasant near Davisville almost five years ago, and has since prepared countless cupcakes for birthday parties, Bar and Bat Mitzvahs, weddings, and hungry customers wandering Mount Pleasant .
But if you're looking for English toffee buttercream, red velvet with cream cheese, or a pumpkin spice cupcake, you've probably come to the wrong place. Lollicakes sticks with the tried and true offers just two flavour options: chocolate and vanilla. But variety lies in the makeup.
While everything at Lollicakes is peanut-free (as well as Kosher certified), you can also put in a special order for egg-free, dairy-free, lactose-free, or gluten-free cupcakes. The vanilla icing can be ordered in any colour (dyed using premium organic food colour), decorated with your choice of over 100 different types of sprinkles, and customized with a chocolate lollipop.
Of course, the on-hand offerings are much more simple; a few combinations of chocolate and vanilla available in regular ($3.00) or mini ($2) cupcakes. I consider indulging in a cupcake decorated with a chocolate take on a familiar childhood friend (+$5.00), but seeing that they were placed next to a basket of something called "Webkinz," which, as I understand, I am way to old to fully appreciate, I figure I'll stick to something a little more basic.
My vanilla cupcake with chocolate icing was baked fresh that day, and I could tell since the cake was fluffy and moist and the icing light and sweet. The chocolate was definitely mild in flavour--something most kids would probably appreciate--though my (grown-up) palate tends to prefer a little more richness to my chocolate. The cake, though, would surely satisfy taste buds of any age. So too, now that I think of it, would a bright blue chocolate Cookie Monster. That's good enough for me.
