After YEARS of saying we'd go to Columbia Road Flower Market we FINALLY made it on Sunday and we actually made it waaaay before closing! I found a way to get Manny to move and get out - I offered to take him to a good ale pub, The Royal Oak for Sunday lunch and a few pints of Harvey's Stout AFTER we'd been to the market! This was enough to put his bottom into gear and we got out of the house before midday which is generally unheard of with my faffing hubby in tow! Apart from wanting to see the market itself we also wanted to try some cupcakes as there are TWO places on Columbia Road with cupcakes available - Treacle and Cake Hole which is inside Vintage Heaven (both only open on Sundays). The market itself was really lovely - lots of lovely, and cheap, plants and flowers and lots of pretty old quaint shop where I could've spent a fortune if payday hadn't have been so far away - I did manage to pick up a lovely cat cream pourer though. Even walking to the market was a treat as there were loads of really nice unspoilt areas of old housing - it reminded me very much of Berlin round there!
We first saw Cake Hole, however it is at the back of the shop and the front bit was heaving with people looking at antiques so we carried on down the market to Treacle which was slightly quieter and absolutely gorgeous. They had lots of lovely old furniture/kitchen bits and some really pretty cupcake memorabilia, such as aprons and cake stands. And....LOTS of cupcakes in lots of pretty colours. They had both large and small ones available (I've read they do 3 sizes but I think we only saw 2). We opted for a box of 9 minis for £7 - 3 of each flavour; chocolate, lemon and vanilla - it was difficult to be so disciplined as everything looked finger-licking good!! They were all prettily decorated and I especially loved the glitter!
We waited till later that night before having them as we were stuffed after our lovely lunch at the Royal Oak (definitely recommended!) - and the cupcakes were worth waiting for - little bites of heaven. All three flavours were really tasty - soft and tasty bases and lovely and not too sweet frosting!! This is definitely worth the trip up to the market and as its only open on Sundays its a good reason to buy a little box to treat yourself!
We never made it into Cake Hole but will be popping back very soon to test their cupcakes!
That was a perfect day out, my gorgeous pootle for company, lots of great booze, a lovely lunch and of course some cakes :)
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