American Baker in England presents Bakery Tour London 2011

What a busy weekend!! This weekend a friend and I went to London to indulge in it’s over abundance of bakeries!

Our first stop was Bea’s of Bloomsbury! There is some conflicting information that I should have checked on before we left, the website says that they open at 12 (true) however the facebook page says 11. We were running a little behind due to going the wrong direction down a road and got there at 1150. Which was probably perfect as they weren't open yet! The ladies inside looked a bit rushed, but were still friendly enough to seat and serve us. The actual location was perfect, it was exactly what I would expect a tea shop to look like!

There was so much to choose from. This is what I choose…

Vanilla Cheesecake

And this is what my friend chose…

praline chocolate layer cake

 They were both very good! The cheesecake was very creamy and a perfect vanilla flavor. If I ever get there again I will book an afternoon tea I think!

We both got some meringues to go!!

With that we were off to our next location Johnny’s Cupcake! It was a very cool shop with the t-shirts and merchandise in bakery window casings. I bought a t-shirt for my hubby and one for myself! Along with a few buttons! The t-shirts are wrapped up and put into a box that looks exactly like a cupcake carrier. So, much fun!! Staff were super friendly and helpful!

As we were making our way to The Hummingbird Bakery we spotted a Ben’s Cookie’s and had to stop! They are like the best commercially bought cookies ever!! I choose an Oatmeal and Raisin one! Which I ate for breakfast this morning! It was very yummy! 

At the Hummingbird Bakery I choose two cupcakes the special of the day Toffee Apple and the Black Bottom. We took them to go as we had more stops to make! I shared them with my little ones and the husband when I got home that night. The Toffee Apple is a part of the Carnival range, which has been running for several weeks now.

I wasn’t very impressed with this one. The actual cupcake seemed to be just a regular old vanilla cupcake with some apple flavoring in the icing decorated with a toffee covered apple slice. I guess I was expecting something more from the flavor of the day. However the Black Bottom was very moist and delicious!!

That one saved the day for the Hummingbird Bakery for me. I have had such success with their books and had high expectations that may or may not have been unrealistic.

Next was lunchtime at Ed’s Diner! I love a good American diner meal! Chili hotdog combo with fries, onion rings and coleslaw, but the best part was the peanut butter shake!! The first time I ever had a peanut butter shake was while visiting my aunt and uncle in San Francisco and it was amazing. The Ed’s Diner one was good, but not as good as the one I had over 10 years ago on the west coast! Of course sometimes memories are exaggerated or not as clear as I’d like them to be so maybe they were the same?

Even though we were stuffed I had one more place to visit. Outsider Tart from where we were I didn’t want to travel all the way to Chiswick (probably not that far really) but with the South Bank Royal Food Festival Hall so close we went there instead. The woman running the stall was very lovely and complimented us on our choices! I like a sales person who likes the product they sell!

I picked a Hepburn Brownie and a cranberry crumble cake. As we got them to go I had them today! The crumble cake I had with coffee late this afternoon and shared the brownie with my girls after lunch. Both were very good the brownie perfectly gooey and a hint of espresso flavor that is perfect mixed with chocolate.

crumble cake and hepburn brownie

 It was a very good day out and about in London! I have, what seems to be, an unending list of bakeries to visit and hope to go again in the spring! Are there any bakeries you’ve visited recently that you need to recommend or to warn against?

all the goodies I brought back

It is the start of National Chocolate Week tomorrow!! At the end of the week I’ll be posting pictures of chocolate goodies sent to me by readers! So, if you make anything with chocolate this week send me a picture! Email me at americanbakerinengland@gmail.com or upload it to the facebook page! I have a few things I’m thinking of making!! I am still working on a logo picture I hope to have something to show soon!