Worst cupcake of 2009*

I've been meaning to blog about this since a very disappointing visit to Treacle on Columbia Road on wet and wintery December evening but I think I kept putting it off as I was just v.p'd off about the whole thing.

The original reason we went to the late night shopping event on Columbia Road was to buy my Christmas present - a framed print "Eat Cake and Carry On" that I'd seen previously and liked. However the print was not to be - when we first asked how much they were no-one in the store knew the exact price but we were told "about £40-50". They had to, reluctantly, phone someone to check - they seemed reluctant to actually do any business to be quite honest. As they were shouting down the mobile to the faceless owner of Treacle, I was examining the print further and noticed how cheep and cheerful the frames were, like a painted £3 Ikea one, but I really liked the print and thought £50 wasn't too bad for something I liked, even if a big chunk at the bottom of the print was covered in the Treacle logo. £150 however was too much. The reluctant shop assistant got off her mobile and informed me one of the colours I liked was £150, one was £180 as it "has more glitter". Then she asked should she wrap it for me- I politely declined. I can order a pretty one for much less from Etsy thanks and not be taken for an utter numpty -seriously £30 more for a splash of glitter a 3 year old could apply, and £150 for a paper print (and huge advert for your shop!) in an Ikea frame - seriously? I'm planning making my own - 10 mins on the computer and a trip to the local craft store for glitter and some pretty paper, then Ikea for a frame and I'm set!

Anyways, we took the cupcakes we'd bought (2 chocolate - there was no choice, and very little in the way of stock - and they had no bags, just paper in pissing rain..joy) and headed off to Albion for dinner (highly recommended!). We didn't have a pudding at dinner as we had the cupcakes from Treacle and a some more from the Albion Bakery to have when we got in with a hot cup of tea. BIG mistake. We should've had a pud!

Firstly, the Albion cupcakes - they weren't great to be honest. They looked nothing like the picture of their cupcakes on the website. The base was quite nice but the "frosting" was just pure butter - which Manny loved as he's odd like that. I ate a bit and then threw the rest in the bin - or maybe at Manny's mouth - I can't remember!

Now for possibly the most rancid cupcake I've had in some time, if not ever. As soon as I opened the bag I could tell the Treacle cupcake was off - rotten in fact. Instead of being a brown chocolate colour it had a grey/green tinge to it, and it smelt BAD, like really off butter. I have added the best pic of a bad lot - sorry it was cold and to be honest I was too fuming to fanny about with the camera. In the interests of the blog I tried a bit of the base and a bit of the topping (I refuse to call rancid butter frosting sorry). The base was HARD, so hard I did an experiment - I dropped it from a great height to see if anything happened - it nearly broke my glass cupcake worksurface topper as it fell with a mighty rock like thud onto it! I have a video but I can't upload it - maybe I should youtube it. The topping tasted like off butter and the morsel I tried left a taste in my mouth that toothpaste and mouthwash couldn't remove.

I toyed with taking the cupcake to environmental health as I am pretty certain that cupcake had been sitting out since the Sunday (3 days previously) when the store was last open, if not longer. We've eaten my baked cupcakes 4 days after making and while not 100% fresh they are not rotten, nor are they so obviously off. But in the end I just didn't have time to go through the process of finding where to complain to, due to work issues, but now I kinda regret chucking them in the bin as if someone had eaten those cakes I'm pretty sure they'd have regretted it, and people shouldn't be allowed to get away with such blatant flouting of health and safety when it comes to food.

I have previously enjoyed Treacle cupcakes but the last time I went they were a bit hard and totally flavourless but never have I had a cupcake so disgustingly inedible. Consider my recommendation revoked.

*I'm hoping this will be the worst cupcake I ever try and cupcakes only continue to be yummy from now!

Awright Treacle

They're very "awright" indeed...as usual!

I got 2 chocolate (for Manny) and a lemon and vanilla for me, with a mini vanilla thrown in as I thought it would stop them moving round in the box and getting squished!! I particularly liked the lemon one, it had a really sharp taste to it. Wasn't so keen on the vanilla with chocolate frosting but then I'm not a fan of chocolate frosting really - I should've specified a pink one!

Manny absolutely loved his two chocolate ones - especially the butterfly one :)

Go visit Treacle one Sunday and experience them for yourself - as they say "Too much is never enough"

Treacle-icious

I've been having trouble sleeping so was up at the crack of dawn last Sunday so popped to Columbia Road/Brick Lane which is always a lovely way to spend a Sunday morning, even with the crowds, especially when you can pick up some scrummy cupcakes from Treacle.

We had chocolate, vanilla and lemon and they were all utterly gorgeous!! I love how they always look as pretty as they taste and they don't scrimp on the glitter and I'm a glitter girl at heart :) I have to say they are quite little compared to some of the other cupcakes in London but they are so cute and yummy they are worth the schlep up to East London on a Sunday for!

Nostalgic cupcake loveliness :)

Solitaire is the designs of husband & wife team Matt & Em Bruty.All their Designs are Hand drawn & Hand printed using silk screen. Their designs are nostalgic with birds, crockery and most importantly CUPCAKES included :)

I really like this fab apron with a pocket to store spoons while you're cooking - perhaps you could keep your mixing spoon safe in here for licking later! Also how cute is the card...YAY for cupcakes indeed! The apron is £29, excluding postage and the card is £3. I've seen their aprons in Treacle in Columbia Road and Family Tree in Exmouth Market, but click here for other stockists.

Solitaire aim to be as Eco friendly as possible, with products supplied and made in the UK and they use recycled and bio-degradable materials where they can so go buy their lovely stuff!

Treacle - too much is never enough!!

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!