In Asia, we have a love affair for things chewy, stretchy, glutinous or as the Taiwanese describe it, QQ. Not surprisingly, Su-yin and I take much delight in things mochi so when she shared me some homemade mochi cakes (recipe here), I was hooked. And after patiently waiting for her recipe to be blogged, I decided it was imperative that I try my hand at making these QQ little treats too to satisfy my recurring cravings and the incessant need to gnaw. And because some things just come as BUY 1 GET 1 FREE, this recipe is flexible and allows you free reign to be fairly creative with your choice of ingredients.

It recently came to my attention that there was a Kansho Matsuri in Japan, translation: a Sweet Potato Festival; what goes on there I do not know so enlighten me if you do. Nonetheless, I think we can all agree that the Japanese are cute and meticulous with their food, and how dedicated they are to such a humble ingredient! My pessimistic soulmate Y (now sharing a dirty flat with his younger bro in Tokyo and hating it) will correct me, say I’m being ridiculous and declare all Japanese people mad. I wonder why we get along so well like maple syrup and pancakes. Call it coincidence, fate or whatevs, we are going through a similar sweet potato phase in my house and the little voice in my head was suggesting we go in the direction of baked sweet potatoes. But that on its own, although delicious with honey and coconut milk, is a tad boring and might not hold your attention for long.

I’ve used Japanese sweet potatoes here, purple-skinned and of the yellow flesh which has a lovely sweet, buttery and chestnut-like flavour. I thought this might be better for a mochi-based cake since the regular Western sweet potato (orange-fleshed) tends to be a lot wetter/watery and sometimes less sweet. And you know me, after the colour green (hence the matcha), I’m drawn to purple like a kiwi bird is to shiny things so purple-skinned spuds for the win!

A very basic and popular way of eating sweet potatoes is to steam them after washing, leave to cool a little and then break them in half to share and eat with friends and family. Some other ways it is served is to have it steamed, skinned, soaked in syrup and coconut milk – another type of sweet yam, the tapioca, is served this way in my country and is so delicious and fragrant you almost feel drugged on a couple of mouthfuls; or cooked in sweet soups, savoury soups, desserts, etc. The variations are countless. A favourite bakery of mine also makes these very light and delicate steamed white cakes – it’s like eating a cloud for goodness sake – and it has little bits of steamed sweet potatoes in it. You can say that’s probably what inspired these cakes.

We all know the health properties of matcha already, that it is vit C-packed and so forth so I won’t bother to expound on that. But of course, FYI, when subjected to high heat like when baking or scalded by boiling water, matcha loses all of its amazing properties. Therefore, a word of advice is to use regular cooking grade matcha for baked goods and save the real ceremony-grade stuff for drinking. With regards to sweet potatoes, you’ll be pleased to know that they are pretty resilient babies. They aren’t just vitamin-packed and easy to cook or scrummy in anything. Sweet potatoes are rich in dietary fibre and because they contain loads of anthocyanoside, is good for bringing down high blood pressure, effects of constipation and is apparently great for the skin (not surprised, its vit C eh!). Plus, they are cheap and great at staving off hunger.

So maybe what I’m trying to say here is that my main ingredients aren’t too naughty? Does that make my mochi cakes less sinful? You decide.

So how did these turn out?

Because the steamed sweet potatoes added a bit more moisture to the cake, I had to bake them a little bit longer. I was half tempted to let these cakes dry out more in the oven, seeing as I’m not used to baking with mochiko (rather than boiling/steaming/grilling) it. These cakes upon pulling apart looked like muffins, with a similar consistency and lovely fluffiness but it is thoroughly deceiving because the cake is stretchy, chewy and almost glistens with its glutinous content. Delicious, moist and very different to the regular cupcake/muffin (might take some getting used to for mochi virgins). That chewy bite, soft but with a little resistance, is also satisfying and slightly more-ish. The taste was pretty good and that surely is the work of evaporated milk but one thing I would never ever use again, and all of it going down the drain right now, is vanilla essence! I hate that stuff and do not know why there are still bottles of that stuff in my house.

The smell of it reeks and I might have used a tad too much for these cakes in my desperation for a teaspoon of vanilla. Mistake.

Vanilla essence fail. Ignore that, and these QQ mochi cakes are still rocking it.

Matcha & Sweet Potato Mochi Cakes
(Recipe adapted from Lemonpi, inspired by Suyin from BreadetButter)
Ingredients

225g mochiko (mochi flour)
85g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
about 1 1/2 cup of steamed kansho (Japanese sweet potatoes), cut into small pieces
175g caster sugar
187g evaporated/Carnation milk
2 eggs, at room temperature
3 tsp matcha
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract

Wash and gently scrub the sweet potatoes being careful not to scrub off its precious skin. If your potatoes are fairly large and bulbous, you might want to pierce a few holes on it with a fork before steaming. Bring some water to boil in a steamer. Steam potatoes until they are just cooked through and not too mushy. Let cool on a place and set aside for later. When it is cool to handle, cut them up into small cubes or pieces.

Preheat the oven to 175d Celsius. Grease a 12 cup muffin pan or line with muffin papers.

Sift the mochiko, baking powder and matcha together in a bowl.
In another bowl, whisk the sugar and eggs together with an electric mixer on high speed until light and fluffy.

Fold in melted butter, then the evaporated milk and vanilla. Fold in the flour mixture and the sweet potato pieces until just incorporated.

Pour cake mixture into muffin tin, filling it up to 3/4 full. Place in oven to bake for 20-25 mins. I found my muffins a little wet and baked it for another 5 mins. Cool on rack completely then store in an airtight container.

I feel loved. Money can’t buy you happiness so I suppose you might as well give it away/or get it for free. This brand of happiness came in a little cup. Yeah cuppie cake.

Thank you LOLA’s for my free cupcake.

Two Easters ago, I baked a feast. I went so crazy there were cakes, muffins and cookies everywhere: on the tabletops, in the bedroom, in the freezer, in the fridge. It was gloriously nightmarish. A thoroughly obsessively psychotically sick affair.

Last Easter, I believe things were a little more toned down. Moderation was key.

This year, we went for a nice balance of things. Don’t they say good things come in pairs? Two’s a nice number. Well-rounded and more acceptable. In that case, this Easter, we’ve got cookies and cakes. No more than that. No more, no less. I thought we were quite clever.

On Tuesday, we had a nice little wander through the Oxford Covered Market. There’s a cake shop in there which I’ll blog a little later on about. Truly inspiring cakes and sugarcraft. And they make personalized easter eggs made to order too! In fact, H and I had our Easter eggs from there last year. They were yum. And almost too pretty to eat. It’s shops like that that make you feel like you’ve gotta bake. You leave wanting to make something of your very own, to get creative and start challenging yourself in the kitchen. I don’t suppose we really did challenge ourselves but we sure had good fun in the kitchen that day.

Little fairy cakes topped with dolly mixture (we’ve so gotta love these sweets…so mildly flavoured and pretty to look at) for Easter cakes and a twist on the usual oatmeal raisin cookie which gives you something to talk about as well if you’ve got guests coming round for tea. I haven’t posted a recipe for the Fairy Cakes as H actually remembers this basic recipe by heart. It’s simply margarine, vanilla, flour, eggs, sugar all skillfully beaten by hand then baked at 175d Celsius until ready. Cooled, then frosted with a mix of icing sugar and water. Voila. Top them with sweets or decoration of choice. Cute as a button.

When it comes to eating cookies, dunking in a glass of cold milk is second nature. Or sometimes just eating it sans milk is pretty okay too. Dunking in hot coffee or tea seems unthinkable to me. I’ve seen my mum do it and it leaves rings of buttery-surfaced coffee in the cup. I’ve seen my mates do it and it just all looks a little drippy, a little messy. This time I tried it with this oatmeal cookie and I have a strange feeling my cookie-eating ways have been forever altered. Or at least, when it comes to oatmeal cookies. You’ve gotta dunk them in something warm. Leave the cold milk for the chocolate chip cousin. Oatmeal cookies have so gotta be dipped in a hot coffee or tea. A momentary experience of sweet bliss, as comforting as a spoonful of warm honey-laced porridge. So good.

Happy Easter everyone! Hoping the Easter bunny sends out much sugary love to all. Will post up some of my little Oxford visit here soon.

Oatmeal Cherry & Walnut Cookies
Ingredients

115g unsalted butter, softened
1 cup plain flour, sifted
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup/225g dark brown sugar
1 large egg
3/4 cup chopped walnuts
3/4 cup glace cherries, chopped
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 175d Celsius.

Cream butter and sugar til light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla, then beat.

In another bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and baking soda, salt, ginger and cinnamon. Add oats to this and mix. Add to wet mixture of creamed butter and sugar. Mix until it is just incorporated.

Fold in cherries and walnuts. Do not overmix.

Form into 1-2 tbs balls or simply drop onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake for 15-18mins or until just golden brown.

Cooking it for longer gets these cookies a darker shade and they turn into nice crunchy cookies when kept. Cooking for 15mins leaves it nice and chewy in the middle so cook according to your preference. Leave to cool on sheets for a minute before transferring to wire rack to cool completely.

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 have a sweet tooth. (I’m sure you guilty ones reading this have one too) And I’ve never once felt like my penchant for sweet things was ever a curse. Until now.

The past week has been a great one. I was a little snowed under with my special preparation for Food Blogger Connect 09, our first ever UK food conference, with my new part-time job at American Apparel (whilst I struggle with a full-time MA at Birkbeck College), with keeping in touch with my mates all over the place, with feeding myself, with my readings (not to mention I now have a whole new employee guide to read as well). So not only do I find myself getting all freaked out with the work, nervous about meeting all the other talented food bloggers I’ve been communicating with, my naughty hand has been creeping into sweet bags, fudge packets, mint tubes, etc. It’s getting bad beyond bad!

And what topped it all? I made something sweet, sugary and cute for my fellow cyber mummy cum member of the morning Twitter Breakfast Club – Deeba of Passionate About Baking, a little belated birthday gift. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely enjoyed myself making these gorgeous (can I say so myself?) little truffles and seeing Deeba’s face brighten up when I presented it to her. I couldn’t be any happier when they were successful since it’s been years, about 15 years probably, since I last made chocolate truffles or anything sweet related really. After carefully transferring the extra truffles into a little pop-n-lock box and then wrapping it up in a recently purchased furoshiki, I couldn’t be any more proud of myself. The recipe’s certainly easy to follow, nothing complicated at all. And I know I bitch, complain, whine and procrastinate quite a lot and so sometimes my blog goes into desert-mode with no sweet concoction blogged about for ages. Now, I don’t have an oven so I’ve decided to venture more into candy-making. And yay, the first candy post is a good one.

So if it’s all good, then why have I slapped on the curse factor? Do you how much of the work/candy/truffle-in-progress I consume? Do you know how bad that little OREO crumb tantalizes me, how much I can’t bear to not lick off that bit of candy coating on the back of a spoon? Also, do you know how much toothpaste I’m going through at the moment?! It’s mental! Sensodyne is totally enjoying this. And there’s also my sugar high problems. I’m going crazy twitchy giggly and talking at super fast speeds (I bet half the people I grab, hug, smooch and then chat AT, rather than TO don’t even understand the words that are just rolling out of my mouth). 2 minutes into the sugar phase, I’m wondering why the lights are so bright; the world so bulbous and huge to the point that it’s pressing into my own eyeballs; I’m amazed at how delicious tap water tastes and I think I’m blushing. These are just a few of the more common side effects. The end result is less exciting and is usually me feeling tired, headache-y and a little sick.

What happens after a bit of rest or a few days of rest, depending on how good I am? The process repeats itself. Goodness! I’m blaming it on this week of food celebration! I’ve never eaten better and oh, look at me just lazying on the bed feeling fat and glorious. What a Nigella of a Diva. My coursemates have even started nicknaming me ‘Fatty’. Don’t worry, they’re just taking the piss. I call one of em ‘Pervert’ and the other ‘Fanny Pack’. It’s all good. We love each other all around, really.

I missed Deeba’s birthday and felt awful about it. What made me feel even more guilty was that I’d only found out on Twitter. Heck. I find out everything on Twitter these days – and if I feel like sharing with it others, I simply Retweet it to the high heavens like a loudmouth. It’s like who needs the newspaper when I’ve got Twitter on my laptop and on my blackberry? Seriously, even The Evening Standard’s now going free on the streets and the people giving them out pretty much beg you to take the paper off their hands so they can chuck aside that disgusting neon orange jacket they wear so they can finally escape our horrid English weather and head home for tea. Twitter’s great. Trust me. Now we just gotta get the rest of the foodie world onto Twitter and we’re sorted. (Cook Sister, hope you’re reading this. I’m wondering if my -does the magical hand movement- hypnosis that night worked! Haha)

Whilst I was doing the daily Food Blogger Connect (FBC) countdown on Twitter, our Twitter Breakfast Club were furiously direct-messaging each other about things we wanted from our respective places of residence. Deeba kept bullying me into telling her what I wanted from India. And I’m not exaggerating. That woman, bless her gorgeous heart, is tiny but she’s a real bully. But I love her anyway. She was so sweet to go shopping for a lamp (I love anything to do with candles and lamps, especially fans and masks if you wanted to know!) and a lovely Indian turqoise scarf for me. I am deeply touched and feel so loved and looked after. How could I not send the love back?

Pam from The Cooking Ninja, as well as Sunita from my favourite Sunita’s World, were simultaneously asking after me for any gifts I wanted. How nice of them!

But like Sunita, I believe homemade gifts are the best. You put the most thought and effort into them (sometimes I bloody slice a finger off for it, or scar my arm on the oven for life, ya know). A lot of ‘you’ goes into it and it means more, I’m sure, to the person receiving it to see that extra special-ness in a gift homemade by you rather than something storebought that gets bought up by a million other people. I do believe gifts handpicked from the store are great too but anything homemade is always just a step further in being more lovely, now don’t you think? And so, dearest Deeba, Happy Belated Birthday! Here are my OREO truffles for you!

Deeba’s, all wrapped up – pretty in pink

I did bring some extra truffles to FBC and those lucky few who tasted it, if you liked it, yay for me. If you didn’t, oh no! But don’t be afraid to send some constructive feedback my way as I’ve much to learn.

Ever since I stumbled upon Bakerella’s website, I have constantly played with the idea of making the gorgeous cake pops and candy I’ve ogled at so much. Bakerella’s a bit of sweetie goddess. Her truffles (you’ll find the recipe if you click here) were super easy to make and beautiful to look at. I loved it. Will definitely be making these again and again whenever there’s an occasion that calls for it and I’m hoping to experiment with other sorts of fillings. Careful though, as they’re quite addictive, what with being so bite-size and all. This is me, venturing into the chocolate/candy-making arena. Woot woot. How exciting. Makes me happy just talking about it now.

Naked truffles – pre-coated with candy coating

Just a bit about the truffles before I move on to FBC, remember to use candy coating or white chocolate flavoured coating instead of white chocolate itself. Using melting/baking chocolate will not set the truffles unless you put them in the fridge. But once you remove them, they’ll start to melt a little or between your fingers when you touch and hold them. Try to get candy coating or chocolate bark which is the best thing to use when making chocolates and candies. Can’t seem to find them? Try the cookie craft shop – can’t for the life of me remember the exact name of the shop off my head right now – but if you venture onto my Bake Shop page, you’ll find the link to their online shop there. For the pink ones, I’ve used Wilton’s Candy Melts in Rosa. Wilton’s is a little stiffer when melted so you get lovely little peaks and troughs when coating. I made the white ones with Squires Kitchen Easy Melt White Coating which produces a smoother, more drippy and liquid-y coating mixture. Hence, you’ll notice the white truffles are a lot rounder with less peaks and troughs. If you swirl the tops, they do tend to set with the swirls on but less noticeable than Wilton’s. Both products I found were lovely and tasted good, producing two types of looks which I think will come in very handy for future chocolate making.

Also, Bakerella says to use 8oz. softened cream cheese and 1 package of OREO cookies. I’m not sure if the US packs them cookies differently from the UK manufacturers but I found that I used 2 tubes of cookies (14 cookies in total), about 3/4 of the cream centers in total and just less than 1 pack of cream cheese. I chucked the rest of the cream centers as I didn’t want my truffle filling too sweet or as sweet as the candy coating itself. Not everyone’s as brave as I am with sugar. My Mum for one isn’t as she always complains about the things I make, so just be a little careful there with the cream centers.

It wouldn’t have felt right going to FBC, which was held at Levant Restaurant on Wigmore Street here in London, empty-handed. What else did I contribute? If you know my current predicament – no oven – you’d understand that I couldn’t bake anything and that’s not for lack of trying. The girls on Twitter went wild when I posted about LOLA’s November Flavour of the Month – Toblerone. I initially offered to get a few for the girls to take home but our breakfast club was rapidly expanding and not one to step on anyone’s toes for lack of sugary treats, I decided to order a box of mini cupcakes so everyone at FBC could have a taste of the latest flavour, their classic vanilla and my top favourite and love of my life – Red Velvet. And then, the RSVP list for FBC was expanding loads too so I emailed the lovely lady who’d I’d kept in contact with from LOLA’s and asked about a bigger order.

Courtesy of LOLA’s, we had 3 boxes of beautifully decorated and fairytale-like, glittered mini cupcakes sent to Levant for our enjoyment. Thank you LOLA’s! The cupcakes were gorgeous and I think everyone who had one were very impressed. Certainly, with the Toblerone cupcakes. I found myself standing by the table of cupcakes for a little bit explaining how LOLA’s had designed the Toblerone cupcakes, using Toblerone chocolate to make the cake and then white chocolate to make the ganache. You should have seen the faces, lips smeared a little with buttercream or white chocolate ganache frosting, break into grins after hearing that. I even know a few foodies who headed to Selfridges after the conference to stock up on some cupcakes! Wish I’d done so but the rain made me a little grumpy about trudging down the cobbled street in heels and a gia-normous bag full of yummy goodies.

I’ve never eaten edible glitter. Oh shoot me now, don’t I sound like an idiot? But goodness me, the thought of eating glitter itself sent me a notch higher up the sugar scale! I was well chuffed. Period.

FBC was amazing. Hosted by Jamie from Life’s a Feast, Hilda from Saffron & Blueberry, Beth from Dirty Kitchen Secrets and Mowie from Mowielicious, the event was a real success and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. A big thank you to all of them. Also, learned so much from the awesome bloggers and photographers who presented at the conference: such as Jamie, Jeanne from Cook Sister! (who has a wicked sense of humour!), Kang from LondonEater, and Meeta of What’s For Lunch, Honey?

Kang gave some fab tips on food photography. I think I understand my camera a little more now. But whether or not that’ll induce better pictures from me, I’m still pretty unsure about that so don’t get your hopes up, kiddo. It was great to finally meet the man behind the very successful LondonEater as well. Meeta was so bubbly and her presentation was a joy to listen to. I took notes! Yes I did. Check me out.

Finally got to meet the Twitter Breakfast Club too and we totally hit it off as though we were old friends. No shit about me being the baby of the group either. They were just my cyber mammees and daddees (if that applies to you Alessio ) Met Nic of Cherrapeno, Sarah of Maison Cupcake (your red hair rocks!), Alessio of Recipe Taster, Pam of The Cooking Ninja (I teased her for being unfriendly on Twitter when really, she just didn’t understand how it worked), Claire of Colloquial Cooking, Kerrin of MyKugelhopf (who has a sweet tooth the size of China, hello this woman’s amazing) and some other new foodies I discovered.

Completing our Lebanese lunch with a LOLA’s cupcake

We were all really excited about meeting each other. Upon entering Levant, which is beautifully decorated and scented by the way (you gotta go down the stairs which is illuminated by scented candles and rose petals in plates of water), you see everyone hugging, cheek-kissing, waving, blowing air kisses, etc. So much squealing, talking and hugging. It was fantastic! And of course, lots of food goodies being passed around. I was pretty delirious with happiness by the time I’d just set my bag down on the floor after spotting Sunita and Deeba.

The lunch was very delicious. I really liked the halloumi cheese on tomatoes, the falafel was especially good. Some said the size of it was too huge, but not a problem there for me. Not at all! There was a particular dish, don’t know what it was, but it was one with loads of nuts in it. That was out of this world. Only thing is, it gave me a garlic breath that was equally out of this world. Not great for saying hello to new foodie friends. Surely, they didn’t want my well-practised firm handshake and a ‘Hello, pleasure to meet you’ to end all hellos?

We all got on fine nevertheless. So, free love all around and garlic breath all around. Spread the joy of food and care not about silly things like the latter. Time passed quite quickly and before we knew it, FBC was over. We had goodie bags with Maldon salts, olives, West Country cheese, unearthed pannetone (had one this morning with a cup of tea and wow, very yummy), and some other exciting stuff. Yes, we were sent home with food. If I didn’t already feel like the young one of the group, if I weren’t already called the ‘Dancing Diva’, I’d have done a little happy dance right there with my ‘Dirty Kitchen Secrets’ goodie bag. But nah, I pass.

the wonderful bunch who inspire me

The night ended with dinner with a small group of us at Vivat Bacchus near London Bridge. Food was very nice. The wine even nicer. Pam had a hilarious little flirt with the waiter who took our coats. Goodness! Much banter, giggles, and laughter. Some stories and words of wisdom were shared. And the whole experience was something I’m very glad I didn’t miss. I have loads to learn and these lovely people have inspired me much. Despite being on the food blogosphere since 2005, I’ve nearly abandoned it for long periods of time a couple of times. And being a young high-schooler to college kid, I didn’t have the money, time, or kitchen space to explore much. But The Sugar Bar has grown quite a lot and I’ll continue to expand its horizons and test the waters out there! Watch me.

What about the foodie friends I’ve made? Bless them all! They are awesome and just talking about them, waking up to tweet with them puts a smile on my face and chases away any Monday/morning blues.

P/S. We somehow have also set up, not just friendships, but an international shopping community. Networking and globalisation sure has brilliant benefits

Big hugs to all I’ve finally gotten to meet and the new ones I met. It was a joy and I’m excited to keep in touch with everyone. Bisous!

And a final thank you to LOLA’s Cupcakes for sending us their lovely cupcakes to taste. They were little bits of heaven for us, for me definitely, and for FBC 09 I’m sure!

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!

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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!

(*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!

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.

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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