I love shopping. I love the whole experience- how the shop looks and feels is as important to me as how the merchandise looks and feel. If a shop doesn’t meet my (sometimes too) high expectations then I turn on my heel and walk out never to go back again. I’m stubborn like that. So, a trip to the famous bakeries in London beckoned, the route was planned and off to the bright lights I went with my good friend and her baby.
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| Peggy's wonderful display |
First stop was Peggy Porschens. One step into the shop is one step in to cake serenity. So calming were the marshmallow pink décor and polite, helpful assistants that we found ourselves nestled in a corner, ordering a lovely cup of tea and sampling a cake (or two) right there and then. The tasting was lengthy; strawberry champagne cupcake; Battenberg (I LOVE it!) and two dainty macaroons. Silence followed the first mouthful, not very common when two girl friends are out on the town, then we shared thoughts - the cupcake was light and moist with amazing champagne & strawberry compote in the centre (like a posh doughnut) with beautifully pink champagne infused cream cheese frosting. Divine. As was the Battenberg; it was simple; it was tasty. The only disappointment was the macaroons, lovely to look at but literally melted in the mouth rather than give you something to chew on (in the way that Paul’s ones do). This was going to be the start of a very good day with the bar set very high.
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| What a lovely spread - thank you Peggy |
A long walk ensued and we made it to Fortnum & Mason. We headed straight for the patisserie counter and what a sight to behold! Cupcakes, tarts, pastries, even giant fondant fancies (another LOVE it moment!) were on offer and presented beautifully. After taking our time to choose we opted for a mango fondant fancy and a chocolate orange cupcake to be tasted and reviewed later on in the day along with samples from other shops too.
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| Fortnum's patisserie counter was awe inspiring |
We were now in the ‘cake groove’ and had to make our way to Soho. Destination: Cox Cookies & Cakes and of course, The Hummingbird Bakery.
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| Blam - cakes! |
Cox Cookies and Cakes, as you might expect in Soho leaps out from between the ‘adult’ shops, making it feel rather naughty going inside! The shop really pulls you into its snare with its blacker than black paintwork and fluorescent signage and inside is a complete juxtaposition from the calm serenity of Peggy Porschen’s. Here the décor and cakes shout at you, thankfully the assistants don’t, and neatly laid in rows are the cupcakes. Between delights such as boob shaped cakes (I’m not joking), were some intriguing cola bottle cupcakes - not as risqué as some on offer but ‘stimulating’ all the same - I’m having one of those! And I did, £4 later. Yes, £4! Cox, Cookies and Cakes is a bakery with a difference and it is as much about the experience of going into the shop as it is opening up the black box and seeing your cake nestled in its safety. You don’t pay £4 just for an amazing cake; you pay for the amazing experience.
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| Beautifully different |
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| Busy as Hummingbirds! |
Next on our list was Hummingbird Bakery. We were so excited- my friend and I use lots of the recipes from the Hummingbird books which always produce good results. We had high expectations of the shop and loved gazing at the counter displaying their complete range. We ordered a Red Velvet whoopee pie, a black bottom cup cake and a Flying Saucer cupcake of the day. Wanting to sit and have a cuppa with our chosen selection we had to head to a park bench where we spread out a cake selection from all three shops and have a serious taste and compare session.
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| Hummingbirds Retro Sweets range - genius |
Sitting in the park by Embankment Tube we began our, by now, mammoth tasting session. First to be sampled were the Fortnum offerings: mango fondant fancy & chocolate orange cupcake. Words cannot describe the fondant fancy: to call it divine is an injustice to the deliciousness: layers of sponge sandwiched together with zingy-but-sweet mango cream all topped off with a dome of mango buttercream. I can still taste it now. We eagerly moved onto the cupcake; sadly it didn’t hit the spot: moist sponge and tangy orange ganache were missing from this perfect looking specimen.
Next it was onto the cola bottle cupcake from Cox Cookies & Cake and we were surprised to find a sachet of Space Dust in the box. What to do? A mouth full of Space Dust then a bite of cake - neither the cake or the crackling confection failed, this was a goodun. Moist sponge? Check. Light fluffy buttercream? Check. Yummy taste? Check. Worth the price? Deffo. Feeling excited we opened the bag of Hummingbird goodies. All three cakes were very tasty with the favourite being the Flying Saucer one- genius. It was a superb experience having been into one of their shops and seeing the full range of cupcakes and larger cakes all in one place.
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| Primrose Bakery |
Having been thoroughly fed and watered our very last stop of the day was Primrose Bakery, a beautifully understated shop on the edge of Covent Garden. We had a selection boxed up ready to be sampled by the husbands & sons back home, which were all wolfed down as we walked through the door! For me, this shop was a unique and completely different experience to the others but not my favourite of the cakes sampled.
That about sums up my outing: it wasn’t quite all about how the cakes tasted it was also the experience of finding the shops, wandering in and selecting our treats like the proverbial kid in a sweet shop that made my day. Although not all of the cakes ‘floated our boats’ I suspect this is down to our personal tastes, one thing is for sure: that all of the bakeries are definitely worth a visit and certainly all sell beautiful cakes and, when I’m ‘up town’ again I’ll definitely pay them a visit.
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| The remnants of a great day! |
Being able to spend the day walking around a stunning city eating cake with a great friend who is of like mind added to what was a magnificent day all in the name of research!
