The Cupcake Girls Rock!!

It's been 5 days since returning from my trip to Sechelt, BC (a ferry ride north of Downtown Vancouver). My bestest bff and her boyfriend (Elise & Felix) are doing great - and why wouldn't they be?? Sechelt/Vancouver (as most who have already visited know) is a Canadian hidden treasure. Although when we visited the main island/city, places looked awfully familiar and that's because it looked like parts of Toronto - but nevertheless, gorgeous all over.

Being only 5 km by 3 km big, I could run Downtown Vancouver.. and maybe I should have since we visited 2 specialty cupcake shops in one evening while there. I was looking forward to visiting the women from the W Network's show "The Cupcake Girls" (http://www.wnetwork.com/Shows/TheCupcakeGirls.aspx). I brushed up on their sitcom and website before leaving for BC and was so excited to visit their shop on Denman St. Originally, we werent going to visit it because it was a little walk before our hotel but Elise made the valiant effort to plan our visit around seeing both shops. Conveniently, the second shop, Big City Cupcakes, was just half a block away from our hotel.

And now, can I just say I know girls rock but The Cupcake Girls kick royal butt! Their cupcakes taste even better than what they look like through the tv and even the window display case!
Don't let the tiny shop on Denman deceive you, it was SO worth every penny for their scrumptiously decadent and thoughtful flavors. Elise bought their best half dozen and I can completely understand why they were the most popular.

(CW: Feelin Razzy, Red Velvet, Lemon Drop, Oreo, Cherry Sundae, Koo Koo)

We even went back a second time (on our way to the airport) to try their Carmella. And if you don't know me by now, caramel is my kryptonite.

As for Big City Cupcakes, a friend suggested to Elise we visit it and when it was so accessible, why not? Their shop had no playful images in the windows (or even open windows at all!) Just giant cupcakes sprawled across their building and black stone walls, inside and out. I couldn't have chosen a better word than Elise had; "corporate". The Cupcake Girls shops are cute, pink and made into a complete fantasy land where you would more than happy to have your week's fill of sugar and cake - like a great cupcake bakery should look like :P. One of the young employees there even asked if I watched the show and how she loves "all those types of cupcake shows". (She's just like me!.. way to relate to the customer. I'm such a sucker.)

Big City Cupcakes still had their signature cupcakes (we ordered half a dozen, 3 w/ choco cakes and 3 w/ vanilla) but none of them were as ginormous and fluffy as the cupcakes from Denman.. and the employee at BCC didn't really seem particularly interested in cupcakes.. or eating much at all for that matter :-S.

(CW: Truffle, Strawberry Shortcake, NY Chocolate Cheesecake, After Dinner Mint, Lemon Drop, Toffee)

So, for anyone planning to visit Vancouver, you must take the time to visit one of the Original Cupcake shops there. They're opening their 6th shop, so I'm sure you'll be able to make it to (at least) one of them. You can also order all their wonderful flavors at www.cupcakesonline.com, but trust me half a dozen will only give you the taste for yummy cupcakes!