Merry Christmas!

I would like to wish all of our customers and their families, our Flickr Contacts, our Twitter Followers, and our Facebook Fans a Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year!

It has been an incredible 12 months and my little cupcake company wouldn't be anything without each and every one of you.

We will be closed for the holidays to refuel and work on some new and exciting projects for the upcoming year. The next date we are accepting orders for is January 10, 2010.

Special Holiday Offer!

In response to the overwhelming demand for weekday corporate orders following our appearance in the esteemed Montreal Gazette Food Critic Lesley Chesterman's Kitchen Cupboard column we have come up with a clever solution.

On December 18, 2009 exclusively we will be offering boxes of assorted regular sized cupcakes topped with handcrafted fondant snowflakes for $36 per dozen. Delivery is included to most addresses in Montreal making these boxes of delicious cupcakes great gifts for corporate clients!

Our special holiday offer is available through our website, http://www.clevercupcakesmontreal.com, or by phone at 514-730-5818.

Please note there are only a limited quantity of deliveries available, so order now to avoid disappointment!

The Bridal Boudoir Affair

This August we had the pleasure of working with Maddy K. at one of the summer weddings we catered. Maddy loved our cupcakes so much she invited us to participate in The Bridal Boudoir Affair which will be held on December 6, 2009 at the Opus Hotel in Montreal.

The Bridal Boudoir Affair is a cocktail party dedicated to stylish, sophisticated Montreal brides and their girlfriends. Throughout the afternoon incredible music will set the chic tone with lots of amazing giveaways, fascinating guest speakers and an awe-inspiring fashion show. This will allow for brides to experience the fun of planning their wedding with the most special women in their lives, and give the grooms a break!

Brides will also get a chance to meet and mingle with the carefully selected wedding specialists that will be there to inspire and help plan a stylish, sophisticated and unique wedding.


Tickets are only $75 which is a steal considering all brides attending the event will be given “The Diva Card” which entitles them to a 10% discount for all vendors in attendance as well as a gift bag valued at over $100 and a free Maddy K. honeymoon planning package valued at $1500.

We are excited to announce that we have been given a free pair of Bridal Boudoir Affair tickets to give away! The lucky winner will be the 10th bride-to-be that sends an e-mail with the subject "Bridal Boudoir" to info@clevercupcakes.com. The only catch? You have to be either a Fan of Clever Cupcakes on Facebook or following us on Twitter to be eligible. The winner will be announced on Monday November 30, 2009.

The Kid Scoop Shopping Extravaganza

Cupcake Camp Montreal was a HUGE success but I am going to have to let the suspense build a bit longer. I will be writing up an in depth recap of the event, but first there are some big events coming up next week that we are participating in that I want everyone to hear about.

On December 2, 2009 from 3-9pm The Kid Scoop, Montreal's all-in-one reference for kids activities, is holding a Shopping Extravaganza at Le Living Room and Clever Cupcakes has been invited to participate.

We will be selling cupcakes throughout the event so please drop by our table to say hello!

Cupcake Camp Montreal!

In case you haven't heard Clever Cupcakes is sponsoring Cupcake Camp Montreal! Considering the event is on Sunday, this blog post is a bit late, but we have been busy working on so much promotion for the event we haven't had time to toot our own horn!

What does being a sponsor for Cupcake Camp Montreal mean? Well, to begin with we will be donating 200 cupcakes to the event! The cost of admission is $10 which entitles you to 3 cupcake tickets and a coffee. Where is the money going? Directly to Kids Help Phone. So, that is another way of saying all the proceeds from our 200 cupcakes are going straight to Kids Help Phone. How cool is that?

To help raise awareness about the event we baked and decorated cupcakes for a segment promoting Cupcake Camp Montreal on CTV's Sunday Bite with Nadine Ishak.

Here is a photo of the decorated cupcakes taken by the talented Eva Blue. From left to right the fondant decorations we handcrafted are the Kids Help Phone logo, the Cupcake Camp logo, the City of Montreal logo, and the CTV logo.


And here is a photo I took during the filming.


In case you missed the segment when it originally aired it is now available to be viewed online.

To all Montrealer's, I hope to see you at the event on Sunday between 2-5pm at Bitoque. We have come up with a special cupcake recipe especially for Cupcake Camp Montreal, and our cupcakes will be available throughout the day. Still not convinced? Did I mention there will be cupcake contests and celebrity judges including the one and only Ricardo?

If you want to bake and donate cupcakes of your own Cupcake Camp Montreal is still looking for cupcake donations. The deadline is Friday, click HERE to register.

Sweet First Birthday Cupcakes

I am sensing a theme! Last weekend we made cupcakes for yet another little girl's first birthday! This Mom was less adamant about everything being pink so I managed to sneak some yellow into the decorations and try out some new designs.

I was really happy with how they turned out, especially the tiaras and the butterflies! The cut out hearts are pretty cute too. Okay, they all turned out so sweet I can't really pick my favourite!

All I See is Pink!

In addition to the Pink Princess cupcakes we had two other little girl's first birthday parties the same weekend! I bet you can't guess what colour those cupcakes were? There was so much pink I got confused and actually forgot to take a picture of one of the orders!

The cupcakes that I did remember to take a picture of were topped with handcrafted fondant butterflies and flowers.

Mom also requested a smaller version of our Giant Cupcake made especially for the birthday girl.

Just wanted to thank you for the gorgeous cupcakes!! It was a real hit!! They were to die for and so, so beautiful! I’m looking forward to my next order...

Cupcakes Fit For a Princess!

It has been a crazy few weeks! Time to catch up on some recent orders while I have a few free minutes.

These cupcakes were for a little girl's first birthday party which was held during first weekend in November. Mom requested something very sweet, and very pink, fit for a little princess.

We also made a co-ordinating double height 5" chocolate mudcake topped with a handcrafted fondant little princess. Almost too cute to eat, if it wasn't all so yummy!

Personalized 22nd Bithday Cupcakes

Personalized 22nd Bithday Cupcakes
Originally uploaded by clevercupcakes

This order came all the way from Hong Kong! I received an e-mail from a thoughtful girlfriend who wanted to send cupcakes to her boyfriend in Montreal for his birthday.

She told me he loves football, especially Chelsea FC, and badminton so we topped his cupcakes with handcrafted fondant decorations including a Chelsea FC logo, football jerseys, a football, a badminton racket, and a badminton birdie. Happy Birthday Kelvin!

Elegant Birthday Cupcakes

Elegant Birthday Cupcakes
Originally uploaded by clevercupcakes

Looking for a little something to send someone special in Montreal? The handcrafted fondant decorations on the cupcakes in our Birthday Box can be made to suit any taste. In addition to cupcakes our Birthday Box also includes candles, napkins, and napkins!

This Birthday Box was ordered by a woman in San Francisco to be sent to the downtown hotel where her friend was staying in Montreal as a surprise for her birthday. Happy Birthday Kim!

Ecomuseum Birthday Party Cupcakes

Ecomuseum Cupcakes
Originally uploaded by clevercupcakes

Remember the Dora and Curious George cupcakes from last fall which were ordered for the birthday party of 3 year old twins? Well, this weekend the twins turned 4!

Their birthday party was held at the Ecomuseum in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue and to celebrate the occasion their mom ordered more cupcakes! This year the cupcakes were topped with handcrafted fondant turtles, fish, butterflies, snakes, and my favourite mallard ducks.

Luna's 2nd Birthday Cupcakes

Luna's 2nd Birthday Cupcakes
Originally uploaded by clevercupcakes

On Sunday we had the pleasure of preparing cupcakes for a little girl's 2nd birthday party. Naturally since her name was Luna her mom wanted the cupcakes to be moon themed and because little girls only turn 2 once the cupcakes had to be extra girly! Now we have done girly cupcakes many times before, but the moon theme twist made these cupcakes extra special. The handcrafted fondant moon, star, and pink bow decorations were all floating on clouds of vanilla icing.

The pièce de résistance was a matching moon themed giant cupcake.


Luna was a little startled at first especially when everyone was singing happy birthday to her. But she had a good time after that and she definitely enjoyed the cupcakes, EVERYONE did. Thank you so much for your delicious creations.

Sage, Brown, and Ivory Wedding Cupcakes

On Saturday we had the pleasure of providing cupcakes for a wedding at Auberges des Gallants about an hour west of Montreal in Rigaud. The bride and groom were referred by a couple whose wedding we provided cupcake for Thanksgiving weekend last year at the same location.

The colour scheme of the wedding was sage, brown, and ivory so we coloured the buttercream on the 12 dozen cupcakes accordingly. Since the groom is a big fan of chocolate mint so we made a custom fresh mint infused chocolate buttercream just for him. I was especially pleased with how the cutting cake turned out. The fondant branch pattern was used to tie in the design of their wedding invitations.

If you are familiar with the weddings we have done in the past you may notice that this setup is a bit different. The Inn was supposed to provide a cupcake stand but at the last minute they could not find it. Since the venue was so far from the city I had to improvise and make do with what they had on hand. After the panic subsided I channeled my inner MacGyver and in the end was happy with the result. Luckily so was the bride and groom!

Just wanted to send you a quick note to say thank you for the cupcakes and the cake! They were so beautiful, and delicious, and we receveived many compliments on them! You were so helpful and great to work with, we'll recommend you to anyone.

Puces Pop Loves Clever Cupcakes!

We had the honour of being chosen to participate in our second Puces Pop: POP Montreal’s DO-IT-YOURSELF Festival and Arts & Crafts Fair, this past weekend. Once again it was a blast selling cupcakes while surrounded by so many awesome crafters!

Based on our sales at the fair in the spring we baked 26 dozen cupcakes for the first day. Unfortunately we underestimated the demand and sold out 3 hours early! Wanting to avoid any possible cupcake disappointment we baked 40 dozen cupcakes for second day, but alas it was not enough. The cupcake word had spread and once again we sold out 3 hours early!


In case you missed out here are the cupcake flavours we offered:

• Vegan chocolate cupcakes with vegan chocolate ganache and fleur de sel
• Coconut cupcakes with coconut buttercream
• Chocolate cupcakes with fresh mint infused chocolate buttercream
• Red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting
• Carrot cupcakes with old fashion boiled icing
• Vanilla cupcakes with lavender scented vanilla buttercream
• Decadent Brownie Cupcakes
• Chocolate cupcakes with espresso buttercream.
• Apple cinnamon cupcakes with apple cider buttercream
• Lemon cupcakes with lemon buttercream

Besides all the great artisans with their stunning wares, and the delicious homemade Ukranian food which is apparently available every year, this time there was also a Yahoo! Quebec sponsored photobooth run by Bunch!.


All in all a great weekend! Thank you to everyone who stopped by to say hi. Without our loyal costumers we could never have sold all 66 dozen cupcakes. Looking forward to the next Puces Pop already!

360 Colourful Cupcakes!

Maison du Père Anniversary Cupcakes
Originally uploaded by clevercupcakes

I had the honour of making cupcakes for the 40th anniversary of Maison du Père, a shelter in Montreal for homeless men over the age of 25. The event was also held in honour of Father Sylvio Michaud receiving the Order of Canada.

The request was to make the cupcakes colourful, so the 30 dozen cupcakes were baked in multi-coloured liners. The flavours included:

Blue: Chocolate
Yellow: Vanilla
Red: Red Velvet
Green: Lime
According to their website it costs $5000 a day to house, clothe and feed the 150 men that reside at Maison du Père.

To make a donation please click here.

Puces Pop This Weekend!

This weekend Clever Cupcakes has the honour of participating in Puces Pop, an Arts & Crafts fair which is part of POP Montreal.

When: October 3rd & 4th, 11am - 7pm
Where: St. Michel Church Hall (105 St-Viateur O.)
Discover over one hundred artists and craftspeople ranging from art collectives, jewelers, fashion designers, screen printers, indie record labels, cake makers, toy creators, puppeteers, fanzine editors, soap makers, stationary designers, knitters, bookmakers, home accessory designers, and so much more. We'll also be inviting independent artists and musicians to hold workshops for kids throughout both days of the fair.

Be sure to stop by our table to say hi and to try some of our delicious cupcakes. We will be offering a minimum of 6 flavours each day!

Here is a look at our cupcake table at Puces Pop last May.

Chocolate Button Wedding Cupcakes

Fall Wedding
Originally uploaded by clevercupcakes

Our first cupcake wedding of the fall season was held last weekend. Early on in the planning the groom expressed that he was not a fan of fondant so instead of fondant decorations the cupcakes were topped with chocolate buttons.

The 6" chocolate mud cutting cake was filled and frosted with vanilla buttercream and covered in a chocolate button pattern to match the cupcakes.

I learned a valuable lesson while delivering these cupcakes to the hotel where the wedding was being held; don't trust the hotel staff to handle anything! The concierge squashed the cutting cake on the way to the room where the cupcakes stand was to be setup. Luckily I was able to repair most of the damage on site.

Red Leaf Wedding Cupcakes

Red Leaf Wedding Cupcakes
Originally uploaded by clevercupcakes

The last wedding cupcakes of the summer were for a wedding that was held at Camp Kinkora in the Laurentians, about an hour north of Montreal. To match with the wedding's colour scheme the cupcakes were baked in red liners and topped with handcrafted red fondant leaves. For guests with dietary restrictions there were vegan chocolate cupcakes topped with vegan chocolate ganache.

The cutting cake was covered in red fondant with red and white fondant leaves and a gold leaf border around the cake board.
Even though it was the last weekend of summer, the cupcake decorations had a bit more of a fall feel to them, which was apropos since apparently up north the leaves were already changing colours!

Twestival Update

Photo Courtesy of Dallas Curow

Thank you to everyone who purchased our cupcakes at Montreal Twestival Local. The cupcakes sold out in no time flat.

In total the event raised $2,228 for Head & Hands.

Go Big or Go Home!

Giant Pink Birthday Cupcake
Originally uploaded by clevercupcakes

You only turn 3 once, so why not pull out all the stops? That was the opinion of this little girl's mother while organizing her daughter's third birthday party which was held a few weekends ago.

After weeks of planning here is the final result. First, we have a giant chocolate cupcake filled with chocolate buttercream and covered with chocolate ganache and pink fondant. The giant cupcake was placed on the top tier of a cupcake stand which held 3 dozen cupcakes each topped with matching girly pink decorations.


But that's not all! Each of the children who attended the birthday party also got to take home an individually packaged cupcake as their loot bag. These cupcakes were topped with either a handcrafted fondant kitty, puppy, or teddy bear.


A few days after the party I received a phone call from the birthday girl's mother ranting and raving about how happy she was with every aspect of her order. Yet another satisfied customer.

Curious George Cupcakes

Curious George Cupcakes
Originally uploaded by clevercupcakes

Saturday was also a little boy's 6th birthday party. I'll let you guess who his favourite cartoon character is! A little hint, he is good friend with the Man in the Yellow Hat.

A quick note to thank you! The cupcakes were a huge hit, with young and old alike. The birthday boy was especially thrilled and I believe ate more cupcakes than he should have. I couldn't blame him--they were yummy! Many, many thanks.

Tamer Bachelorette Cupcakes

Bachelorette Cupcakes
Originally uploaded by clevercupcakes

Last weekend was one of the only weekends in the month of September that I wasn't fully booked ahead of time for weddings so I was able to accept other orders. These cupcakes were ordered for the bachelorette party of a rather conservation bride-to-be so the handcrafted fondant cupcake toppers were less risqué than usual. Of course it was still a bachelorette so they couldn't be too tame!

Twestival Loves Clever Cupcakes!

Montreal Twestival 2009 Cupcakes
Originally uploaded by clevercupcakes

A few weeks ago I was contacted by Laura Carmosino of Filter Box Media to become a sponsor of Montreal Twestival Local 2009.

Twestival Local is a global event taking place in over 200 cities around the world, and Montreal is one of those cities! While Twestival Global put the spotlight around one cause, Twestival Local will support a local cause with 100% of the proceeds going directly to a local charity. Everyone involved with Twestival is a volunteer, with the majority crowdsourced using Twitter. Twestival Local is also a fantastic opportunity to connect with the great people in the Montreal community.

This time around the cause in questions was to be Head & Hands; a non-profit organization that works with youth to promote their physical and mental well-being. Being a resident of NDG I was already familiar with the great work they do and jumped at the opportunity to help raise funds by donating cupcakes to be sold at the event.

I unfortunately was unable to attend the event to sell the cupcakes personally but thanks to the great photobooth setup and photography by Eva Blue I did get to see some of the Twestival participants who purchased the cupcakes.


Your cupcakes were a huge hit! Thank you so much for helping us out with that. They were so yummy! Everyone kept talking about them, we passed out your cards. They sold out pretty quickly though, lots of people missed out since many people bought 2!

Labour Day Weekend Weddings

Montreal Wedding Cupcakes
Originally uploaded by clevercupcakes

The weather in Montreal this Labour Day weekend was perfect for a wedding, or two!

On Saturday we made cupcakes for a wedding held at the quaint Willow Place Inn located on the water in scenic Hudson.

Your cupcakes were outstanding!!! I made it a point to break away from all the action and enjoy an entire red velvet...and it was by far the best I've ever had. The icing was perfect, and the cupcake was so moist! And everyone who described the chocolate ones couldn't do so without their eyes rolling back & saying "Oh my God...the chocolate!" Thank you so much. Very happy bride....esp since there are leftovers!

The wedding on Sunday was extra special since the bride is one of my closest friends!

The wedding and reception were held at the trendy Newtown Restaurant on Crescent street in downtown Montreal. We incorporated the wedding's orange, fuchsia, and brown colour scheme into the cupcake tower pictured above which was a big hit with all the guests.

Yes, we have no bananas!

Please note I will not be accepting orders for the weekend of August 29, 2009. The weekend of September 5, 2009 is already fully booked for weddings so the next date I am taking orders is September 12, 2009. Many of the weekends in September and October are also already fully booked for weddings so if you are planning on placing an order in the next few months I would suggest checking the calender on the site and booking early if the date you are interested in is still available. Thank you for your understanding!