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story Maureen Scott    photographs Steve Uhraney Once just a plain little cake with a dab of icing, the lowly cupcake has risen to super star status. In fact, no other sweet, other than the cake, has several TV shows and bakeshops dedicated just to it - shows like Cupcake Wars and Cupcake Girls and Cupcake Sisters. To celebrate cupcakemania, we invited our own "cupcake stars" from four local bakeries to explain what the big deal is about this sweet little confection. For Goodness Cake, La Villa Bakery, Sweet Garden and Swirls Cupcakes were eager to participate in our quest to celebrate The Twelve Days of Christmas in cupcakes. We assigned each bakery “days” from the popular song and asked them to interpret the theme any way they liked—with icing, fondant, artwork or even purchased toys or decorations. For Goodness Cake - forgoodnesscake.blogspot.com 416.566.7479 (Corinne) or 647-208-5982 (Priscilla) forgoodnesscake@gmail.com This online, home baking business was started by two best friends. “We are Mompeneurs whose hobby became a home business,” says Corinne LiKamShum-Quon, who co-owns the business with Priscilla Antonio. “Growing up, we always seemed to be baking - making cakes for birthdays or weddings,” says Corinne. “Five years ago we turned our passion into a business. We specialize is custom orders. One of the most interesting ones that comes to mind was when a customer ordered a KFC bucket cake for his vegetarian wife.” These cake and cupcake girls require one week notice on smaller orders (fewer than 50 servings) and a month’s notice for larger orders such as wedding cupcakes or cake. For Goodness Cake was given the challenge of creating a cupcake to celebrate the first, third, seventh and tenth day of Christmas with "A Partridge in a Pear Tree," "Three French Hens," "Seven Swans a-Swimming" and "Ten Lords a-Leaping." The cupcakes are made from scratch using fresh ingredients. The themed decorations – the hens in the life-like basket, the swans, the leaping lords and partridge in a pear tree are truly masterful creations, made from a combination of fondant and gum paste. La Villa Bakery - www.lavillabakery.com 905-274-5225 331 Lakeshore Road East, Mississauga La Villa Bakery is a landmark in Port Credit where the Bozzo family are famous for their homemade pies, pastries, cakes and specialty breads. Every customer who walks into the bakery/cafe seems to know John Bozzo by name. His story is one of tradition - his family opened a bakery in 1964 in on Royal York in Toronto. As a teenager, John and his brother used to help deliver the bread. Today, John and his wife, several family members and long-time staff continue their legacy, using recipes and artisan techniques passed down through several generations. Each day at 4 a.m. John and his team are busy baking goods for the day, using fresh eggs and butter, and the finest ingredients money can buy. By 5 a.m., the sweet, rich smell of hot from the oven bread, permeates the air along Lakeshore - making it impossible not to stop in for a quick treat and a cup of cappuccino. John made a giant cupcake to celebrate the "Twelve Drummers Drumming" artfully using a cake transfer technique. Sweet Garden Gourmet Bakery - www.sweetgarden.ca 905-616-8555 South West Oakville Online orders at www.sweetgarden.ca Sweet Garden makes cupcakes in many flavours, sizes and even heights. One of the most popular items is a Cupcake Tower and their Cupcake Cones (the method to make the cones is a company secret). Sweet Garden even makes cupcakes in school or team colours. “Our business got started when the cake shows started hitting television and I said, I can do that too!” says owner Silvia Barreto. “We set up a website and within a few weeks our orders were out of control.” That was five years ago. Now they have a staff of 14 people. “The craziest order we have done was 5,000 cupcakes for a large company, customized to their event colours and theme. We also made a cake that was over two metres wide and was a replica of a credit card.” Sweet Garden made the yummy butterscotch and vanilla butter cream topped cupcakes. We tried our hand at decorating them, using white chocolate birds (Four Calling Birds), glass ornament pipers (Eleven Pipers Piping) and five real gold rings (Five Golden Rings). Lucky is the person who receives that cupcake! Swirls Cupcakes, Cakes and More - www.SwirlsCupcakes.ca 905-285-0991 186 Queen St. S, Streetsville or 416-231-7774 4158 Dundas St. W., Etobicoke info@swirlscupcakes.ca Swirls creates ten varieties of cupcakes each day, with catchy names like Strawberry Fields, Red Velvet, Still-a-Vanilla and Chocolate Therapy. They even have seasonal seasonal cupcakes like Take-A-Momint, Candy Cane Twist and The Big Apple. We assigned the Streetsville bakeshop the second, sixth, eighth and ninth days of Christmas - "Two Turtle Doves," "Six Geese a-Laying," "Eight Maids a-Milking" and "Nine Ladies Dancing." “The turtle doves and geese are edible images - images printed on frosted sheets with edible ink, plaqued on gum paste,” explains Katherine Bascon, owner of Swirls. “The numbers are cut out of gum paste, with added edible sparkle and piping gel. The nest was made of fondant pulled into string and shaped. The eggs and milk pails were made of a combination of fondant and gum paste and painted slightly with edible gold and silver paint, while the dancing ladies are an edible image on gum paste, just like the turtle doves and geese. The cupcakes were holed out a little in the middle and filled with butter cream and then topped with coloured fondant.”  In 2001 Chuck Bascon from New York met his soon-to-be wife Katherine (from Mississauga) and began a long-distance relationship. After 9/11 Chuck took a long hard look at his life in New York, realized he loved Katherine, and that he loved to bake. The couple got engaged, Chuck quit his job and signed up for pastry courses at the Institute of Culinary Education in New York, then moved to Mississauga. The couple opened Swirls in Streetsville in 2005. The shop has been such as success they opened a second location in Etobicoke in 2009. “We offer consumers, including large catering events like weddings or corporate events, the ability to purchase a variety of delicious gourmet, nut free cupcakes that can be customized,” says Katherine. “Cupcakes are here to stay, because they offer consumers a portable, individual treat that are a great alternative to cakes.” Cupcakes from Swirls look like miniature pieces of art –almost too beautiful to eat—but hey, you owe it to yourself to devour one or two of these tasty little treats.

A Partridge in a pear tree 2 Turtle Doves 3 French Hens 4 Calling Birds 5 Golden Rings 6 Geese a-laying 7 Swans a-swimming 8 Maids a-milking 9 Ladies Dancing 10 Lords a-leaping 11 Pipers piping 12 Drummers drummind

	The Cupcake Girls Just as our bakeshops were up to their elbows in icing, preparing the 12 Days of Christmas Cupcakes photo shoot, the stars of the popular TV show The Cupcake Girls (Heather White and Lori Joyce) were booked to headline the first ever Baking and Sweets Show at The International Centre in Mississauga. The two girls met at age 15 when they worked part time at the same retail store in Victoria, B.C. The best buds discovered they shared the same dream - to open their own business. After graduating, Heather moved to Calgary and worked in the fashion industry and Lori earned her Bachelor of Science degree in animal biology. Both landed sales jobs, eventually ending up in New York. By age 27, Heather and Lori moved back to B.C. and opened their first bakery called Cupcakes. Four years later, they opened a second location, and now have three corporate bakeries and three franchise operations in the Vancouver area. With the success of their business, the pair launched the show, The Cupcake Girls, on the W Network. What’s all the fuss about this pint-sized cake? “When we opened Cupcakes in April 2002, we were the first original cupcakes concept in all of North America.” It’s the versatility of these portable little snacks that are making them the hottest selling thing since sliced bread. “Cupcakes are socially responsible with all of our current health or trendy demands (gluten, sugar, dairy free) and at the same time, they are a quick, easy and a convenient way to satisfy our impulsive appetites. Very few products today are that adaptable and accessible. This is why I think they are here to stay.” Although they make a many flavours and offer three sizes, Lori says her favourites are the classics. “To me, it’s the sentimental ones - the ones we started with from day one that are my favourites,” says Lori. “Sweet 16, Chocolate Diva, Blue Hawaii and Koo Koo.” The girls are looking forward to a national expansion. “We are working towards opening in Toronto in summer 2012,” says Lori. I can’t wait to see their CN Tower cupcake!  GL	Lori Joyce and Heather White The Cupcake Girls