The Results are in........

Following on my previous post about my fantastic day out I can now reveal our results of the taste testing for all those cupcakes we purchased on our tour.

First of all I would like to say that this is a personal taste test and what I may find delicous others may disagree with me and vica versa, so please do not take my views and the right ones. So without further a do sit back, relax and enjoy the results :-)

To start with is Buttercups.  I purchased the vanilla bean cupcake at a cost of £3.00, which if you had seen in my previous post was the only one on sale.  I've now come to the conculsion this may have been baked the previous day as I am sure they would have supplied the shop with more than one!. This little cupcake was packaged into a cute little box and travelled the whole day in my cool bag no problems.  The sponge was very tasty, a lovely vanilla taste with plenty of flavour, however the buttercream, whoah that was very heavy and buttery, perhaps that's why it did not slide off the cake at all. This cupcake reminded me more of a children's birthday cake than a cupcake and for this reason alone I would purchase again as a little present for a child with a candle on the top. 

Sarah purchased a carrot cake. Steve decorated the cupcake whilst we were there using fresh ingredients (even though he did wear a dirty apron!). The carrot cake was a little dry however it contained a good amount of carrot so there was a little crunch but like me Sarah agreed the butter cream was way too buttery.

Scores on the doors

Cupcake = me 6 Sarah 4 = 10

Packaging = 8 - cute box which travelled very well

Shop = 4

Staff = 4

Total = 26/50

Onto Hummingbird Bakery Vanilla with Vanilla Frosting priced at £2.00. I know I maybe a little biased here but these are the only cupcakes that I have success in baking and I was very pleasantly surprised to find mine taste just like the shop bought ones.  I love the style of frosting and have attempted to do this myself but is always ends up a mess.  The sponge was moist and the buttercream so light and fluffy and not in the least buttery. I was pleased as punch to not only have my cupcakes placed in a little box but also in a lovely bag.  The cupcakes travelled very well and looked just as good as in the shop when I got home.  In comparision to the Buttercups vanilla cake this one wins hands down.  I would recommend anyone to give Hummingbird a visit even though some of my other friends have not been impressed with the quality but for a large chain of bakeries I was pleasantly surprised.

My second cake was the Black Bottom at £2.50.  This cake is a decadent, dark and dense chocolate sponge, baked with a cheesecake centre, and frosted with cream cheese frosting, sadly a little too tangy for me, but then I don't enjoy cream cheese frosting.  I could not fault the cake though it was very chocolatey and moist.

Sarah bought a carrot cake for comparison.  I was a little nervous here as the carrot cake I baked for her birthday last year was the Hummingbird recipe but I am very proud to say that she scored and rated the cupcake very high and mentioned it was as good as my cake.  Thanks Sarah. :-)

Scores on the doors

Cupcakes = me 9 Sarah 10 = 19

Packaging = 10 - double the packaging :-)

Shop = 9

Staff = 10

Total = 48/50

and next to Peggy Porschen.  This is the Strawberry and Champagne cupcake priced at £3.50.  It is a light vanilla sponge soaked in champagne syrup, filled with strawberry and champagne preserve topped with Marc de Champagne cream cheese frosting and a fresh strawberry.  Sadly this did not travel well, the frosting had melted but on seeing the ingredients that is understandable.  What this one lacked on looks (at the end of the day that is) more than made up for on taste.  Wowzers, you can certainly tell that only the finest ingredients has been used. It is absolutley delicious and I have the recipe to make my own as look what I bought home:-

my very own jar of Peggy's jam - £6.95 but oh so worth it

for mine and Sarah's second cupcake from Peggy's was the Chocolate Heaven also priced at £3.50 - and yes I was in heaven eating this :-)  This cupcake won the Great Taste awards 2011 and rightly so :-) I will be totally honest the frosting was gritty and grainy (Sarah agreed with me) but this may have been due to it not travelling well and melting, I think I will need to go back to the Parlour to taste one straight away, do you care to join me?  

Sarah's first choice was the Vanilla, Lemon and Raspberry cake. This little gem did not travel well however it was delcious from top to bottom with a surprise raspberry in the centre.

You cannot fault the packaging, delightful little Peggy branded boxes and a beautiful bag to carry our goodies in all day.

Scores on the doors

Cupcakes = me 10 Sarah 10 = 20

Packaging = 10 - lovely pink branding:-)

Shop = 10

Staff = 10

Total = 50/50

Perfect!

Jammie Dodger Cupcake from Fortnum & Mason £2.20.  Ohh this little cake was a gem of a taste.  It was so tradtional tasting, more of a Victoria Sandwich and the cream was what you find in a bakers shop (dare I say artificial cream) with confectioners jam.  But I am not complaining, it reminded me so much of my childhood and I would loved to have bought more of them.  The Jammie Dodger was a great addition and so too was the jam in the middle of the cake.  If you happen to be in London over the weekend, go and get one, it has a taste all of it's own.

Sarah bought the 99 Cupcake and reported that whilst vanilla cake was tasty she did not like the artifical taste of the cream (different childhood's I would say - ha ha ha).

Any packaging from Fortum and Mason's is good in my eyes however I was a little disappointed they used sellotape to close the box and not an emblem sticker. (my only critism)

Scores on the doors

Cupcakes = me 7 Sarah 6 = 13

Packaging = 7 was only offered the box and not a bag to put it in

Shop = 9 of course, a lovely shop to get lost in for a day

Staff = 9

Total = 38/50

Beas of Bloomsbury's (I think you know what may be coming here!)  as we did not have a good experience in the shop we quickly made a purchase and left.  My choice was the Cookies and Cream cupcake @ £2.70 and Sarah chose a Passion Fruit cupcake @ £2.50. The blurb on the website states that mine is a crushed Oreo cookie put into vanilla buttercream, on top of a soft sponge. And of course one chunk of the cookie to dunk in milk'. Sadly, my cake did not have an Oero on the top, just a piece of chocolate cake and the buttercream was cream cheese!  Even though I cannot fault the chocolate cake itself the frosting was yuk!  I don't think I  can print what Sarah said about hers (but it's starts with a C and ends with a P!)

We were not impressed with the cheap packaging and as you can see from the photo the cupcake did not travel too well leaving alot of grease on the box.

Scores on the doors

Cupcakes = me 2 Sarah 2 = 4

Packaging = 1 and that's only given because they put it in a box

Shop = 3

Staff = 2

Total = 10/50

and lastly Lola's.  As I love everything Lemon I chose the lemon cupcake with lemon buttercream frosting @ £2.50.  Lola's promotes itself by stating 'We get our cupcakes right and you can taste the difference. We use only the finest natural ingredients and they're always baked fresh on the day. We dont use any preservatives or canned products.' OK, this one is going to be short and sharp from me, No likey, too artificial tasting, the lemon was so strong it made my eyes water and for me to pull a very funny face.  The frosting was so buttery and heavy I really could not stomach more than one mouthful.  It is strange as alot of people I know rave about these cupcakes, but it's a big no from me. 

Sarah on the other hand purchased a White Black Bottom (ooh err missus!) she said that the cake was dark and moist with a lovely surprise of white chocolate centre, but agreed with me about the frosting tasting artificial.

We were not impressed with the shop or the packaging (even though they had those beautiful boxes on display we did not get one)  Personally I think the chain is commercial and over rated.

Scores on the doors 

Cupcakes = me 2 Sarah 7 = 9

Packaging = 1 plastic packaging and cupcakes do not mix

Shop = 4

Staff = 2

Total = 16/50

So ladies, there you have it, our results for our first tour.  and the Winner is Peggy Porschen with Hummingbird coming a close second, followed by Fortnum & Mason, Buttercup, Lola's then Bea's of Bloomsbury's.  I will keep these results to hand and compare when we do our second tour.  We have been advised to go to Primrose Bakery so that one is one our list.

I hope you enjoyed reading about our day and would say to anyone to give it a go.  If you do I would love to read about your experiences and scores.

Here's hoping the weather cheers up for the Jubilee weekend, I've got a few cakes to bake to celebrate.

TTFN

Lynetta Xx