Sunday, October 24, 2010

London Cupcake Update

You can hardly take two steps in London without bumping into a cupcake... First stop - HummingBird Bakery!
All aboard. They've got special Halloween cuppies.
YIKES!
And they offer a daily special flavor...
In Covent Garden, you'll find Crumb Dollies and they've got cupcake trees!
If you're not crazy about cupcakes, you better leave now and that includes me. These lovelies are from Ella's Bakehouse and they reside in Selfridges Food Hall.
There's a lot of cupcake competition at Selfridges from Primrose Bakery as well...
Lola's Cupcakes has a cafe to boot
Boxes and boxes including what they call 'Tinies' and we call minis...
AND they have GIANT cupcake cakes! OMG I have to admit I rather fancy these elegant numbers from Fiona Cairns...
Maybe it's the lovely flat tops that make these so appealing.
I, for one, am not big on tons of fluffy icing sitting a top my cupcake (if I even liked cupcakes...)
Competing alongside all the cupcake concessions at Selfridges is Pierre Herme's macarons and chocolates. Frankly this is not doing PH any favors in my opinion.
Quelle dommage :(
Out of sheer exhaustion I broke down and had a cuppa and a cupcake in Selfridges. (I did not eat the icing but the cake part was quite nice)
A late stop in Fortnum & Masons to pick up some Earl Grey et voila.
Les cupcakes!
Harvey Nichols has a highly decorated set o' 6 beauties.
Plus they have a pop-up shop of special small cakes from British pastry chef formerly of the French Laundry, Claire Clark.
I loved this witty drawer display...
They're featuring her new book, 100 Perfect Desserts, which has been out for a bit in the US. Would you call these cupcakes on the cover?
Marks & Sparks' iced buns caught my eye as a possible antecedent of the cupcake or 'fairy cake' as the Brits call it.
What do you think?
Yesterday the 22 bus stopped at Duke of York Square and there was another open market . Of course there were cupcakes from Peggie's who does 'couture' and wedding cupcake towers.
Who knew?
I saw these adorable clown hats at Pollock's Toy Theaters in Covent Garden. Don't they look like the perfect hat to wear while you're eating a cupcake, if you happen to eat cupcakes that is...
Lots more to come on Pollocks later.
I'm week-end posting since I missed Friday a week ago, whilst traveling and I may miss tomorrow.
I must be on the Eurostar by 5:13 am
Eeeek!
BON WEEK-END PBers!

29 comments:

  1. Confession, I hate Frosting/Icing! I love love looking at cupcakes and photographing them but honestly, I'm usually disappointed by how dry they taste. Sigh, just not worth it.

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  2. They sure are everywhere! The shops look as delicious as the cupcakes :)
    I'm like you, I don't like the mounds of sugary frosting. The flat top ones look great, though.
    Have a safe trip.

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  3. Yes, with the flat tops you could easily slice off the icing without making a mess :)
    It's 7:42 AM here...
    I got up today at 3 AMish to get ready for tomorrow's mad dash :(
    A rehearsal of sorts...

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  4. Anonymous2:48 AM

    Hmmm to eat or not to eat that is the question?
    To look definitely - sometimes works of art but yes they do leave us a little flat.

    wow you are an early bird today - have a wonderful day!
    I am sitting in Aix en provence and going to Avignon today ---weeee! x

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  5. Lovely cupcakes! I borrowed the Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook from our library and had a cake baking fest. Their signiture three-layer hummingbird cake with cream cheese icing was to die for and the cup cakes were pretty good too!
    Lovely blog!

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  6. Always entertaining...I just don´t comment enough...always read,,,love your posts!!!! and your art!!!

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  7. Anonymous9:22 AM

    gosh, the time and effort that must go into all your posts! very much appreciated! I want to tag along with all of you who dis'd frosting--I'll eat the top off the cupcakes for you.

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  8. Gorgeous cuppies!! I like the halloween ones the best, or the one studded with marshmallows. I quite like the icing Carol; so you can leave that for me ;)

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  9. OMG I have never seen so many and such a variety of cupcakes. Wow! I love the Halloween ones. Hope you had a great trip!

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  10. .. OMG, I know, it's cupcakes everywhere ... LOVE the ones with a violet on top ... and the Harvey's box is just tooooo much ... dotted with mini marshmallows !!! thanks for the eye candy, and that is just it -EYE's only.

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  11. Carol, you've made me smile with your "dress rehearsal" early start to your day. (I would surely do the same thing to make sure I would be on that Eurostar train.)

    The cupcake tour photos were great fun to see. It's as if cupcake tops have become some sort of perfect medium for graphic design. A circle is always a good place to begin!

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  12. Hello my name is Federica and i live in Italy!!I like very much your blog,congratulations for your paintings(wonderful)and your photos!!Loved this post because the cupcakes is my favorite desserts and London is my city's heart!!Greetings Federica Fusco.

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  13. LOVE a cupcake, but usually scrape off the sugar mass on top.

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  14. Justine12:37 PM

    "Cupcake Tops"
    Has that been done yet?
    Like Muffin tops in Seinfeld..?
    Bon idee Frances!

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  15. Anna-Maria A.12:38 PM

    British cupcake chefs are coming to New York for 1-day lessons..
    Maybe New York bakers should return the favor?
    These have a lot of style and flare!
    Thanks PB

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  16. Great ccuppie post - I need to try those flat-tops. Safe travels!
    Mimi

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  17. Sounds like you're in cup-cake city!! The delectable little frosted cupies from "Ella's Bakehouse" in Selfridges would get my vote.
    ~Dianne~

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  18. I, too, detest all that icing. At work I had a friend who loved the icing but not the cake, so we always traded. Sad to think that she's only getting one portion of icing nowadays....
    Perhaps you could cultivate a frosting-lover to share with?

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  19. Oh my word. I've died and gone to heaven!

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  20. I love them!! and these ones are to die for. I got inspired by your post and whipped up a batch of muffins yesterday, not the same thing but even so...

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  21. Clare Clark's bookcover cakes look just like what I would love to have right now: A few bites of moist delicious cake (carrot?) with a dollop of cream!

    Yes, they definitely look like cupcakes to me, perfect minimalist ones! :-)

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  22. Mince. I shouldn't read a post like this before noon. J'ai faim pour les cupcakes!!

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  23. Crumb & Dollies is so amazing! Need to got there next time I'm in the UK. Beautiful pictures Carol!

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  24. Louise2:25 PM

    Iced buns..as I remember them from my childhood..had a sort of brioche/breadlike texture..not overly exciting really and then topped with drippy icing.Love your blog.

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  25. Yummy post. I love cupcakes.. I could eat them all here. :)

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  26. St Pancrace st. is an absolutely gorgeous place. Especially when it's empty. By the way, do you found the ceramic knife of your dreams ? :)

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  27. Hi Carole...

    Your pics make me want to HOP ON the Eurostar and get right over to London... I think I could EASILY live there... LOVE it.. I don't know if you made it to LOVE Bakery?? Did you get to Gail's cafe, right across from Hummingbird in Nottinghill? They have THE BEST coffee (cappucinos) and baked things.. Have fun back in Paris.. I guess you're making it back for the Salon du Choc., n'est-ce pas? Take care, Leesa

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  28. You are in London?! You are onto the best the city can offer again :) How much longer are you here for? Is there a chance I can catch you for cup of tea?

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  29. Augustine9:45 AM

    On écrit "Quel dommage" et non "quelle dommage".

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