yeah, ok. i'd be lying if i said i haven't had a cupcake since leaving new york, but cupcakes aren't quite the staple in NZ. there are a couple shops that i can think of that make cupcakes, but, no offense to any kiwis reading this, the cupcakes are so far from the quality you get in new york that it wasn't even much of a temptation for me to go. so, i guess we CAN say i haven't had a GOOD cupcake since i left new york. until i arrived in london.
the first cupcake stop i made was completely spontaneous. there i was, walking around in soho minding my own business, when i stumbled upon hummingbird bakery. i tried not to go in. i really did, but the magnetic force of red velvet was too strong to resist. i went in and ordered one cupcake to go.
trying to err on the healthier side, i did manage to choose a "free from" version, which was gluten and egg free. i'm not sure how they did it, but tasting that cream cheese frosting made it pretty hard to believe it was free from anything that might be calorie ridden. if i had to compare, i'd say hummingbird is like a cross between billie's bakery and buttercup bakery. there weren't any major queues (i.e. magnolia) and the taste also wasn't overwhelmingly buttery (also i.e. magnolia).
as it turns out, the expression "it's all downhill from there" applies in this situation. not that the other cupcake places i visited were terrible by any means. they were great, but hummingbird was definitely my personal favorite.
the next place i ventured to was called lola's. lola's was enticing not just because it was named after my dog, but because of the many different favors they offered. it reminded me of crumbs, but a little more interesting. maybe that's only because it was new to me, but sticky toffee pudding and tiramisu cupcakes put m&ms and oreo cupcakes to shame in my opinion. despite the crazy flavors, and living up to its new york comparison, lola's was ok. not world changing. to be fair, i did get banana, which anyone who knows me knows i'm addicted to banana bread, so i did have high expectations going in.
the final place i went to was another spur of the moment decision. walking around before the play we went to see, sarah and i literally bumped into a shop called candy cakes. when i say literally, i basically walked into the store window. they had several cupcakes with candy baked in and on top of them, as you probably guessed. we had candy to eat during the show, but they were too cute to pass up so we each got a baby cupcake. i mean mine was lemon and had edible glitter on it. and it matched my top. i had to.
again, it was just ok. good, but y ranking still stands as follows:
1) hummingbird
2) lola's
3) candy cakes
so obviously i went back to hummingbird again to indulge before i left london. oh cupcakes, you've gotten me again!!
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