A tale of two bakeries

My Love Bakery book arrived last Friday at work and the one cupcake my colleague and I drooled over the most was the rhubarb and custard cake. It sounded absolutely fabulous and was immediately added to must bake soon list.

So obviously I was mega-chuffed when I ventured to Love Bakery on the Saturday hungover (and alone as my other half was too hungover to leave the comfort of the duvet!) and spotted them on sale. As I was hungover and had previously been unable to keep food down that day I bought a box of four and pootled off down the Kings Road with them.

We didn't get round to eating the cupcakes till the Sunday as we both still felt a little under the weather on Saturday night, but the cakes did not suffer for it and still tasted incredibly moist and flavoursome. This always worries me about bakeries where I buy a cupcake and eat it the same day and its hard - when do they make them? Anyways back to Love. The rhubarb and custard has now been added to my favourite cupcakes of all time list - a lovely moist base with a rhubarb compote in the middle, and a custard frosting, with crumble on top. This is pure comfort food in a cupcake!

My second choice of cupcake was the banana toffee cupcake. This was a very tasty banana cake, topped with gorgeous caramel frosting - this cake was luscious. The only thing I didn't enjoy was the fondant bananas on top - I find them just too sweet but hey they looked gorgeous and the cupcake was to die for so who cares!

 Look at that frosting - you just wanna dive in!

Next up were Manny's cakes. I opted for the red velvet for him as his first choice. He loved the red velvet declaring it the best he's tried, apart from mine (he's too sweet sometimes!). It was a really moist, very red cake, but the cake wasn't marred by the flavour of food colouring, which can sometimes happen with red velvets.

Look at the colour of that! 

Finally was his double chocolate - always with the double chocolate. After the disappointment of the "valrohna triple chocolate" from Cox, Cookies and Cake he was very happy to have a chocolate cake that tasted of chocolate. Perhaps the Love Bakery ladies could teach Mr Lanlard and Cox how to make chocolate cakes?

The second bakery visited was an old favourite, Crumbs and Doilies. And alas it is a very different story than Love Bakery. If you check though my blog I have eaten a lot of cupcakes from Crumbs and Doilies in many flavours from lemon and poppyseed to Christmas flavour - all have been pretty and more importantly all have been tasty. Until recently that is. The last time we bought cakes from them was in April 2010 when we went to Partridges Market to get their flavour of the month, Mexican Chilli Chocolate. It was dry, disappointing and flavourless. Never one to judge a bakery on just one cake as they could be having an off day I decided to give them another go and this weekend seemed perfect as their flavour of the month was Mojito. I fell in love with Mojitos when we went to Madrid last month to see Manowar so these sounded right up my street. We had planned to get just two cakes but they were offering a box of four for a fiver (two were £4) so we opted for two mojito, a chocolate and a rose vanilla.

Then we went to the pub as it was cold and wet outside and we couldn't be bothered to shop.

The pub also explains why my pictures look like this

To be honest I didn't have much to work with.. These are the mojito cupcakes. These are billed as;

a winning combination of lime, mint and a little Havana Club rum. Awesome.

And that did sound awesome. Unfortunately they tasted of nothing. Ok there was the merest hint of lime but nothing else. No mint, and I certainly got no rum. The frosting was weird - I really don't know what it was - a mush with no flavour, except a tonne of sugar crystals on top. Incredibly disappointing. And  to top it all, incredibly dry.

Next, Manny's chocolate cupcake;

A rich chocolate sponge made with Valrhona cocoa, smothered with dark Callebaut chocolate buttercream

I didn't try this but he was bitterly disappointed - he said there was a minimum of chocolate flavour and he didn't believe this was Valrhona chocolate. Again it was dry and again flavourless.

Finally, my rose vanilla;

A light, fragrant cupcake made using organic Madagascan vanilla and naturally distilled organic Persian damask rosewater. Available with pink icing only.

This smelt funny and the smell overwhelmed me before I even took a bite. Like butter but not fresh. But I persevered (the things I do for my blog) and again it was utterly tasteless. There was no hint of vanilla, no rosewater nothing. I sniffed the cupcake trying desperately to get a hint of rose water - nothing. It didn't smell of anything at all. I'd at least expected a hint of vanilla. The cake was beyond dry and we were eating them the day we bought them. Things like this seriously worry me. When I bake I use nothing but the  best ingredients, and occasionally we eat cupcakes about 3 days after they're baked (you can't eat all the cupcakes at once can you!!) and they still taste MUCH fresher than these.

I don't know what's happened with Crumbs and Doilies - have they changed bakers, suppliers? Does anyone know. I'm bitterly disappointed. I've been recommending them to people for years but I'm afraid I won't be doing that any more.

It's not all about eating yummy cupcakes

This post is a round up of some cupcakes scoffed (or not, as the case may be unfortunately) over the last few months that don't really warrant a post themselves.


First up is April's flavour of the month from the usually fabulous Crumbs and Doilies. I am usually a fan of their cakes, and think they are some of the prettiest you can get (they have a vast collection of sprinkles!), however the Mexican Chilli Chocolate was a big let down. It was incredibly dry and rather flavourless, there was a little kick from the ancho chilli on top which I made a point of eating even though the rest of the cake wasn't for me and I only managed a couple of bites. Disappointing. Lets hope May's Cardamom and white chocolate flavour is much better!

The same day we went to Partridges Market for the Chilli Chocolate cupcake we also picked up a whoopie pie from two newcomers to Partridges, Yummy Boutique. They also did cupcakes, which I foolishly didn't buy as we had some C&D ones. I regretted it as the whoopie was amazing - definitely one to check out in the future. And the two ladies running it were lovely!

The window picture is another reason we didn't opt for cupcakes from Yummy Boutique - our plan was to walk down the Kings Road to Love Bakery as I was keen to try their Easter range - alas they were closed but we did ooh and ahhh over their lovely window and worked off some calories on the walk!
Next up another unfortunately disappointing cupcake - this time from Primrose Bakery. The cupcake on the left is their banana chocolate which unfortunately was inedible and seemed to be lacking any bananas, instead full of really huge raisins which were highly unpleasant against a very, very dry crumb-like sponge. Manny's double chocolate didn't let him down however and he scoffed the lot. Mine went in the bin - minus the frosting which was yummy.

In compassion these rather squished efforts from Clapham's Bread Stall, on Northcote Road were really tasty, flavoursome and had a lovely homemade taste to them. Alas they got a bit squished on our travels but they did start out looking rather nicer!

The Banoffee cupcake from Cafe Nero was perhaps one of the sweetest most unpleasant things I've ever put in my mouth. I recommend neither this or their coffee.

Alas this post is full of dry cupcakes - this one from Tina We Salute You was a bit of a letdown as their cupcakes are usually fabulous. Still worth giving them a go though as previous cakes have been really nice, and their coffee is worth travelling for.

Another coffee shop cupcake, another mouthful of sugar - this strawberry one from Costa's was edible but not that tasty. Really didn't live up to their advertising of "all other cupcakes stand aside" why are you going to send them into a diabetic coma? Very, very sweet and not recommended. And their coffee isn't nice either!

Finally, I can't find the picture but we popped into Buttercup at Westfield after we watched Alice in Wonderland there and got one of the worst cupcakes of my life. Dry, flavourless, smelly and totally inedible. This is a company that has gone from being one of my favourites to one I am actively telling readers of this blog to avoid - I wasted nearly £3 on a vanilla cupcake that I don't believe had seen vanilla, but do believe had been baked a few days earlier from the smell and texture of the cake. I'm still mortified I bought some of these cupcakes last year for a friends birthday and all of them were stale. I gave it one last chance as everyone can make mistakes but unfortunately it just reinforced their quality is nowhere near as good as before. Avoid at all costs unless you like stale flavourless cupcakes. See previous posts about their greatness here and here, their fall from my favourites here.

Crumbs and Doilies flavour(s) of the month(s)

I've just gotten round to checking out the Crumbs and Doilies website for the first time this month and am rather excited to see that not only have they named February's flavour of the month, but March and April's too!!

February - Salted Caramel

Our salted caramel cupcakes feature a delicious moist caramel sponge topped with a wickedly moreish salted caramel buttercream. A genuine 5-star sugary-salty-sweet knockout of a cupcake.

March -Hot Toddy
A spicy cinnamon, lemon and clove infused sponge combined with a delicious Irish whisky buttercream icing. Warming, indulgent and just the thing to see you through the no-doubt dreary British springtime.

April - Mexican Chilli Chocolate

A devilish combination of dark chocolate and ancho chillies with a hint of cinnamon, vanilla and almonds. Ay carumba!

No pictures of the cakes on their site yet but I bet they'll be very pretty, and tasty, as usual! Rest assured I'll be going each month to try them so as they sound delicious - not sure which I'm more excited about trying! Until then some lovely cupcakes I've enjoyed from Crumbs and Doilies previously :)

Crumbs and Doilies Valentine Cupcakes

Ok I'm running out of love cliches as titles for these posts so I'm sticking to informative and simple, which is probably best.

Crumbs and Doilies valentines selection is available online now, for delivery or collection:

A box of Crumbs and Doilies Valentine’s Cupcakes is the perfect gift for that special someone. Each of our Valentine's boxes contains a mixture of vanilla, chocolate and vanilla rose cupcakes, all freshly baked using the highest quality ingredients and all decorated with our usual obsessive attention to detail. Presented in a beautiful ribbon-tied box along with a card bearing your message of love or mystery, nothing says ‘I Love You, please save me a cake’ like a box of C&D Valentine’s Cupcakes.

Our special Valentine’s boxes are available to order in two sizes (15 or 24 minis) for delivery or collection across the Valentine’s weekend (Friday, Saturday and Sunday).

Further details can be found on their website.

I'm hoping Vanilla Rose is February's flavour of the month again as I missed it last year and really want to taste it!

Thanks to C&D for use of their pics of their yummy cupcakes.

Celebrate National Cupcake day

Tomorrow, the 15th December, is National Cupcake Day in America and I think we should adopt it here, and I for one plan to have a cupcake for my tea to celebrate :)

Crumbs...Christmas flavour is back!

I could really just link to here, as the Crumbs and Doilies December flavour of the month is the same as last year...Christmas...and we wouldn't have it any other way! We sampled them last Christmas and they were fab (and as usual so pretty with the best sprinkles!)

They’re back! Our Christmas cupcakes feature a cinamony, gingery Christmas spiced sponge, topped with a smooth, luxurious brandy buttercream icing.

Available from Partridges Market (Saturdays), Covent Garden food market (Thursdays and Fridays, and Weds 16th-Sat 19th) and to order online here.

If you head to Partridges Market I highly recommend the curry stall there - its FAB!

Thanks to Crumbs and Doilies for use of their gorgeous pics

Hummingbird Cupcakes new store details

I've just found out that the new Wardour Street branch of the fabulous Hummingbird Bakery is Lee Stafford's old Salon so I will be easily able to find it (used to get my hair cut there till they moved and upped their prices loads).

It's quite a little space - it did have a downstairs section as a salon, but I suppose they may use that as a kitchen? I can't wait to see what they've done to it - I know from their Twitter that their theme for the store is cupcake pop art! According to my sources it opens on the 9th December - I have a gig that night in Brixton but I'm hoping that my lovely hubby might leave work a bit early with me for a pre-gig cupcake :) Or maybe I should just take the day off and camp outside for the opening?

In other Hummingbird news Tarek will be at Heals in the Kings Road signing copies of the Hummingbird cookbook this Saturday from 1.30-3.30, and some cupcake demo's and a baking Q&A are promised. There are several cupcake outlets within walking distance of Heals if you want to make a cupcake day of it including Crumbs and Doilies, Love Bakery and Hummingbird - Buttercup is also less than 30mins walk away but after the last time I'd give it a miss. Oh and if you walk to Harrods you can have a Lola's cupcake or if you're all cupcake'd out a Laduree macaroon.

On a non-cupcake note - Paul A Young and Hope and Greenwood will also be signing their books at Heals on Saturday

Christmas is coming

and so are the Crumbs and Doilies Christmas cupcake boxes

Each box comes beautifully wrapped and features a mix of flavours, including our very special Christmas Flavour of the Month.

you can now pre-order your Christmas cupcakes for collection, or delivery by clicking here.

Oh and I MUST pop over to Covent Garden on Friday to get one of their flavour of the month - red velvet - or perhaps someone could pick me up one on Thursday as a after-dentist treat (hint hint!)

Thanks to Crumbs and Doilies for the use of their pics! The bottom pic is their red velvet - yum

Crumbs and Doilies Halloween cupcakes

are available to pre-order now and aren't they just the cutest Halloween cupcakes you've seen!

Think I may have to pre-order a munchbox although I'd prefer 6 big ones as then you get the spider, bat and skulls - maybe I should give them a ring and see if that's possible! Getting there on the day to pick them up may be a problem too as its our wedding anniversary on the Sat and we're meant to be out and about that day - maybe I'll order them to collect on the Friday and head over to C&D HQ -sounds fab :)

We’ll be selling our great Halloween Cupcakes by the dozen in big and mini sizes and there’s also our brand new Munchbox size (2 big and 9 mini cupcakes) for smaller gifts. All boxes will contain a spookily tasty mix of flavours including this month’s flavour of the month, ChocolateOrange, and are available on Friday 30th and Saturday 31st October.

That’s not all though - it being Halloween we’ve slashed the prices of our special Halloween Cupcakes to just £20/dozen for big cupcakes and £10/dozen for minis and munchboxes!

Orders will be available for delivery in Central and SW London or you can collect from C&D HQ near Wandsworth Town (Friday 11am-7pm and Saturday 10am-3pm), or from the Kings Road (Saturday only, 10am-3pm).

Thanks to C&D for use of their photo!

Crumbs and Doilies October flavour of the month is...

Chocolate Orange. Wonder if they're to prepare our tastebuds for the festive onslaught of these?

I shall be popping over to Covent Garden this week to try one as Crumbs and Doilies will be there Thursday, Friday and Saturday this week as part of the London Restaurant Festival.

Back to the cupcakes:

A rich, dark chocolate orange sponge topped with a a smooth orange buttercream. Ourchocolateorange cupcakes are made using Valrhona cocoa, organic orange zest and juice, treacle and dark brown sugar well as our usual Lescure butter, organic eggs and Doves Farm organic flour.

YUM.

Oh and prepare for November's flavour - Red Velvet! Also C&D will be announcing details of how to order their Halloween cupcakes in the next few days so I shall post info here asap.

Thanks to Crumbs and Doilies for use of their pic and cupcake description :)

Crumbs and Doilies September flavour of the month is...

Lemon and poppy seed with a cream cheese frosting. Yum

Made using organic unwaxed lemons and organic poppyseeds they're light, smooth, delicious and so natural they're practically good for you

Ok you've persuaded me!

Other news from Crumbs and Doilies is that they've added to their standard flavours - which now include vanilla rose and earl grey - both of which I can recommend from previous outings as flavour of the month!

Thanks to Crumbs and Doilies for the pics.

Crumbs and Doilies cupcake of the month...

is Summer Lavender. yummy

Our Summer Lavender cupcakes are made using organic French lavender, organic free range eggs, Lescure butter and Doves Farm organic flour. They're light, floral and perfect for dreamy summer days.

I hope to be trying one on Thursday..hint hint Manny ;) 

Thanks to Crumbs and Doilies for use of the (gorgeous!) pic

Crowds witness the giant cupcake of Covent Garden

So today was the day the GIANT cupcake finally arrived in London's Covent Garden. I got there about 30mins before the official cutting ceremony and it was already sat there under a canopy with a crowd of rather excited people round it. I popped to get some shopping and when I got back the crowd had grown...people were wandering through the market asking others "have you seen a giant cupcake?" so it wasn't a surprise that so many were excited about it. I got a place to see the cutting ceremony and was happy to see I recognised the person cutting the cake - the girl from Crumbs and Doilies - who later said she read my blog..hello!!

There was a lot of photographers so it was sometimes difficult to get pics as one of them stood on a table taking constant pics - I know its exciting but the cake wasn't going anywhere - once you've got a good pic of it, its time to get off the table and let others take a pic!

The queue for cake was immense, and the heat was getting worse - also I'd seen the slices they were cutting (ie take a tiny slice and then cut it in half, and maybe again!) so decided queuing for an hour for a bit wasn't how I planned to spend my afternoon off and went to Crumbs and Doilies instead! From what Londonist have said I didn't miss much - it must've been warm as it'd been out in the scorching sun for quite some time! And my crumbs and doilies cupcakes were fab as usual! 

I do hope the guy next to me who arrived with a giant spoon in anticipation got his bit of cake!

Oranges and Lemons...

say the cupcakes of St Clement's. This months Crumbs and Doilies flavour is St Clement's:

made with real organic unwaxed oranges and lemons feature an orange sponge topped with zesty orange and lemon buttercream. Light, zingy and perfect for summer. 

We popped along to the Covent Garden Food Market last Thursday for lunch and picked up a couple and they were absolutely gorgeous (as usual with Crumbs and Doilies!). As you can see they got a bit squished on the way home but that didn't detract from the yummy taste - really soft sponge with a gorgeous zesty frosting - I agree, they're totally perfect for summer!! You can pick them up on Thursdays at Covent Garden Food Market or Saturdays at Partridges Food Market. 

Tea and cupcakes

Yesterday we made it to the Covent Garden food market, mainly to get our hands on the Crumbs and Doilies flavour of the month - earl grey.

C&D describe it as a subtle and slightly citrussy taste of the English summer, and I have to agree - the flavour was very subtle but very moreish and the frosting was fab! As usual Crumbs and Doilies make the perfect cupcake :) They're only available for June so make sure you go grab one asap!

Flavour of the month @ Crumbs and Doilies

This month C&D have brought back their most popular ever flavour of the month - Earl Grey. I can't remember if I tried it last time - so long ago, so many cupcakes - so will have to try it again to remind myself!

Available Saturday's at Partridges Market, Kings Road and Thursdays from Covent Garden Market.

Thanks to C&D for the pics.

Johnny Cupcakes in London

If you don't know who Johnny Cupcakes is click here, if you do know and you want to meet him he'll be in Leicester Square, London for a meet-up at 3pm - wear your Johnny Cupcake tshirt if you have one :) There will be free cupcakes from the lovely Crumbs and Doilies as well to tempt you along! I would be attending, however we're having a night out for my lovely hubby's 40th birthday so of course that takes priority - even over cupcake events :)

If anyone who reads this goes please let me know how it went!!

Thanks to JC for the pic!

Cupcake Throwdown winner announced...

it was Fair Cake! You can read all about the cupcakes, and the eating (and rather too much wastage of cupcakes for my liking by the looks of some of the photos), here. My faves, taking part, didn't even make any of the top 3 listings except for Bea's and Crumbs and Doilies (no Outsider Tart or Buttercup...pah) making me have a horrific moment where I thought that maybe I don't know my cupcakes very well at all! But that moment passed, thankfully, and I realised that maybe I have different taste when it comes to cupcakes- there seemed to have been a lot of complaints about "too much frosting" which kinda makes a cupcake a cupcake in my opinion...if you don't like frosting maybe try a bun instead?

You can read about when we tried Fair Cake's cupcakes (on snow day) here

Thanks to Londonist for the pic of the winner.

Does a free cupcake taste better?

If you follow the fabulous Crumbs and Doilies on Twitter you can enter their weekly comp to win a free box from their stall at Covent Garden's weekly food market. We entered yesterday's comp and Manny popped over there and managed to secure us a freebie box of 12 delicious cupcakes including 2 of the flavour of the month, Turkish Delight. I had both of those as Manny doesn't like it (he snarfed most of the chocolate ones) and they were gorgeous.

You'd deffo have to look hard to find a prettier cupcake then Crumbs and Doilies - they have the best sprinkles! I am jealous!!