The Sugar Bar

(*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!

Breakfast is the best meal of the day. Fiction or fact? FACT. 

Are we quite particular with our eggs for breakfast? FACT.

Is the English breakfast fry-up quite the classic morning pick-me-up? FACT.

And is The Breakfast Club simply one of the best places I’ve eaten at for breakfast/brunch? FACT. again.

So what’s on the menu? Obviously a proper English fry-up but besides that, there are a classic selection of sweet and savoury pancakes, eggers (I’ll explain), sandwiches and wraps. Not too worry, TBC is open for lunch and dinner as well so it isn’t simply a hangout for breakfast goers only.

Normally, I’d choose the fry-up or the pancakes but because everything looked all too good and the egg cravings were too overwhelming, I went down a different path this time. But before I go into what I’d ordered, let’s just say be prepared for very large portions at TBC. You can get a good Full Monty fry-up here with bacon, sausage, eggs, black pudding, hash brown, mushroom, beans, tomatoes and toast. It’s the works. And a real effort if you’re not a big eater. So be hungry if you intend to do the full monty. There is a downsized version, not so much in portion though but in the amount of ‘works’ you get and that’s the Half Monty. What you get are the cool kids that make the fry-up – bacon, sausage, eggs, beans and toast.

Even talking about it now is getting me all hungry and excited so definitely saving the full mont and the pancakes for TBC trip no. 2. And certainly worth the trip if you’re one of those particular with eggs for breakfast. These guys at TBC know what they’re doing with them and know how best to serve ‘em eggs. Can I say, the Eggs Benedict (£7.00 – picture above at top of blogpost) are too lush for my own good? 2 eggs poached to perfection, sat on top shredded ham so succulent and tasty it reminds me of hot roast pork, on toasted and buttered English muffin. Not forgetting the healthy serving of fresh hollandaise that goes all over the eggs and the crisp fresh salad drizzled with an olive oil dressing served on the side. Seriously people, the eggs were cooked the way I love. Not too yolk-drippy, so firm but not all cooked through that it’s all crumbly and powdery. The ham, which was given a bit of a golden-brown once over in a frying pan, totally made it. These guys know their pork and it’s no wonder they’ve a sign outside the restaurant claiming they did not see your missing pig!

My new fellow foodie who lives across the hall from me ordered the Eggs Royale (£8.00) with an extra order of mushroom (and boy was her mushroom a big one!). The same gorgeousness as the Benedict but with smoked salmon instead of ham. Her verdict? So very scrumptious and satisfyingly good that she needed a bit of recovery time. I was jealous of that giant mushroom on her plate. It was all oozy and juicy, just the way I love mushrooms but could definitely not have fit that in my stomach what with the uber generous portions at TBC.

I admit paying 7 or 8 quid for a breakfast might be a little bit stretching a student budget, especially when you could get the same classics for half the price at say a Scream pub or even a quarter of that if you decide to jump into one of ‘those’ good greasy hearty breakfast cafés like a certain famous Cafe Face in Birmingham. You’ll be singing a different tune once you’ve tried TBC though and you’ll understand why I’m waxing lyrical over some fairly uncomplicated breakfast dishes. The quality of the ingredients (and gosh, the ham and bacon) certainly shines through and shows how TBC can afford to name itself that as one of the big players in the breakfast scene. 

Not only was the food fantastic, the atmosphere and furnishings were exactly up my street. If you’re not that much of a morning person, you want to have breakfast somewhere comfy, not too loud, welcoming and friendly enough (in terms of both interior and waiting staff) to just completely absorb you into the scene whilst you soak up some energy and caffeine? Go to TBC! I loved how there were different rooms to choose from and relax in, so much so that you felt like you were in a dream house, with a bit of time before your breakfast is served to wander about and explore. The quirky collection of memorabilia like a Mickey Mouse telephone, and random photographs of rugby or football teams made for a quietly gentle way to lure you out of your morning grogginess.

We loved the sparkly room. It’s the prettiest. Kinda like a cross between a disco room, a student pub and a Victorian-themed tea house. Well, sorta. If you’re sat outside this sparkly room by the windows facing the street outside, or by the open-concept kitchen, you’ll feel like you’re in some sort of 80s diner with the black and white tiled floors, except of course you ain’t getting the little diner tables. Here, you’ve got a collection of cute wood furniture or awesome comfy sofas, long canteen style tables and even a section that mimicks a beach side fish bar. Eclectic. Just like East London. Quirky, wacky-fied, old school and modern at the same time – just really cool. And it really helps that the waiting staff are very quick to bring you your coffees, that the food is just spot on and so deliciously satisfying.

It really looks like there’s nothing to complain about. But if I had to say something negative about it (and I’m really pushing it here), it would be that the various rooms sometimes meant the waiting staff forgot you were there which made getting the bill a bit of a tricky one. Seriously though, we didn’t care at all!

The Breakfast Club
2-4 Rufus Street
Hoxton
London
N1 6PE
Tel: (020) 7729 5252

I don’t quite get the names of these cupcakes (I’m thinking they’re called self-frosting cause the Nutella cooks on the top and becomes some kind of frosting) but they’re well popular and seeing how many foodies rave about these Donna Hay cupcakes, my interest was piqued. My sister Abs was eager to try them too since one of her mates had made them a while ago and from her blog, the cupcakes were 100% food porn and gloriously Nutella-y. Who could turn those down? And how could I say no to Abs who was having major Nutella/sugar/cupcakes craving issues?

The cupcakes were definitely pretty to look at being all swirly and cute. Definitely had the taste factor going on but it was pretty obvious these cupcakes were buttery to the max. A lot of fat to flour makes these cupcakes uber rich but I loved that they didn’t have that eggy smell and taste of my all-time favourite Magnolia cupcake recipe. I really love Magnolia recipes but sometimes the egg scent is a little overpowering. These Nutella cupcakes were scrumptious. However, left in an airtight container overnight, the cupcakes got very greasy and the cupcake liners were completely soaked through. Not exactly a pretty sight and totally did nothing to quell the guilt of eating a cupcake! Would certainly recommend eating them all warm when they’re baked fresh and fairly non-grease-oozey. Might’ve been the awful summer heat that ruined these cupcakes a little for me, although the rest of the family didn’t really seem to mind. So, might’ve just been me! 

Nevertheless, these cupcakes were still a joy to have around. Simple to make, rather rustic looking; they were perfect for pudding to close a meal or a teatime snack.

Self-frosting Nutella Cupcakes
(Recipe from Baking Bites)
Ingredients

 140g butter, softened
1 3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup caster sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp vanilla
pinch of salt
Nutella

Preheat oven to 160d Celsius.

Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Whisk to combine.

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy about 2 mins. Add the eggs one at a time and beat til fully incorporated. Add vanilla and mix in.

Mix in the flour mixture until no flour remains. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full then add about 2 tsp Nutella on top and swirl with a toothpick. Alternatively, fill the cupcake liners 1/2 full with cupcake batter, drop in a tsp of Nutella, fill with a little more batter til 2/3 full and swirl the tops with a dollop of Nutella!

Bake for 20mins. Thereafter, let cool completely on a wire rack.
Recipe yields a dozen cupcakes.

•••

I had a nice surprise yesterday from zurin of Cherry on a Cake. It was very sweet of her to pass on a blog award – Iheartyourblog – and considering I’ve been awfully crabby lately, this did much to turn my day around! Although it seems quite self-indulgent to bang on about myself just cause I’ve received an award, this one actually demands that you answer a few questions, add one to the list and then pass it on. Fun. So getting to it…

What is your current obsession?
Imagawayaki (今川焼き). You don’t find these awesome anko-filled cakes in England so I’m making sure that I eat as many as these as I can whilst on my summer hols.

What are you wearing today?
It’s blob-style lounging day so I’m in a scruffy red American Eagle tee and a ripped up pair of denim shorts. Not exciting. Did I mention I haven’t brushed my hair either?

What’s for dinner?
Cranberry & rosemary crusted lamb rack with roast potatoes, vegetables and beans.

What’s the last thing you bought?
Heckloads of Korean face masks, a bag of wine gums, Diet Coke, a loaf of bread and some muesli bars. Wow. Now that that’s written out, is that all I need to exist?

What are you listening to right now?
Attempting to splice the lush sounds of Belleruche and Erykah Badu with punk rock sounds of Anna Tsuchiya.

What do you think about the person who tagged you?
Zurin is the lovely owner of Cherry on a Cake. Her blog is awesome and makes me think of homely comforts and coffees by a warm hearth. She visits my sorry excuse of a blog now and again with encouraging comments so that makes me love her all the more! Check out her triple chocolate layer cheesecake. It’s an art piece and will make you teary just by looking at it!

If you could have a house totally paid for, fully furnished anywhere in the world where would it be?
That’s a hard one since I want to travel all over the world at some point and never settle down. I get the travel itch if I stay at some place for too long. But if I could, I’d like a place to come home to somewhere in the French countryside with lots of Victorian furniture or in Kyoto away from city bustle.

What are your must-haves for summer?
Bikinis, bikinis, bikinis. Denim shorts, Abercrombie tops or some shirts, Raybans, flip flops, ice cream and ice lollies and not to forget…crates of cold beer!

If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go?
Hamilton Island please. I’d love to have a quick barbie on the beach whilst soaking up the sun and sea. Also would like to meet Ben Southall, tell him what a lucky prick he is and attempt to steal his job from right under his feet.

Which language do you want to learn?
Would like to continue to Intermediate French…it’s just so cool. Or if we’re starting from scratch, then German.

Who do you want to meet right now?
Tom Jones. After his Glastonbury performance, I’m convinced he’s the legend of all legends.

What is your favourite colour?
All greens: matcha green, forest green, etc. except flourescent lime-ish green. 
And royal blue.

What is your favourite piece of clothing in your own closet?
You’d think I’d say all those precious dresses I’ve got kept in dress-protectors or my dirty beige cardigan from All Saints. But nah, it’s a rich emerald green velvet blazer with gold satin lining from GUESS. Definitely bling and hardly fitting of my usual style but it’s gorgeous and never fails to make me feel like a celebrity.

What is your dream job?
Personal shopper by day, owner of one of the fanciest bars in town by night, best-friend of a pastry chef or cake artisan for life for free cakes and pastries. Heh heh.

What is your favourite magazine?
Really depends on my mood since I read different magazines when the moment strikes. I like Vogue and Dazed&Confused, as always; but Noise for creative, eccentric photography; Glamour to appease my cosmetics cravings and The Economist for when I’m feeling curious.

If you had a 100 dollars now what would you spend it on?
An awesome birthday gift for my Mum’s 51st.

What do you consider a fashion faux pas?
Denim shorts, heels and bare legs. Unless you’re trying to pull hill-billy fashion (no offense), then by all means, knock yourself out.

Who are your style icons?
Audrey Hepburn, Lindsay Lohan and Angelina Jolie.

Describe your personal style.
I used to be nuts about following trends until I discovered what worked for me and what didn’t. I like mixing classic ones with the odd punk/rock piece. I just can’t do sophisticated chic without my inner rocker.

What are your favourite movies?
300, Fearless, Sakuran, Spirited Away, Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead.

Give us 3 styling tips that always work for you.
I think it varies from person to person but a) I’m always without my Burt’s Bees lipbalm, nothing like cracked, windburned lips to impress. b) Always go with 1 or 2 out of these 3 if you choose to accessorize: earrings, necklace, bracelets – overkill is highly undesirable in my humble opinion. c) Style over comfort when it comes to shoes. No pain, no gain. You can always have the best foot massage and pedicure afterwards.

Coffee or tea?
Am a tea person through and through but I like the odd black coffee now and again (and on days when I simply cannot keep my eyes open).

What do you do when you are feeling low or depressed?
I need time for myself so I go out for fresh air, with Guns n’ Roses playing on my iPod, stroll about and then crash at a café and mope over a good long black coffee.

What is the meaning of your name?
Davina means beloved; my Chinese name Xin Yi means joyous, tender romance.

Which other blogs do you love visiting?
Some art blogs, and fellow foodies like Manggy’s No Special Effects (very drool-worthy), Marc’s No Recipes (very informative with awesome recipes) and Tartelette, amongst other equally amazing blogs.

Favourite desserts/sweet?
Desserts? No favourite. I heart everything. But maybe I love tiramisu, macarons, opera cake and and my gramma’s taro paste a little more than the others.

Favourite season?
No need to ask – AUTUMN.

Which is your dream destination?
Top favourites so far are Paris and Tokyo. But would love to visit Egypt, South Africa and some deserted island away from civilization at some point. Total relaxation…aaaah.

Which is your favourite international cuisine?
Japanese.

Your favourite kitchen tool?
The wooden spoon. Unpretentious and versatile.

Which kitchen tool or equipment have you wanted for a long time?
An ice cream maker.

Which restaurant would you like to dine in?
Heston Blumenthal’s Fat Duck for starters.

Zurin’s question: What’s your favourite place in the house?
The patio by the koi pond. It’s well relaxing to sit out there, feet up, with a cold drink, watching the leaves fall from the trees in the wind, listening to the sound of water from the pond. Like a little bit of Zen in my own home.

Now to my question:

What’s the worst or most skin-crawling thing you’ve ever tasted?

Done. The rules of the award are pretty simple. Answer the questions on your own blog, replace one question that you do not like with a question of your own invention and add one of your own at the end. I haven’t replaced any as none of them bothered me. Tag 8 or 10 other people. And of course, link back to the lovely person who gave you the award, not forgetting to leave a comment to those you have given the award to.

I heart many amazing foodblogs out there and there are so many foodbloggers who I aspire to be like in terms of their knowledge of ingredients, culinary skill and photography expertise. Here, I’d like to pass on to 4 newly discovered blogs (sorry I’m not exactly following the rules now am I?) which I absolutely adore. And can I just say their owners are super talented foodies I totally look up to?? I heart their blogs!

Lorraine of Not Quite Nigella
Carolyn of FoodGal
Noobcook
Cakebrain of Cake on the Brain