EVERYONE NEEDS A LITTLE… SWEETNESS - January 20, 2012
Sweetness Bakery 105 King Street West
A new cupcake shop has brought a little sweetness to downtown Dundas.
It was this past summer that Jenny had told me that a new cupcake shop would be opening in downtown Dundas. Having grown up in Dundas and witnessed changes to shops and restaurants on King Street, we were both intrigued as to what the name of this cupcake place was, as well as where it would be located. I remember driving through downtown Dundas soon after coming back from Tanzania and caught a glimpse of a brightly coloured building on King Street. I wasn’t able to catch the name, but it was striking enough for me to remember that yes, I had seen it before! Kristin and I had dropped by the Sweetness Bakery truck during a walk along the Gore Park Promenade in the summer and sampled their cupcakes. Cupcakes, as well as food trucks in general, are all the rage in case you haven’t heard and we wanted in on the action.
Now, Sweetness Bakery has found its way to Dundas to spread sweetness and cupcakes to all. I happened to be downtown and was in need of a sweet fix and decided to go on my first solo tour venture and indulge in a cupcake. From the moment I walked in, I knew I was in for a sweeeeet treat. I felt like I was in a candy shop, only I was surrounded by cupcakes. I will definitely have to visit again with Kristin, Jenny and Carly, as I’m sure it’ll be hilarious to try and make a swift decision. I looked to my left and saw the words ’Everyone needs a little… Sweetness” splashed across the wall and smiled to myself.
After spending some time checking out the cupcakes on display and attempting to select a few for myself and my fam in record time, I had the chance to speak with Katie, one of the decorators at the Dundas location and learned more about Sweetness. I expressed how happy I was that we had a cupcake shop in Dundas and she informed me that there has been such great demand at the Dundas location (which has been open for just over two months), that they are now open 7 days a week!
Katie also told me more about the cupcakes, such as the fact that there are over 50 (yes FIFTY) cupcake flavours, 28 of which are housed at the Dundas location. There are both signature and “fancy” cupcakes (when I saw the word fancy, I instantly thought fancy, France, F letter word, FULL CIRCLE!) with flavours ranging from Classic Chocolate and Very Vanilla, to Cotton Candy, Brownie Explosion and Creamsicle. Each cupcake looks exquisite, carefully handcrafted, topped with a whirl of buttercream icing and finished off with a fun topping. Sweetness Bakery not only specializes in cupcakes, but offers an assortment of other baked goods all made with the finest and freshest ingredients, such as pies, tarts and even sweety pops.
I was curious to learn how Sweetness Bakery was started so Katie told the story about owner Steve Leighton and his wife who had a scare one evening after their son Foster an allergic reaction back in 2006. They knew there was a possibility that Foster might be allergic to peanuts and it was later confirmed that he was in fact allergic to both peanuts and tree nuts. Due to the lack of available nut free choices when shopping, they decided to open a bakery filled with delightful, decadent baked goods, all peanut free. I was able to relate to this story as my family and I found out through a similar experience that my brother Deven was allergic to nuts when he was younger. When I was in primary school, peanut allergies were a big deal; I can remember schools implementing peanut-free policies in an effort to be conscious and raise awareness of peanut allergies at school. Things have changed since then and I think for the most part, we all take great care when it comes to allergies, particularly nut allergies.
That doesn’t mean that those with peanut allergies can’t experience what peanut butter tastes like, if they so choose! Sweetness makes some cupcakes using “WOWBUTTER,” a healthy, nutritional peanut butter replacement which, as Katie told me, is as close as you can get to peanut butter in terms of smell and taste. It looks like peanut butter and tastes like peanut butter, but isn’t. And it comes in a green bottle, like Kraft, so I suppose that also adds to the authenticity. As Katie was telling me about WOWBUTTER, I thought about my roomie and fellow YCI volunteer, Nicole, who absolutely LOVES peanut butter. Seriously, she is the ultimate peanut butter fan. As well as being peanut-free, Sweetness Bakery also prides itself on being a gluten-free bakery and keeps the health of their customers in mind when creating their cupcakes.
In the end, I went with the Very Vanilla, Brownie Explosion, and Cookies and Cream, all excellent choices I might add! I had gotten the Brownie Explosion for myself and apart from the brownies, especially enjoyed the buttercream icing. More often than not, cake icing can sometimes be a little too fluffy and unappealing; definitely not the case here. It will be fun to see what the staff comes up with for Valentine’s Day.
Sweetness Bakery first opened in Burlington in 2010 and has since expanded to include five more locations, including the one in Dundas. So if you’re having one of those days and need something to brighten your mood, pop into Sweetness Bakery because really, everyone needs a little… sweetness ;)
xoxo Avi
