London is literally flooded with cupcakes and the flavours of the month are becoming more and more elaborate, but Hummingbird Bakery is the original and, in my opinion, the best.
Hummingbird Bakery is more of a cupcake boutique than a mere bakery, bringing American home-baked goodness to Portobello Road and South Kensington. Cupcakes are kept simple in either vanilla or chocolate with a variety of frosting and sprinkles and of course, the famous Red Velvet – a deep red vanilla sponge with cream cheese frosting.
If you’re after an even bigger sugar high, go for a slice of devil’s food cake, a frosted brownie or order a mississippi mud pie to take home.
You can be assured of the Hummingbird’s amazingness by the permanent queue outside of the Notting Hill store. My most memorable visit was arriving at 5.15pm, being honoured as ‘the last customer’, which almost caused a riot behind me, and then having my box filled with a few extra complimentary cupcakes – magic or what!
I was recently given the Hummingbird Bakery cook book and while my first attempt at cupcakes resembled oversized sugary rocks, my mum’s efforts were pretty close to the mark. So, the recipies are admittedly spot on and my rather bohemian disregard of measurements needs to be reconsidered! Note to self: become a master baker by the end of the year.
