Cupcake Berlin

I am soooo going to Cupcake Berlin, on my next trip to the city the end of January.  Just look at their cupcakes!! They look divine and like the North American real deal.

I think I would like to sample their Fantasy Island cupcake which is vanilla cake with a cream cheese frosting and their Lemon Drop cupcake which his vanilla cake with lemon buttercream.  For my vegan friends out there, it is worth noting that Cupcake Berlin also bakes vegan cupcakes, so I may have to sample one of those too.  The vegan brown sugar cupcake looks interesting- worth a shot!  If you are interested in what others who have already sampled their goods have said, Cupcake Berlin has received some blog love form Decor8  who wrote a nice review and from OhCupcakes.  I will be adding my own the end of January so stay tuned.

via cupcake berlin

via cupcake berlin

via decor8

via twitter

Berlin

I am back from Berlin and all I can say is, “What a city!”  In many ways, Berlin reminds me of New York from an architectural point of view as well, as a city burgeoning creativity.  In its neighbourhoods, the city gives off a terrific artsy/techy vibe.  It is easy to find numerous examples of art, design, street art, fashion, music, sculptures sprinkled around Berlin’s new and old streetscapes.   The other funny thing I noticed was that Berlin is teaming with hipsters, from a fashion standpoint (not a bad thing!!).  Here I thought Toronto was turning into a hipster capital downtown, but boy was I wrong!

In two and a half days of cold weather (& sunshine) we covered as much of the city as possible by foot and by hop-on-hop-off bus, however it is down right impossible to thoroughly cover every square inch of Berlin in such a short time period.  After I got back I discovered a good blog about Berlin titled “Slow Travel Berlin,” where the author rightly asks visitors to slow down the pace of their travel (think slow food movement for travelers) instead of “speeding through all the landmarks in a city in 24 or 48 hours.”  I am guilty of committing the fast travel crime however, I am motivated to return and explore upon my return at a slower pace.

Outstanding areas we loved included Mitte, a trendy residential and commercial area dotted with cafes, restaurants and boutiques and Prenzlauer Berg, like Toronto’s Leslieville, but bigger, a bit more yuppy/hipster and with ten times more restaurants/cafes/shops. Berlin’s Holocaust memorial was somber, and eerie, Checkpoint Charlie too commercial a la Disneyland, and overall, the city’s architecture brings a mix of brand spanking new/modern contrasted with rebuilt/restored ornate/grandiose structures and churches.

On the food side, we tasted the best apple strudel overflowing with apples, (better than what we tasted in Vienna), at Meierei, a bakery cafe, meets a provision store with pic nic benches outside, dined on sushi (a crunchy dudu roll) and noodles at Dudu, and discovered the most delicious chicken soup, dumplings and latkes at a Russian Jewish restaurant, Pasternak, in honour of Boris Pasternak, the Russian author who wrote Doctor Zhivago.  Creativity, art, design, excellent food, urban beaches (yes- sand on pavement, in the city with tiki bars = urban beach), street art and a lot of history, monuments and galleries.

dumplings from Pasternak

yoli berlin

I just got back from Berlin and had a terrific time touring the city in two days.  I promise to write a full post on Berlin later this week recounting the city’s food and design, but for tonight, I leave you with one thought: Yoli.  Yoli is Berlin’s answer to the global frozen yogurt craze.  While it’s not self serve, it has a choose your own topping bar, and what a selection it has!  My new favourite toppings, that I have never seen before, included lemon curd, a hazelnut creme with crunchy bits, chocolate sauce with brownies.  My Yoli concoction was a small, basic, yogurt with raspberries, creamy hazelnut and flourescent yellow, lemon curd.  It was delicious but I will admit I felt a bit sick from all the sugar (my system is not used to hazelnut cream and rich lemon curd) but it was worth it!  However the next time I go back to Yoli, I may choose something a bit more tame, like fruit and maybe a chocolate chip or two-

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via julia stelzner