Considering that I blogged about this place two posts ago and here we are again really says something about this place called Strictly Pancakes. It’s good. I think about it a lot. I don’t hafta wait til Shrove Tuesday – or days of staring at eggs, milk, flour and a buttered hot pan willing it to just work by a twitch of a bewitched nose – to have pancakes.

The first pancake café in Singapore. It’s got me hooked. And it’s so legit I nearly cried when I ate my stack of pancakes.

I sat through 3 hours of class today grumpy as shite because I was hungry and deprived of viable options of food. It came to the sorry point that I made a (disturbing) passing comment to a girlfriend of mine, ‘I’m so hungry right now I could sink my teeth into your shoulder blade.’ She was wearing a bareback top. She now thinks I’m weird beyond weird. But that’s fine. We went halves over a plate of pancakes and I think we’re still the coolest pals as gal pals can be. We all find reasons to be amiable with each other in this world, now don’t we? If it involves food, I suppose. Let’s just all try to accept this fact of life and live with each others’ idiosyncrasies.

I’m so glad that pancakes don’t take a million years to whip up so food gets put on your table fairly quick. Three baskets of mysteriously spiced and seasoned chips glide onto the table. Then six cups of iced tap water. A bout of thumb twiddling, of utterly awkward silence and staring at mobile phones willing someone to beep or ring you so as to give you something to do to fill this ridiculously useless and unwelcome period of waiting. ‘Hi I am hungry and waiting for my food and I don’t want to do anything else like talk stupid when I just want to wait for my food.’ Other tables are noisily clanking their knives and forks, cutting up fluffy clouds of pancakes heavily and indecently doused with maple syrup, participating in unimportant sometimes polite chatter between mouthfuls of deliciousness, every bit of movement and noise pisses me off. I am HANGRY. Gimme food!

Then the sound of footsteps, and ka-ching ka-ching. It’s flipping pancake jackpot. I’ve never seen a more beautiful plate of pancakes. Mine don’t even come close, possibly because I never make chocolate pancakes. It’s almost unmentionable in my house. Pancakes must be pancakes, white and fluffy, uncorrupted by what we know as cocoa powder. Oh bugger that. These were glorious. Chocolate sauce, dripping custard, dusting of icing sugar, mini chocolate chips and wet juicy pneumatic and squidgy brandied dark cherries. Hello beautiful, come to Mama! The glorious Blackforest stack. I finally got to have a taste of this notorious babies. But what a shame that Strictly Pancakes had a bad day with their freezer and so, NO ICE CREAM. 20% off though. Yea okay. I’m easy like that.

Across the table, a friend was tucking into Lemon Curd for Nerds which looked suspiciously similar to our Blackforest stack minus a few key ingredients. Chocolate pancakes + lemon curd which resembled, in aesthetics and taste, wet custard but was delicious nonetheless. Would’ve liked the lemon curd to be a little more tart and lemony but figured it might not have worked too well with pancakes that generously rich in chocolate!

I’d love to share what the others ate but I was so busy inhaling my half of the Blackforest (I don’t think I looked up from my plate, okay maybe twice just to check the progress of others around me) I didn’t give two flying fish about getting clicks of their pancakes. But if you wanted to know what they ordered, you can check back to the first post of this café here.

What a great close to the week. The goblin in my stomach is appeased. Until the next food adventures, peace.

TGIF.

At first I got distracted by my own pancakes photos, looking at them I relived the moment. And then I got distracted by the scent of coffee (I’m sat in my school café) and just shortly after I got distracted by some cute guy with big guns trodding on by. So now I’m back (even though I never really left!) and I give you this.

My salvation last Saturday to soothe a hungry soul, and one who missed out sorely on Shrove Tuesday. Yes I confess I was too busy to even slap around some batter and flip a couple of pancakes. I’m embarrassed (that goes without saying) but not so much since it opened up the opportunity for a virgin voyage to Strictly Pancakes. And they were good. Nothing like homemade pancakes but considering these were done fresh 5 minutes after ordering, I’m quite impressed at the soft buttery vanilla-y fluffiness of them pancakes. And their range of assorted butters (garlic & herb I liked much) really made this place for me. It really worked that there were big comfy sofas on the 2nd floor up a narrow creaky flight of stairs, lit by rooftop skylights and completely ruled by a chill-out-shutup-and-eat kind of atmosphere. Nice.

Strictly Pancakes. Strictly pleasure oh my days. And so good for the soul, on a rainy day as this.

Side note: this place does amazing chips. Spiced and well salted. I’m definitely coming back for the chips too which is totally random and so unrelated.

Strictly Pancakes
44A Prinsep Street
S188674

There are some baked classics that have been blogged about so much that I’m sure many can bake them without a recipe, or even attempt to do it with their eyes shut. Something like banana bread or muffins definitely belongs in that category. Nevertheless, I’d like to share this recipe because it’s an extremely fragrant one. And it was delicious too. Only problem? I hadn’t baked enough!

Everyone has their strange quirky little food ews. Mine’s bananas. I dislike eating them, especially if they are raw. I don’t think I was always this way. It wasn’t till somewhere in high school that it occurred to me I wasn’t enjoying eating bananas. The catch 22 of it all was that I did find it pleasant when it was cooked. Visibly sliced onto warm porridge, blended into smoothies or eaten straight after being peeled, it all gave me the heeby jeebies. But when baked into a quickbread, muffin or dried into a chip, bananas become just precious.

Whatever it is, I’m loving these guys. I stumbled upon a recipe at Lovin’ From the Oven for a cinnamon swirled banana bread. It looked pretty good but somehow ended up putting the batter into muffin cups. After an epiphany, I then dunked in 2 tbs of strawberry yoghurt. I’m sure you could use regular plain yoghurt here but I found although strawberry yoghurt didn’t vastly change the flavour or perfume of the bread, it did make these muffins especially pleasant to my sense of smell! Maybe I’m making a mountain out of a molehill but I’m glad I decided to add strawberry yoghurt. It also gave it a slightly denser texture than your regular fluffy muffin, something I quite adore when it involves cooked bananas (differs from person to person depending on preference).

Happy days are days when the smell of baked goods invades every corner of your house. Hit the link above for the recipe via Lovin’ from the Oven blog.

It’s Shrove Tuesday, ie. Pancake Day! Well it’s not like I need an excuse to have pancakes. It sorta is like a Sunday brekkie thing to have but pancakes when it’s not even mid-week is so much more indulgent and delicious. Knowing that just about the rest of England is having pancakes too (albeit the English crepe-like ones) – savoury or sweet – helps with feeling all fat and happy, and a lot less like the lone greedy chubster.

I spied some gorgeous rhubarb pancakes over at Nic’s Cherrapeno and I couldn’t help getting some rhubarb as well. I think it’s gotta be one of the prettiest pink edible things and I simply love it in a trifle or yoghurt. Thanks Nic for a lovely pancake idea. I’m really glad I made this as I love all things tart. Although the rhubarb sauce wasn’t as tart as I wanted it to be (didn’t wanna tart-out my flatmate), I thought it was a very delicious variation of the usual plain pancakes or the same old blueberry pancakes I find myself having every time.

I’d love to stay on here longer, but I gotta hit the books again. Yes I am a geek, don’t judge me. And yes the work’s starting to pile up. Third yes, I’ve turned into a granny who fights the cold with hot soups, cups of tea and blankets about my knees. Well, grannies are so in right now. You can’t fault that. Off I go, leaving you the recipe.

This recipe’s given me the fluffiest, softest pancakes ever. But it didn’t rise enough to my liking and it may have needed some rising agent like baking powder. I might have to experiment and compare with other recipes in the future. Nevertheless, they were good. Like little fluffy clouds.

Recipe yields 8 pancakes
Rhubarb Pancakes
Ingredients

1 cup self-raising flour
2 tbs melted butter
3/4 cup milk
1 tbs sugar
1 egg yolk
3 egg whites, whisked to form stiff peaks
pinch of salt
about 1/2 cup rhubarb sauce

In a dry medium bowl, whisk egg whites to form stiff peaks.

In a separate large bowl, sift flour, sugar and salt. Make a well in the centre.

Beat lightly together the egg yolk, melted butter and milk. Pour into the well and mix gently to form a lumpy batter. Fold in egg whites, leaving some touches of egg whites intact.

In a small frying pan, heat some butter, add a ladle of batter and fry until bubbles start forming on the surface. Flip and allow the other side to cook for another minute or so. Repeat until all the batter is used up. Keep the other pancakes in a warm oven or let the hungry buggers you live with gobble them up whilst you work hard at the stove!

Rhubarb Sauce
Recipe can be found here, which I used for a ganache. You can use this in the pancake batter and to serve over them.

I’m writing this post all dizzy and heady from extensive sugar consumption so I’m quite sure when I read back on this, I’ll realize how much rambling and nonsense has gone into this. Then, I’ll sit in my room all embarrassed and avoid Twitter for a bit. But I suppose that’s all fine since rambling about food is better than not rambling at all. In fact, it must be the best rambling in existence. Gosh, someone stop me. I’m going off like a train without brakes. Anyhow right this moment, I am quite pleased to carry on and hopefully some of this sugar rush will rub off on you.

I thought quite long about this weekend and how everyone’s all excited that Chinese New Year and St. Valentine’s fall on the same day. That makes me (initially) less psyched about this weekend. I never liked Valentine’s Day and if I had ever celebrated, it was amongst girlfriends. Don’t get me wrong I’m not a cynic or a single lady suffering from sour grapes (I am single but that’s really not it ya know). I just don’t like getting left out of any festival or celebration and I feel frustrated that I’m frustrated about it at all because I know there’s absolutely nothing wrong with being single or coupled-up or married or not at all! What’s the fuss about? And how odd to celebrate a relationship with the rest of the world, left right centre up down underground. It’s just all a little weird and contrived. Point is, why am I celebrating or not celebrating, and what does it mean to others?! Surely things like anniversaries would mean more since it’s unique to a person or couple? But each to their own. Nonetheless, if I get another email or stupid leaflet about that special Valentine’s dress or lipstick I need, I might just grab the nearest person and snuff the very life out of him/her.

But after all that ranting, I realized I wasn’t the only one feeling the same way. And why bother being all grumpy about it. Nonchalant. The attitude I have adopted to this whole schmuck ya know. Let’s just all be calm, cool collected. KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON. Or…

Never be too trusting of signs (especially the ones that direct you down dark alley ways), that’s what I would like to tell all ya kids out there. But trust this one. Mowie, if you’re reading this –> this pink sign is just for you! Smooch. (Actually it’s a poster, I might buy it)

All that blizzarding, snow and bone-chill has resulted in a hideous itch in my sweet tooth. So boy, was I happy to check out Hummingbird’s newest addition to their stores – the Wardour Street one. The Portobello store is quaint and the mama of the trio; the Kensington one is quite beautiful and elegant set away from all the bustle, noise and crowd of the Portobello area; the Wardour store is possibly my favourite now as it’s a lot bigger than the others, very snazzy with the brown and pink checkered floor with burgundy velvet bar stools and oh, spotless dustless greaseless cake counter! My heart’s just racing thinking about it now. And of course, what I’ve always loved about Hummingbird is the immaculately dressed staff who are all smiles and lovely to speak to. You’re simply treated like cupcake royalty.

Black Bottom Cupcake: Chocolate Cupcake with Bitter Choc Chips & Cream Cheese Frosting

And like royalty, into the corner burgundy velvet sofa I placed me fat bum into and snogged my Black Bottom Cupcake. We were made for each other. Totally loved that the chocolate chips were bitter chocolate ones, or it would have been too sweet for even me to handle I reckon. Nicely done. And almost as brilliant as the Red Velvet in my opinion, almost. Although I overheard the manager telling a confused customer that the Black Bottom is their bestseller. I would second that in an instant if not for my undying love and loyalty toward the big red V.

As if that cupcake wasn’t enough to floor me to the ground and max out my week’s calories, I did ‘The Take-away’. Totally guilty – unabashedly guilty, I’m afraid. Really, I wanted to share some love with my flatmate anyway. Spread the cupcake love, she says. And that’s why living with me is probably a very exciting thing (this self-praise is really the sugar talking. I’m not gonna remember any of this tomorrow). I bring home the goodies, when I can.

Valentine’s Day Chocolate Cupcake

Valentine’s Day Vanilla Cupcake

And just before I zip off to rest my dizzy head, check out the front of the shop. As much as I dislike all the big va va voom hearty farty decorations of Valentine’s Day, this was rather cute along this flat grey end of Wardour Street (it’s a little away from the Chinatown side of Garrett Street). And I’m sure Hummingbird, blessed with such romantic theme colours, milked the colours associated with Valentine’s Day for all it’s worth.

Whether or not you’re taking part in the Valentine’s Day craze, surely you can spare some time and calories on a cute cupcake?

Happy Vday, like it or not. Because this cupcake sure is mindblowingly good and even if I don’t celebrate it, I can at least use it as an excuse to eat this monster yes (and gad yes, I need to massively detox starting NOW)?

Hummingbird Bakery – Wardour Street
155s Wardour Street
Soho
London
W1F 8WG
Tel: (020) 7434 3003

I promised a big red velvet feature after a previous Cupcake von Tease post. And I had meant for this feature to be quite a big one but the week’s kinda got a little busier, a little more hectic with deadlines and other exciting posts that clamoured to the top and pushed this red velvet feature down to the bottom.

And when a friend and I finally made it to the bakery – we trekked all across London just for these babies, it was a horribly dreary, wet, windy day and our cupcakes and cakes nearly got squished and ruined on the journey back. We would’ve liked to sit in and enjoy these, savour the glorious moment but the Portobello shop isn’t as big as the one in Kensington. Expect to be trampled upon by other cupcake fanatics and tourists visiting the area. It ain’t very pleasant but I’m not complaining now that I have red velvet in the fridge, good for a few days of sugar cravings and cream cheese daydreams.

The red velvet once again didn’t let me down. It’s still pretty much one of the best I’ve tasted – the frosting is great but I particularly love the cake bit as it’s hard to get this taste right!

•••

So what’s this about Diva Talks?

Some of you may have noticed that my blog’s gradually changing and I’m talking a little more about myself. I’ve tried to give the blog more of a personality. It’s less about just putting up recipes that I’ve experimented with or tried. And as I now have no oven to work with, I’m venturing more into the cooking arena and will be, I hope with much diligence, attempting sweets and chocolates those sorta things that have no need for a convection oven. I’m more of a baker than a cook – I think being a little OCD means using the right measurements down to 1/4 tsp gives me a great sense of security and achievement at the same time unlike the free-and-easy ways of general cooking. But that means I get to have more fun this year. So bear with me, those who know that my blog prefers to experiment more with the sweet rather than savoury – hence the name: The Sugar Bar.

Nevertheless, that’s not really what I’ve been wanting to share. The past summer went by quite painfully for me. I’m not one to really talk about personal issues publicly (nor with anyone else really except with my very close girlfriends) but I went through a heartbreak that totally caught me by surprise. I mean boy, it was tough. Like the boys I meet, they can never bring themselves to spit out what exactly they’re thinking so I took hold of the reigns, grabbed him by his balls and said it like it was. They always say that women are stronger but I find sometimes that’s a real contentious thought. I think we’re just cleverer and to-the-point when needs be. So I broke it off. But somehow it felt worse that I’d done it because that wasn’t what I wanted. It was something he couldn’t deal with because he was afraid and wanted to crawl back into his shell and find comfort in his own little hole. Fair enough. I liked him enough, adored him to pieces in fact, to let him go. Said ‘goodbye and go’. Cried myself to sleep. Woke up the next day and continued to pretend like it hadn’t affected me at all.

We parted ways. And the friendship now is pretty shaky I believe. Give it time and I know things will be alright. But a couple of months before now, and when I first returned to England to settle down in my new pad in London, you can imagine how dead I was inside. Everything about London screamed at me : you were meant to be here with him, enjoying your favourite season of the year, watching spring turn to fall and anticipating an amazing Christmas together. Obviously, that was me being sulky and I had a hard time trying to enjoy myself here. Although I did in time to come. And believe me, I really do now! I didn’t really let it out of me proper. Even when I met up with him to get my stuff back, I couldn’t sob about it like I wanted to and that’s just me I know.

At the bus station, we said goodbye with a hug and a kiss on the cheek. But the whole 30 minutes that I saw him, I knew every second was just a second I wanted to disappear. Although disappearing wouldn’t have made anything better, or made any difference to the status quo, it was just that – it wouldn’t matter, as he was treating me like our relationship had never existed. Non-acknowledgement of my existence in his life. And that was the most cruel stab I could endure I believe. No one has ever done that to me before. Even the term ‘friendship’ suddenly became a joke to me. Our friendship, our great banter, the laughs and cheeky grins in that 30 minutes reminded me of the real stuff we used to have before the shit hit the ceiling and now it was all quite ridiculous. Like a charade, like something we had to perform.

It’s taken a while and a good, a real good, let-it-all-out cry at my bestfriend’s for me to realize I hadn’t really let go, or gotten over it as I’d kid myself into believing. And now, even though I’m still hurting, I feel like I can dust off my bum, smudge some rouge on my cheeks and offer a fresh face to the world. I can brave it out there again.

And why this has anything at all to do with my foodblog and hence, gain a right to be on this page at all, is because I was finding it hard to write like I normally did. I used to sing (pretend) I was a rockstar in my bedroom. I did it regularly for a laugh and because I really enjoyed it. I used to write all the time, because I found a great pleasure in giving birth to my little literary works. But the summer killed me a little and I found no inspiration for anything. It was like someone pulled the carpet from beneath me and put the stops to everything. Nothing came from me, I offered nothing to the world. Part of me felt like I had to completely deny myself of the normal outlets of release, of anything I took joy in. And it seemed part of me wanted to deny myself food which was a truly bad way of attempting to take control of one’s life. I went shopping, I indulged and milked my heartbreak for whatever it was worth. Even fashion and the usual quirky photography I took so much joy in couldn’t fire me up. Couldn’t feel satisfied, however much I tried. But I remembered my blog and it gave me a breather, a different avenue to unleash.

The girls on Twitter who I met and started to communicate with on a daily basis made it a lot easier as well. And getting to know fellow so Spiffy, whom I adore for her courage and ballsy attitude, told me to pull my socks up, get a grip and snap out of this dream-state that was slowly eating me away and robbing me of my usual creativity and vivaciousness. The girls, whom I call the Twitter Breakfast Club, were chirpy and lively every morning. They chatted about anything and everything – from food, to shoes, to love handles, to children, to being happy. And before I knew it, I started to realize I was looking forward to getting up in the mornings. My wake-up alarm got shifted from a disgusting 10.30am to an 8am just so I could get a quick chat in with the girls. They’re mothers (and fathers, don’t worry I haven’t forgotten you boys!)and a little older than me, but wiser and still as cool and quick as a whiplash. How could I not enjoy the wicked banter and intellectual conversations I have with them? I’ll be meeting some of them at the first ever UK Food Blogger Connect conference and I’m so excited about it! We’ll be sure to have such fun.

The close few girls I keep in touch with, if anything, have un-deadified me. They inspire me and always make me feel like I had so much to offer. A lot of love shared on Twitter.

And so yes, I have taken a step out of my coffin and found my mojo back.

These girls are amazing and so Spiffy is like my light at the end of the tunnel. My bestfriends from uni have also been real troopers listening to me rant, offering me a shoulder to cry on and giving me time to deal with things. I don’t like talking about it but now that I’ve changed my phone to leave the past in the old, I now find that this post must be something I have to do to wash it all away. I don’t need to start again as I love everything of my past and everything that has happen. God plans it all according to his greater plan and I do not regret nor hold grudges against anyone for anything. I am just thankful that I have now opened my eyes and said goodbye to some unhappiness at least.

I have always been thought of as the strongest girl out of the lot. The half-girl half-boy for being so nonchalant and a little cold, if you dare. But I know I’m not. If anything I’m the fieriest of the lot because I have passion that’s brimming (a little too hot to handle, LOL) and I have to hold that back a little so I don’t go mental. And I can now feel that passion in me again. I’ve started writing and I’ve definitely found it in me to start singing and screeching like a mad git in my own bedroom to AC/DC, Lady Gaga, System of a Down, Stereophonics, etc. Booyah. I’m back.

And I intend to make sure everyone knows it. Even if he can’t see me, that’s fine. We got to take charge of our own lives and get up when we fall down. Blame no one for your mistakes, for your upsetting times, and definitely not for your broken hearts. Grab the reigns of your life, look the bull in the eye, get ballsy and face the music. Get mending.

Oh yea.

Cupcakes healed me too.

A delicious chocolate cupcake sponge made using creamy Toblerone chocolate and bursting with chewy honey-almond nougat pieces, this latest creation from LOLA’s is finished with a heavenly white chocolate ganache and topped with a generous chunk of Toblerone chocolate.

It is getting colder by the day and when the sun sets at half 4 in the afternoon, I can’t help but think: alright, time to put on my lounging socks, pull on a woolly hat and watch Friends whilst enjoying a mug of hot chocolate. Give a few weeks, and I’ll start feeling Christmas which makes me think of the Christmas of 3 years ago when I sat in my bestie’s sitting room as we ate our weight in Toblerone chocolates in front of the telly. It was true style. True indulgence. And ultimate satisfaction – honey-flavoured chocolate with chewy crispy nougat bits. Dip it in a steaming cuppa tea and let it melt into an even milkier deliciousness? It simply borders on perfection.

It might be too early to be chatting Christmas but I’ve been thinking Toblerone a lot lately. Don’t you tell me my chocolate cravings stem from a lack of protein or some other scientific nutritionist crap. Christmas has just always made me wish for chocolate. Cold wintry nights make me want to indulge myself more. And I couldn’t be happier when I realized that LOLA’s Flavour of the Month for November was just that – TOBLERONE! The cupcakes were speaking to me again. After all that red velvet indulgence, you’d think I’d be on a cupcake sabbatical. Nah-ah. It wasn’t happening. Not bloody likely.

If you’ve been following, you’d know I recently posted about cupcakes in LOLA’s Cupcakes: Return of the Red Velvet. LOLA’s produces one of the loveliest and most chic cupcakes and it’s great how I can get them so easily now being in London. But if you don’t, panicky not as you can order them online too, customized or not, which is great for any sort of party or special occasion you are planning. They’re baked fresh daily at LOLA’s Primrose Hill bakery and I hear they’re baked throughout the day so you can be sure that the cupcake you’re holding onto is at its peak and ready to be consumed (asap). It’s recommended that you consume it within the day but you’d be happy to know that they wither none too quickly. I kept mine in a fridge for 2 days and on the 3rd day, the icing was as good as it was on day 1 and the cake soft and fluffy, if not a little drier.

LOLA’s take pride in using the best ingredients possible like Madagascar vanilla, Guittard chocolate, Philadelphia cream cheese, South African “Marie Biscuits”, and real butter, eggs and milk from local dairies. Getting the good stuff from all over the world and combining that with local produce makes these cupcakes very cosmopolitan, very London and very appealing to a globe-trotter like me.

When these Toblerone babies were first launched, they were sold out by mid-day. Thus, I went home empty-handed, well almost. I did pick meself up a red velvet. But you can imagine how disappointed I was! No Toblerone cupcakes to taste? Gutted! And then deadlines got in the way and readings got a little crazy. Soon after, LOLA’s went poof! in my head and I admit, I did just forget about cupcakes for a while. And then the dastard cravings set in and Emma from LOLA’s sent me a little message asking after me and if I liked the new flavour.

Bang. Toblerone cupcake note scribbled into my diary. I even went the extra way to plan my whole day around the visit to the Selfridges cupcake bar. Dedicated huh? Yes, I am a proud Cupcake Trooper so of course I make the effort.

So anyway, enough beating around the bush. How were these cupcakes then?! Bloody good. I bought a box of them (£2.25/cupcake or £2 online) for the flatmate and neighbours and really had to safeguard these babies on the tube home. Seriously, manic crowd on the Central line. Sya, a No.1 fan of LOLA’s, commented it was the best she’d tasted from their whole selection. The flatmate thought it was just delicious. I couldn’t agree more. The cupcake is supposedly made with Toblerone chocolate and I did get a very strong milk chocolate flavour and bits of nougat I, for some strange reason, thought were chocolate chips at first. They crisped up when baked and gave a little crunch which was lovely. Kind of like chocolate chip cupcake but better. I was expecting the cake to taste just chocolate. Plain boring chocolate. But I do believe LOLA’s held up to the Toblerone flavour as there was just a slight edge to this. A little honey-ish, a little hot chocolate-ish.

The icing, a white chocolate ganache, was superb. I was more impressed with that actually and coming from me, I think that means something (not that I’m a great food critic) – it’s just I DON’T LIKE WHITE CHOCOLATE. But I do love ganache so I was totally willing to eat it anyway. A ganache, used as a filling or topping, is simply cream and chocolate mixed together in a 2:1 ratio or not, depending on how it’s used – light or heavy. This ganache was whipped beautifully such that it was quite voluminous and impressive on the cupcake but very airy light to eat. Try to get a little bit on your fingertip and it just glides off the cupcake – smooth, creamy, soft and sublime. I might have gotten it wrong but I thought the white chocolate had a nice tinge of vanilla? Or probably just that the cream was really good and it sent me reeling a little. Very very very good ganache! The cake was impressive but not as impressive as the topping. And happy chappy me saved the triangle chunk of Toblerone for last. Yum.

Want a better look at the ganache? Here. I’d eat that ganache out of a pot if someone put that in front of me. I thought I’d never say it, that I’d eat a cupcake without icing, but I’d be happy to leave the cake behind and just lick the icing off a spoon. Oh no. What has LOLA’s done to me?

And it’s not just the taste of these cupcakes that’s so good, the recently opened cupcake bar in Selfridges is tops – service and interior. Beautifully designed, you sorta feel like you’re in a fairytale café/perfect back garden of a Stepford wife. I was met with smiles from the sales lady behind the counter and she was a joy to chat with. Totally made my day after a stressful session at uni. We chatted about the new flavour, about summer and about looking pasty in the winter. There! Instant connection and me, a satisfied customer and I hadn’t even eaten anything yet! I love it when the sales staff actually bother to connect with you and make you feel special. I know it can be hard, since I’ve had a few years of retail experience, especially in the cake business. But stressful or not, a smile or asking after the customer can really make one’s day and LOLA’s got that x-factor in customer service.

I was starving having had no lunch. I was pretty knackered as well and badly needed a sitdown so I got myself a regular Apple Cinnamon Muffin (£2.30). This was one out of 3 flavours, the other two being Quattro (4 cheeses) and the other something I can’t recall. I’m in love with the muffin. It’s a good size so enough for a hungry ghost like me. It was very moist and bouncy, fluffy but pretty solid to eat. I define a good muffin one that has the perfect balance between moistness and baked bounce, so it’s not gooey and dense but has air-ed enough during the baking process to give you that light bounce without being too dry. A very generous helping of raisins and apple pieces in the muffin. The apple bits are like that in apple pie with its sweet gooey melting flesh. Loads of cinnamon and so flavourful! I loved its rustic look and that awesome crispy sugar crust top. One of the BEST muffins I’ve eaten in a while and I have had quite a bit in these couple of weeks and they were all either too soft, or too crumbly, or too wet and gooey, or just a little bland. LOLA’s again impressed me and didn’t let me down one bit.

So I’m a very happy person today. Might be the sugar that’s gone to my head but my 2nd affair with LOLA’s has proved a lot better than the 1st, not that the 1st encounter with the Red Velvet wasn’t good. There’s love at first sight, and then there’s love at first sight. And if every visit just keeps getting better and better, I am just at a lost for words. Too thrilled for words I suppose. Next flavour I want – Lemon!

But I’m floating now. Feeling a little chubby but great nonetheless. I might have to go on a detox after all the feasting I’ve been doing of late. Pah! Not till after the BBC Good Food Show this Saturday though where I shall be meeting the lovely Sunita from Sunita’s World for the first time, among other awesome foodbloggers. I’m excited and a little nervous. I’m sure the show’s gonna be great and there’s much to see and much to eat and buy! Choi Time teas will also be at the show so I’ll definitely be stopping over to stock up on my usual. Whey.

Enough. I’m happy. I’m really full. And I believe you’ve just about had enough of my chatter. So goodnight y’all. Go getchaself some cupcake and nom-nom away. LOLA’s comes in the regular sized cupcakes and the mini ones. Both are cute. And both are très delightful.

LOLA’s Cupcake Bar
Selfridges
Foodhall, 400 Oxford Street, W1C 2BU
mon-sat 9.30am-9pm | sun 11.30am – 6pm

Tel.: 0207 483 3394 (LOLA’s order line)
Web: http://www.lolas-kitchen.co.uk

So I’m simply blobbing in my bedroom, with the telly on mute, sat in a black hoodie (with the hood up? Yea..what a chav)and my pyjamas working on this not-so-mammoth-but-very-tedious essay of mine, wondering why the heck I’m having latenight cravings yet again. I’m worrying about tomorrow’s Lady Gaga/Mad Hatter outfit and fitting into my dress without having everyone wonder why the hell I even bothered if I was going to show off that amazing bloated belly of mine. Wow, what a circus freak, they’ll say. And then I’ve got this mug next to me steaming hot. But it’s not even hot chocolate or something mildly comforting like a cuppa tea. It’s Lemsip Max in lemon. It smells like washing up liquid and tastes rancid. So generally my evening’s been going great. I’m distracted by Twitter, constantly checking for emails on my Blackberry, attempting to tame my cravings and generally being a real unsatisfied poo.

What happens next?

An angel of a friend comes knocking at my door offering me 2 red velvets from Lola’s Cupcakes. I mean, hello, someone up there was definitely listening to my hunger pangs and I’m so lucky! The latenight calories can totally shove it because I definitely wasn’t having any of the post-cupcake guilt and just ate one of the glorious red chocolatey deliciousness anyway. The cupcakes were a little banged up and some of the cream cheese icing had smeared down the sides of the box but I wasn’t complaining. I was close to tears when darling Sya brought it to my door. That girl’s a legend. If she didn’t already have a boyfriend, I’d lock her up in my (oh crap, I don’t have a basement or a cellar in this apartment) in my toilet? Or somewhere and keep her all to myself. She could be my cupcake slave for the rest of my life. And also partner in crime since we both lust for red velvets every other day.

Cupcake consumed – I literally breathed it down me in like 30 seconds flat…yea, was that ravenous – I am feeling a lot chipper now. How is that a tiny thing can make one so happy and send one through the roof? I am literally not even the tiniest bit frustrated or irritated. Fab isn’t it? If laughter can’t cure, cupcakes sure do! At least for me (and really, not medically yea?).

Many of you might remember that Cupcake von Tease red velvet teaser I posted couple of weeks ago and apologies for not having done the main Hummingbird Bakery feature yet. This week’s been manic with work and falling ill hasn’t been a good thing. This weekend, we’re having a night of mayhem in Reading since it’s the bestie’s birthday/halloween party so I couldn’t seem to fit the Hummingbird feature into my schedule either but have no fear. It’ll be up soon by hook or by crook! But I’m very pleased this nice surprise courtesy of Sya has led me to yet another post about red velvs. And if you don’t mind it at all, I shall now proceed to review these lovely cupcakes that melted my heart and washed away all my previous bitchiness and general annoyance with myself and with the rest of the world. And boy, I thought I’d left all that teenage angst behind.

These cupcakes come with a little warning on the box. FRAGILE it says and yes you better take Lola’s word for it. Lola’s is notorious for their fluffy, just-out-of-the-oven type cupcake texture. And boy, they do have it down to a tee. But be careful as they’ve made it so fluffy that these cupcakes are terribly fragile, and will crumble and fall apart in your hands. If you break it apart with your fingers or try to pinch a little bit away, it’s like pulling away a bouncy bit of cotton candy. A weird analogy but you’ll know what I mean when you try it. There’s a bounce to its fluffiness which makes it such a delight to eat. But it’s also quite a mess to eat so there’s no pretty way about it. The cream cheese frosting is divine. There’s not a lot of it but it’s not too sweet so I found it a great balance between a generous cupcake portion and icing. Somehow, I thought Lola’s icing was a lot better than Hummingbird’s which was loads sweeter even though they were more generous with the icing. Lola’s cupcakes come with little coloured rings to distinguish between the flavours. And yes, the red velvet’s ring is a red one. Who would’ve guessed?! The cupcake itself was rather huge but it’s so airy and light you don’t feel like you just ate a cow after. And part of the reason for that, I guess would be the smaller portion of icing as well which is a clever bit on Lola’s part. However, I did find the cupcake to be less ‘wow’-ing than Hummingbird’s as it didn’t have that much of a strong flavour or chocolateyness. It’s a lot milder and delicate. I’m not saying it’s not as good. I think both cupcakes are equally good and have their strong points but if you prefer cupcakes that are light on the palate and leave you just perfectly satisfied, Lola’s red velv is it! On another day when I prefer a power-packed Power Ranger type of red velv, I’ll most likely be hitting Hummingbird for it as they’re tiny babies sure pack a punch. Just note that the Hummingbird is also a lot more voluptuous in that it’s quite moist and  holds together well. Lola’s red velv is so light, crumbly it may seem a little dry.

Lola’s definitely got the balance of things just spot on. And being a Libra and all, I find that balance positively brilliant. It’s half past 11 here which means 30 mins to midnight and to Halloween. Oooooh. I’m all excited to get spooked tomorrow evening. So whilst you guys ogle and drool over these surprise cupcakes I was so blessed with, I’m going to bed fat and happy in anticipation of an amazing day tomorrow.

Sending you lot my love…happy halloween!

Coming from an eating repertoire of fast food chain burgers, homemade giant patty burgers with Mummy’s healthy additions of sweetcorn, herbs, etc. and our Great British pub type burgers, it was time to add the good ol’ American fare to the list as well. I admit I have never been to the States (although I do want to) and have never been to an authentic American diner, or if I have, it’s a franchise outside the States or a sincere attempt to assimilate an American diner and its offerings. And if I could choose, I’d obviously fly myself to the US of A and sit in a classic  authentic diner, preferably one that does the whole stainless steal rail car and terrazzo floors shebang. 

Beggars can’t be choosers. And I must say, 10 mins away from my apartment where the wonderful Hoxton Square and Shoreditch area is, I found a jewel – The Diner. It’s pretty to look at. The waiting staff was American – blimey, surprise surprise. The music’s just so laidback and awesome with very warm and comforting decor. Just across the road from it, there’s American Apparel and other fairly American-looking shops. Somehow it seems this area’s just spot on for creating the whole illusion that you are somewhere in American munching on an American burger, dipping your American chunky chips (or fries as they call it) in way too much ketchup as you noisily suck a creamy chocolate milkshake through a white red striped straw. But hey, I’ve never been to the States so how much do I actually know what the heck I’m talking about or how you define a burger/chip/milkshake as American? Anyway, let’s not get academic or epistemological about this!

I know most people go to diners, like they would British greasy spoons, for the breakfast dishes and so, it’s common to find diners serving an all-day breakfast. But diners to me are quintessentially all about the burgers, the chips and the milkshakes. Burgers are great yea, I certainly cannot argue with that. Nevertheless, the chips are my defining point. The chips can’t be overdone which means they’re way past being golden brown, too crispy, crunchy with a hollow hardness. And they definitely can’t be served soggy and limp. They have to be cooked to perfection (whether baked or deep fried) and served just hot – perfectly golden brown crispy on the outside and fluffy soft but firm on the inside. Mmmm. Yes I do have a love affair with chips and the humble spud. At a pub, I’d douse them in malt vinegar and lots of salt. This time, no malt vinegar in sight, I did the usual and polished them off with ketchup. So delicious! The chips you see above are the Fat Fries (£2.80) and the Diner Fries (£3.00) which are cajun seasoned. 

I’m sure many of you share my love of the fellow chip – such a simple food that sometimes don’t get served right and thus is an infuriating situation – but cutting to the chase or the main dish that the chips actually accompany, let’s talk burgers.

I ordered the BBQ Chicken Burger (£6.50), pardon moi for not going for a red meat one but there’s something about bbq chicken I can never say no to. Thinking that it was going to be a simple chicken breast fillet grilled to perfection with herbs or something and then doused with a homemade bbq sauce, I was pleasantly surprised to find my chicken breast fillet had been grilled with some sort of bbq marinade. The meat had definitely been pre-marinated as it was so succulent, tender and flavourful all the way through the fillet. The juiciest piece of chicken I’d ever tasted in a burger! The burger is served open so you get to season it with whatever, or the serving of spicy mayo that comes with it, to your liking before wacking the tomato, pickle (or gherkin as they call it), lettuce and burger bun on top and consuming it like a real man with greasy hands and mayo-ed lips and all.

The fellow accompanying foodie Sya ordered the Fish Burger – a breaded haddock fillet served with tartare sauce (£6.50). Smelt damn fine from across the diner table. A lovely breaded coating, crispy and beautifully golden brown made with fresh and firm flesh of haddock. She was very pleased with the burger and polished it off quick! And she didn’t have anything bad to say about it. Neither did she show any regret for being unable to eat beef. Another bonus about the burger is that the bun’s just scrumptious! The bread’s toasted and lightly buttered and reckon it’s fresh from a bakery. Doesn’t taste like anything mass-produced. It’s wonderfully soft like cotton wool with a generous sprinkling of sesame seeds on the top. I have a bad habit of leaving the bread or bun if it’s too tough and icky. Not this time, no sir! Ate it all proper and that. Mum would’ve been proud.

Sya ordered a milkshade (£4.20) as well. She was a trooper through the whole meal and I admire her for it! I obviously have some lactose problems and so milkshakes, for me, would be very problematic. The Diner offers the usual flavours like vanilla, chocolate, strawberry and banana and other more special things like pistachio (which I was totally wishing I could have a taste of) and coconut. For the more exciting people, like Sya, you can order the 2 flavours combo (£4.50) or add Nutella or peanut butter at 50p extra. Doesn’t that sound ridiculously good?! Sya’s milkshake was a vanilla coconut one and the best thing about the shakes is that it’s mammoth. You get a full tall glass of shake and a metal cocktail-like jar of leftover shake which literally comes up to 2 servings so definitely order one to share. You so get your money’s worth with the shakes. And vanilla coconut is a mindblowing combination – that’s if you like coconut as it’s real coconuty like pina colada. 

The Diner also offers bar service so if you want a milkshake made Irish – go for the Hardshakes like Colonel Parker (£7.00) which is a wonderful concoction of Jack Daniels, vanilla ice cream, peanut butter and maple syrup. Sounds wonderful? I know it does. And that’s definitely what I’m trying next at this wicked diner. Seems like Hoxton has much to offer in eating places I’ll be making second/third/fourth trips to. It sure is awesome being in East London.

So yea, we left happy chappies. And it’s only been 2 days since my virgin visit and I’m already craving the next burger and a huge portion of fat fries. Gosh, I am sad and a real sucker for The Diner now aren’t I?

Right, it’s 2 in the morning here and it’s time for bed! The Hummingbird feature shall be posted next week. I’m sorry for the delay but I just remembered it’s the monthly Foodbuzz event ’24, 24, 24′ this weekend and I’m wonderfully excited about having my bestfriend come down this weekend for it.

Ooooh, intrigued? Well stay tuned for the 24, 24, 24 post on Sunday!

The Diner
Shoreditch Location:
128-130 Curtain Road
EC2A 3AQ

Tel: 020 7729 4452
www.goodlifediner.com

(*Cupcake teaser only. Real feature next week!)

I’ve been thinking, dreaming, sleepwalking cupcakes all week.

Every day I’m saying to myself “All I want is a cupcake!”. When the sun has set and dinner is polished off the plate, all I’m thinking is “I need a cupcake!”

No doubt my favourite motto in general is “When you’re feeling blue, have cake (or a cupcake if you prefer smaller portions)!” I mean there are quite a few signs showing here, aren’t there?

And when I went for my first job trial at LUSH, this is the new season product that I purchased – Let Them Eat Cake lipbalm which smells of cinnamon, orange peel, vanilla and black treacle. Simply gorgeous and smells a little bit like Christmas. It’s hard not to bite my lips or eat the balm off it. Unfortunately (and also thankfully), the balm is taste-free. Other than its wonderful scent, its main function is to condition and moisturize your lips!

I was in Harrods a couple of days ago. I was literally in the area and wasn’t intending to go shopping at all in Harrods. Honest, I promise! I was there in this house of ridiculously ostentatious goods simply to use their bathroom as the bladder was giving me the ‘Red Alert’ sign. I couldn’t have possibly survived the tube journey home across London in such a state. Strangely enough I got lost very quickly attempting to maneuver myself out of the building only to find myself in the Food Hall. Surprise surprise. And which counter was I standing directly in front of? Lola’s Cupcakes! Another sign!

In such a situation, who would ignore all the signs and deny themselves one of the simple pleasures of life – the enjoyment of a little harmless, albeit naughty, indulgence in the semblance of a sugary cupcake? I’ve never known myself to utterly resist my fate to the end so I gave in. After I left the university library today, I hopped – hang on, no, I descended into the Inferno-like underground at Russell Square – and zipped my way to Hummingbird Bakery in South Kensington. I may have spoilt my appetite a little (Mummy always said no sweets before dinner!) and feel a tad bit sick from all the sugar and creamy goodness of the icing, but I do not regret it one bit.

The last time I visited Hummingbird was a little over 2 years. And at that time, I really wasn’t impressed at all. We’d visited the shop on Portobello Road and my sister and I each had bought a mini cupcake, mine obviously being the Red Velvet which is my prized and most treasured flavour. A mini cupcake was about 95p for one with the red velvet costing 20p more. They were definitely small but we were blown away, not in a positive way, by the sugary-ness of it all. It was small and had simply no other taste than vanilla and sugar. There wasn’t any fancy packaging at the time either and we were served our cupcakes over the counter in a little square bit of tissue paper. We weren’t impressed. In fact, we had to chuck about 3/4 of the generous icing dolloped and shaped onto the cupcake just so as not to choke and spasm out on the sugar overload. Nevertheless, it was a busy Saturday and we managed to find something else to amuse ourselves with and other yummy stuff to munch on amongst the many stalls in Portobello Market.

I suppose that memory has stuck very much with me and I always write off Hummingbird as a sorry and melancholic wish to be like NYC’s Magnolia Bakery. I think I might have to change my tune now, however. 

My mate and I are planning to make a little tea trip down to the cupcakery café some time next week but curious me simply couldn’t just wait til next week. Besides, I wanted so badly to post up a cupcake teaser on the blog so I decided to pop in and take-away 2 cupcakes. The one with the green vanilla icing is a chocolate cupcake with vanilla icing (£1.55/cupcake for takeaway). Just like the Magnolia cupcakes, they have a pretty selection of coloured icing ranging from pink, blue, green to yellow topped with different types of sugar sprinkles. The cupcakes in the window are iced with shocking pink frosting and sprinkled with gold dust. They were a looker! And definitely made the cupcakery easy to spot.

But what about my all-time favourite and truly adored Red Velvet (£1.85/cupcake for takeaway), which is also the star of the show – Cupcake von Tease? Did it still taste disappointingly sweet and unexciting or had Hummingbird totally upped its game in the last 2 years?

Verdict? They certainly did! And I loved this cupcake so much I gobbled it down real quick. The cream cheese icing was just perfect and I found myself licking up every bit of it, even the bits that got away along the cupcake liners. It wasn’t too sweet and you could certainly taste the smooth cream cheese. The cupcake itself was a gorgeous red colour with a wonderful cupcake texture. Flavour-wise, it was rich, lush and accented with chocolate and vanilla. Red velvets aren’t heavily chocolatey and this one wasn’t either but it had a deeper savoury-ness I found absolutely delightful and contrasted the cream cheese sweetness of the icing perfectly. Nothing was chucked and definitely not disappointing to me at all. In fact, I was so pleased with my cupcake I’m determined to take-away another box of them to share on my next trip down to Hummingbird. So damn, I should’ve warned you about these cupcake spoilers huh? Time to getchaself some cupcakes people.

Nevertheless, here’s a bit of a teaser for the next feature on the Hummingbird Bakery! Or a cupcake strip-tease if you like. Apologies for totally disregarding the chocolate cupcake but I truly love the red velvet and thought something red, such a vibrant bold colour, would be more of a tease when stripped. Funny? I hope!

Like my hot red nails too? Yea. All for the true and very dedicated cause of the Red Velvet. Whey.

Okie dokie. End of teaser. Hope you enjoyed it. I know I sure did enjoy stripping the red velvet and then eating the damn thing in less than 4mins. I mean eating it from frosting to sexy cupcake bottom! I stopped all I was doing, didn’t speak to anyone, didn’t breathe, didn’t look at anything else but focussed all eyes and mouth on the cupcake. All good!! Mmmm. If you want more cupcake tease, please stay tuned to The Sugar Bar for Diva’s proper visit to the Hummingbird Bakery!