Dessert Lady
20 Cumberland Street
416-924-3223

Here is a spell of winter magic: Trudging through the slush and tumbling over snowbanks in suddenly-white Toronto, cold, nose running, face wind-burnt and opening the door to the Dessert Lady. The powerful scent of shortbread slams into me like a wave. The wind turns to warmth. And winter is long gone two steps into this cozy Yorkville shop.

For three years, a sibling team has been creating artful goodies that run the gamut of everything sweet. Chef Mandy Kan, whose studies began at Manhattan’s renowned French Culinary Institute, has honed her skills in Florida (Ritz Carlton) and Toronto (Superior Restaurant, Summerhill Market). Now she’s got her own shop of innovative desserts.

Her brother, Tommy Kan, is the smiling people person at the counter. The strong shortbread aroma, he told me, was due to the fact they had just made thousands of orders of the crumbly biscuit for an upcoming charity event. “Lots of long nights,” he said. “Now we can relax…for an hour.”

Tomorrow is Christmas and on the horizon sits New Year’s Eve with various holiday parties between the two. Rumour has it that people put a bit more effort into desserts around this time. This is one shop that may offer some assistance. Past the rows of truffles, macaroons and biscotti sits the open bakery where Kan and company make cakes and pastries to order.

On the holiday menu sit wild blue berry, pumpkin and cherry pies ($8 to $13) and cakes of chocolate, chestnut and vanilla buttercream ($23). For $13 or $17 customers can order a mincemeat tart, classic apple tart, caramel pecan tart, chocolate tart with gingerbread crust and a gushing chocolate eggnog cheesecake. The Dessert Lady has also wrapped up assorted gift bags and has multiple platters available.

Watch your keyboard because the regular menu is enough to inspire the drippings of saliva. Of nearly 40 cakes that span all styles, Tommy Kan says one attention-grabber is a chocolate cake with a warm liquid centre. Alongside these, tarts and seasonal offerings, the shop custom-makes all desserts for weddings and other events. They have just started specializing, Kan says, in wedding cupcakes (another non-traditional idea) for which he rents out a steel display tower.

And the folks for whom nothing on the menu catches their fancy? They’ll make anything. Customers can call and say the birthday boy likes chocolate, sprinkles and strawberry ice cream and receive an expert, creative cake. They can say “no sugar, please” and it won’t be a problem. This place goes well beyond cakes—simply call up and ask for $38 worth of everything made fresh today. Kan says people commonly do so (in a variety of price ranges), and that their customers have spread into the U.S. as far as California. If someone they know is in Toronto, time to stop by the Dessert Lady.

There are plenty of carry-out items. Exquisite truffles you eat with your eyes shut pack such flavours as lemon, maple mint, champagne, bourbon pecan, Grand Marnier and ice wine. (Must be some empty liquor bottles lying around somewhere.) For Christmas there are elegant chocolate hearts available that can house the truffles. A range of biscotti comes with or without nuts, alongside chocolate-covered candied fruit, cookies large and small, pecan brittle and shortbread, a 20-piece assorted tin of which is $10. A freezer is stocked with homemade ice cream and sorbets that branch into such tastes as honey lavender, guava, pumpkin spice, cranberry brandy and—what is spoken of most on blogs—candied ginger.

While he’s busy arranging truffles and chocolate Santas for me to shoot photos, Tommy mentions that they know people are health-conscious these days. Particularly in Yorkville. His sister intentionally makes all sweets with no preservatives or additives, but more importantly with as little sugar and butter as they require. That’s why when I got home and bit into a pumpkin white chocolate cookie, it wasn’t the typical sugar-laden experience. I could taste each ingredient fully.

Desserts are not just sugar and chocolate. They offer the opportunity for as much creativity as a dinner menu. This shop blends flavours passionately and does not lose them amid a tidal wave of sweetness and richness. That said, it’s still dessert and believe me it’s still sweet.

For those in a pinch for New Year’s, here’s one place to seek inspired answers.