We carefully planned out our thirteen hours in London, and by our calculations we had just enough time to visit the three retail locations we knew of (Primrose Bakery, Bake-a-Boo, and Hummingbird Bakery), as well as Amora, the museum of Sex and Relationships. (Honestly, cupcakes and sex, is there anything more you could want from a city??) Baron also wanted to sneak in a lunch of Fish & Chips somewhere in there, but with all the cupcakes we'd be eating I was dubious we'd have enough room for real food.
Our plane touched down on Friday June 1st at 6:25am, and by 8:15am we were exiting the tube at Chalk Farm Station. (Can I take this opportunity to once again express my undying love for the Underground? Why doesn't every major US city have one of these?!?) After briefly setting out in the wrong direction, a nice woman saw us huddled over our Google Maps printout and pointed us towards the correct road. We strolled up to Primrose Bakery at 8:30am, just as they were opening.
Primrose Bakery:
We stepped into the charming Primrose Bakery and were immediately assaulted by the most intoxicating aroma of fresh cinnamon rolls. For a brief moment we considered abandoning our cupcake plans and instead rushing the pile of still-warm gooey cinnamon rolls on the counter, but we quickly pulled ourselves together and banished such ludicrous thoughts from our minds. We had only intended to order two cupcakes from each cupcakery, but we had a difficult time choosing between all of the delicious sounding cupcakes on Primrose's menu. We ended up ordering the Lime with Coconut, Carrot Cake, and Vanilla/Chocolate. The super friendly staff invited us to have a seat while they fetched our cupcakes from the kitchen below.
As we waited for our cupcakes we took the opportunity to enjoy the decor and explore the wide variety of knickknacks and baking accessories they have for sale. Primrose has a bright, welcoming family atmosphere that feels like a younger, fresher version of "Grandma's Kitchen". There is tons of seating room and the bakery definitely has a "small town" feel as all of the people who wander inside seem to know each other already. The Indian music playing on the sound system combined with the soft pastel color scheme gave this super cute bakery a bohemian atmosphere.
After a couple of minutes our cupcakes were brought to our table, presented on a beautiful glass cake platter. Wow! You can read the specific reviews on Primrose's profile page, but to summarize I'd say that these cupcakes were solid, and were overall the best we had that day.
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- Best cupcake presentation
- Best cupcake decoration
- Strongest community
- Most creative use of squirrels
Sad Props:
- Can't really think of any -- I'm not the world's biggest fan of Indian music...
After spending half an hour at Primrose, we set off for Piccadilly Circus where Amora is located. We arrived about 40 minutes before Amora opened so we decided to wander around the neighborhood. We started walking down a street and ten minutes later we found ourselves entering Trafalgar Square. What do you know! Looks like we got to have our cupcakes and see our sights too!
We spent an hour and a half exploring the delightfully fun Amora before heading off to Bake-a-boo. Bake-a-boo was about a fifteen minute walk from the Kilburn tube station, mostly uphill. We were both lugging around our fairly heavy carry-on baggage so the walk was a bit tiring, but at least we got some exercise to counterbalance all of the cupcakes we were eating!
Bake-a-Boo:
Bake-a-boo, in a word, is simply darling. The decor is soft and feminine, and somewhat paradoxical. The interior design manages to be both classical and modern, young and sophisticated, girlie and chic. The gilded mirrors, delicate chandeliers, and other ornate lighting fixtures give the bakery an air of elegance. Cupcakes are everywhere, from the pillows on the couch to the art above the fireplaces (yes, there are two), to the sugar bowls on the tables. The personalized table tops and cards from neighborhood children give the bakery a cozy, family atmosphere. There is plenty of seating including a long dining table in the back nook that can be reserved for private parties. The front window doubles as the store's display case, cruelly enticing passers-by to come in for a treat. In addition to baked goods and tea, Bake-a-boo has a wide array of cupcake-themed items for sale including cupcake covered aprons, cupcake candles (yes, they smell like cupcakes when burned), and a cupcake tea set.
Again we had some difficulty choosing from the many scrumptious looking cupcakes in the window display, but this time we stuck to our two-cupcake limit. We ordered the Primrose (lemon cake with lemon frosting) and the Charlie (chocolate cake with chocolate frosting). The detailed reviews can be found on Bake-a-boo's profile page. The cupcakes were delicious, though a bit on the small side, and were lacking some sort of special quality or unique characteristic that sets them apart. Bake-a-boo's strength is definitely its atmosphere. They also have some really neat beverages; the apple-ginger cider we had with our cupcakes was exotically good.
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- Most impressive atmosphere
- Best use of cupcakes in decorations
- Best lighting
- Best cupcake merchandise for sale
Sad Props:
- Cupcakes are a bit small
- Longish walk from the tube station for Americans who aren't used to walking
After relaxing our weary feet at Bake-a-boo, we set out for our final cupcake stop at the famed Hummingbird Bakery. Hummingbird was about a 10 minute walk from the Ladbroke Grove tube station, and along the way we passed several fish-and-chips shops. Score! We planned to stop at one of them on the way back so that Baron could realize his dream of having Fish and Chips in London.
Hummingbird Bakery:
The Hummingbird Bakery has the most "buzz" of all the cupcakeries in London, and it seems that they are still getting adjusted to all of the attention. Nestled between indy shops and large conglomerates on the bustling Portobello road, Hummingbird seems to be perpetually busy with a line of eager patrons out the front door. Unfortunately, Hummingbird seems to suffer from "Magnolia Syndrome" -- despite the lackluster quality of the cupcakes, people continue to flock to the store. (Perhaps Londoners don't know about Primrose and Bake-a-boo?) Even though their cupcakes weren't as good as Primrose's and Bake-a-boo's, they were the most expensive. Hummingbird charges separate prices for "eat-in" and "take-away", which they explained was due to a Value Added Tax that the government applies to all "eat-in" food. We didn't notice separate prices at the other cupcakeries, but maybe it varies by district?
We ordered the Vanilla/Vanilla and the Bling Bling. You can read the detailed reviews on Hummingbird's profile page. They were served with balsa wood forks which had the unfortunate side effect of making them taste like wood until we ditched the forks and used our fingers. According to Hummingbird staff, on weekdays they serve their baked goods on china with real flatware, but on weekends they're so busy they can't wash the dishes fast enough. At first they tried serving their cupcakes with plastic flatware but their environmentally conscientious patrons complained. Our advice -- if you visit on weekends, BYOF (Bring Your Own Fork).
The weekend customer service leaves something to be desired as well. The service is very rapid giving the bakery a factory-line atmosphere; no room for pleasantries here! The Vanilla Vanilla cupcakes come in a variety of colors, and when ordering his Buttercup asked for a pink one. The gentleman behind the counter promptly went and fetched him a green one. My favorite cupcake is vanilla/chocolate, and I was disappointed when Hummingbird appeared to be out of them. I asked the young woman helping me if they were baking any more that day. She went to the kitchen to check, and then came back and told me no, so I ordered the chocolate/chocolate Bling Bling instead. Literally 30 seconds after we sat down to eat our cupcakes, someone walked out of the kitchen carrying an entire tray of freshly frosted vanilla/chocolate cupcakes, which they promptly transfered to the display case. I almost went back and bought one, but was a bit too annoyed to do so. Lastly, we spied the staff on break in the back -- smoking. Unfortunately, the smoke wafted directly to where we were eating, tainting the flavor of our cupcakes.
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- Super cute cakes in the window
- Large selection of flavors
Sad Props:
- Very little seating, super crowded, super busy
- Factory-like customer service
- Need to Bring Your Own Fork on weekends
- Cupcakes are mediocre
- Smoking
Disappointed with our Hummingbird experience, we headed back towards the tube station and resolved to cheer ourselves up with some Fish & Chips. (I'm a vegetarian so I kept Baron company and stole some of his chips while he enjoyed his meal.) We arrived back at Heathrow at 4:30pm, exactly two hours before the departure of our flight. Perfect timing!
After we returned to the States we learned that Hummingbird Bakery has a new location in South Kensington at which they use china and silverware every day. We plan on giving Hummingbird another go the next time we're on the other side of the pond.
And that was our London Cupcake Crawl! You can find more pictures in the CupcakeFetish Gallery. Later this summer Baron and I will be driving across the United States visiting approximately thirty cupcakeries along the way. We plan to blog from the road (if we can get reliable internet access). So stay tuned!
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