Thursday 31 May 2012

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

Wednesday 30 May 2012

The Perfect Day Out......

Hello everyone, I'm finally getting down to writing about my faboulous day out on Saturday, so with a litlle word of warning, go grab yourself a cuppa (and a cake) and come with me on a Jolly Jaunt. [Insert warning sound here - Beware photo overload, Beware photo overload]
The sun was shining, the forecast was very good and both myself and Sarah are bright a breezy looking forward to our day in London.  We made the journey in good time from Earley Station to Paddington within 45 minutes!  Don't you just love the fast train?  I've been doing a lot of planning over the last couple of weeks and have everything all finely tuned, so with map in hand off we go to the tube and over to High Street Kensington to our first stop Buttercups
Sadly in all our excitement we were there very early and the shop was not open. I think it needs a lick of paint too, all the other shops and houses in the area were smart and newly decorated.  Oh well, never mind, we decided to go and have a little look around the neighbourhood, and a fine one it is too:-)
It must be really lovely to live here
you even have a porter to look after you - I was tempted to go and ring a bell or two!
After our little wander we went back and waited for the shop to open.  When we approached and looked in the window this is what greeted us........
Not very tempting is it?  However, giving benefit of the doubt we went inside to find a delightful young man called Steve who happily served us and answered a few questions about Buttercups. (shame his apron was so dirty considering the shop only just opened)
at least when we left there were a few more cupcakes on offer (but not many).
I am going to rate the shops as I go along, so for Buttercups
Shop = 4 - tired, small and lacking atmosphere
Staff = 4 - his apron was dirty and he didn't clean his hands from one pot to the other whilst decorating the cupcakes
Total = 8
And you see that lonely cupcake in the first picture - it came home with me as it was a Vanilla Bean cupcake, so packed safely in our cool bags off we went for another delightful stroll to our next establishmet - Hummingbird Bakery.  All the walking made me feel rather peckish and I was needing my sugar levels increasing so we found this wonderful Bakery selling the most delicious Pain au Chocolat -  Fait Maison
Rude not too really :-)
It was lovely to see the shops decorated ready for the Jubilee celebrations this weekend.  I adored these crotcheted cupcakes and have now found a wonderful pattern to make my own.  Another on the 'to do' list for the cold winter evenings.
I was a little excited to finally get to The Hummingbird Bakery as this is where my baking fasination all started.  Who would believe that buying a book would lead me to learn to bake :-)  The shop did not dissapoint me one bit.  The staff were friendly taking time to chat to us about our little tour, it was spotlessly clean and the array of goodies available to buy was superb. Just look at that Red Velvet cake.
My choice from Hummingbird was the vanilla cake again, 1. because I need to make comparison and 2) because I've baked them many a time with great success and just wanted to see if mine are as good as theirs.
scores on the doors for Hummingbird
Shop = 9 - cute, relaxed, clean and well stocked
Staff = 10 friendly and even the manager took an interest in our tour
Total = 19
Waving goodbye with goodies neatly packed in the cool bags again off we go to our next stop - the one place where we really really wanted to visit - Peggy Porschen. Catching the tube for one stop to Sloane Square, which was very busy as The Chelsea Flower Show was taking place, we were greeted with a lot of Rick Shaws offering us lifts, but we decided to walk so not to miss the beautiful area of Balgravia.  My oh my, both myself and Sarah nearly hyper-ventilated when we caught a glimpse of the pink building at the end of the street.......
Yes, we are here :-)
I am in love with this Parlour
It is the most divine, girlie environment I have been into in my life, it is everything a little girl could dream of to play shops in and every big girls dream to work in.  It was tidy, clean, elegantly dressed with a good supply of cakes and cupcakes.  This is where we decided to take tea and cake.  We didn't have to wait long before the table inside became available so I ordered the Lemon Limoncello cake (which I baked the other week) and Sarah ordered the Typsy Orange cake and our plan was to have half of each.
and guess who came to Tea? 
Well, not actually sitting down to tea but who arrived at the shop - Yes, the one and only
Mrs Peggy Porschen 
This made our day the most perfect day. And do you want to know something?  Peggy recognised both myself and Sarah from The Squires Kitchen Cake Show we went to in March.  Out of all the 1000's of people she must meet I feel honoured that she remembered us.  This woman is the most wonderful person you could meet, polite, friendly, funny and beautiful.  Not only did she have a big interest in our day she openly suggested other bakeries around the area for us to visit.  Both myself and Sarah could not believe how lucky we were to have a good chat and giggle.  Thank you Peggy :-)
I think you know what's coming here for the scores for Peggy
Shop = 10 how perfectly pink and devine can you get
Staff = 10, Patience (the waitress) was the most polite and happy waitress you could possibly want to serve you afternoon tea
Total = 20
We knew nothing could top that so after taking a comfort break we made our way to the bus stop to go to Bea's of Bloomsbury
But not without having a cheeky little stop in Piccadilly
and a visit to Fortnum and Mason to buy some tea for my Jubilee Afternoon Tea.
This is a special blend for the Diamond Jubillee.  I purchased 7gms (about 6 teaspoons)
which cost me £7.50!  my little treat of the day. We also popped a cupcake into our cool bags for taste testing too. 
I chose a Jammie Dodger cupcake as it looked so cute :-)
Scores for Fortnum's
Shop = 9 who could not like being inside a shop selling so much tea
Staff = 9 even though this is an upmarket shop the staff
are not snooty one little bit and make you feel as special as a millionairre
Total = 18
Leaving Fortnums with my special blend tea (I can't wait to make a brew) and getting back on track, just outside the bus stop was Laduree who sell Macaroons.  We were not allowed to take photo's inside the shop so we didn't part with our money to buy any.  Back on the number 38 bus and a lovely ride through Piccadilly and the Theatre district we arrived in Holburn at Bea's.
Sadly this is what greeted us which we thought was rather shocking.  We felt the shop was tired, dirty and the staff unfriendly making us feel more like a number than a customer.  We quickly made our purchases and left.  I will admit feeling a little sad about this shop as I have read such great reviews, especially about their chocolate cake, I have even contemplated buying the book which I may still do, but not once did the staff approach us asking if we would like to have afternoon tea and their display was lack lustre and sparse.  I chose a cookies and cream cupcake which was a shame as I wanted to take home a slice of chocolate cake.  Oh well, as least the lighting was cute and decorative.
Scores for Bea's of Bllomsbury
Shop = 3 (and that's only because I liked the lighting)
Staff = 2
Total = 5
Next on our list was Lola's which is situated in Selfridges Food Hall.  We took the tube to Oxford Circus and took a stroll down Oxford Street enjoying all the decorative window displays and bunting.
 Makes me feel very proud to be British :-)
We were doing great for time so took the opportunity to go and do a little clothes shopping along the way to Selfridges. 
I fell in love with this dress and Fasinator.  It had a netted petticoat and all I could think of was, 'this would look great in Peggy's Parlour when I go for afternoon tea again'. Sadly and regretfully I did not buy it.  I am now thinking of catching the train and going back to get it!
SO onto our last stop of the tour - Lola's
Looks promising with those cute boxes don't you think?
but sadly another commercial chain store riding off the fame of Sex and The City (did you know that's how cupcakes became so popular?) Look at that display, have you noticed the fallen cupcake and all the crumbs at the bottom of the display cabinet, you wouldn't get that in Hummingbird!
I realised I did not have a lemon tasting cupcake so that is what I chose from this last shop of the day.
Scores for Lola's
Shop = 4 nothing special even though it was in Selfridges Food Hall which I love
Staff = 2 what staff?  they did not have the time of day to smile only ask what we wanted!
Total = 6
We were getting a little tired and in need of food so we walked to The Gourmet Burger Kitchen near Baker Street for some eats and drinks before finally making our way to Paddington and home.
Our day was fantastic.  Would I do it again? Too right.  I am already planning tour 2 for the summer holidays.  It was surprising to hear both Hummingbird and Peggy talk about Primrose Bakery so that will definately be on the list to visit and if anyone has any suggestions please let me know.
I will be back with the results of the taste testing tomorrow as this post has been rather long.  Thank you for getting this far and hope you enjoyed the day as much as we did.
Toodle Pip
Lynetta Xx



Sunday 27 May 2012

Week 20 - Mississippi Mud Supreme Bars - The Big Cheat


Quote : NONE - it does exactly what it says on the side
Faff Factor = 4
Bake = 5
Keeping Up Appearances = 5
Total score =14/30
OK I'll confess, this week's bake is a big cheat.  I was given this packet mix from a friend who recently went State side and considering this weekend I have been so busy with my trip to London (a wonderful long blog post will soon follow, it was Ab Fab) I really didn't have time to BAKE this weekend but as I didn't want to dissapoint the boys or my fellow followers I pulled this one out the cupboard.
OK, first of all let me start with how easy peasy this was to put together.  NO weighing (only the butter), NO Ken to help, just a mixing bowl and wooden spoon, and NO effort required at all.  Now if this is the way Americans bake (which I am led to believe considering alot of recipes require packet mix this and packet mix that - sorry don't want to offend all Americans and please put me right if that is not the case) but how boring is that!.
As you can see the result was good and tasty but I do feel like a cheat.  Because of this I'm only giving every thing half marks even though it was no Faff at all and the bake and appearance were great, but oh come on, it would make a mockery of my challenge if I gave a score of 27/30, don't you think?
And my last words are I'm not saying I wouldn't use a Betty Crocker mix again as I know I would, but only for the convenience, not for the result.
Off to put my feet up now, I'm a little tired after my little jaunt yesterday.
Love to all
Lynetta Xx