When I saw on twitter that the Hummingbird bakery had a series of floral inspired cupcakes with tempting names such as Cherry Blossom and Rose, I knew I had to get me some. So I took an early evening sojourn to their newest and flashiest looking Soho store to pick some up.
The H-bird, as no-one except me calls it, has become a little bit of an unstoppable cupcake machine. Several books, notelet sets and tinned postcard gifts later they have spawned a rash of imitators up and down the country and re-awakened the nations love of the cupcake, which despite its exotic American sounding tag is really just a bigger, greedier version of our humble fairy cake. I still have a massive soft spot for the Hummingbird, after all they did do my wedding cake.
That day's special was the Orange Blossom cake, so I bought two - one for me and one for Mr LROC plus one of their brownies to 'just try'.
Unfortunately due to the huge popularity of their cafes, and the relatively small square footage there is never anywhere to sit so it becomes a takeaway affair. The upside of this is that you can lounge decadently on the sofa whilst eating, and no-one sees if you cover yourself with crumbs.
I adore the packaging they use - the little Chinese style takeaway packs are a great way to give a cupcake to a loved one as a gift, and the distinctive bag always gets me excited - this is sweet eating that's all about the theatre.
Opening it up - the Orange Blossom cupcake has a little sugar flower on the top which feels a little naive, I like my cupcakes to be grown up and serious indulgences so this doesn't please me but I eat it anyway. Then we get down to business. Orange Blossom is all in the frosting which is rich and buttery as always but with a distinct citrus floral tang. It's super sweet, almost overly so, but that suits me all the more. Definitely worth experiencing.
What isn't so great though is their brownie - I've had the delight of eating many sumptuous brownies from all over town, and I guessed that this would be up there with the best so I was distinctly underwhelmed - I'm telling myself it was just a bad batch. It was dry, almost cakey and not rich or chocolate-y at all.
So, stick to the cupcakes, try floral and your tongue is guaranteed a good time.
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