Trip to Portobello Road

Portobello Road as most Londoners know is the CUTEST place in London. The whole area is packed with old antiques, fashionable clothing, random stuff like pocketwatches, and last but not least CUPCAKES!!! To be on Portobello road is great on its own, but to also be able to purchase cupcakes there is beyond my needs. 

Photography by the Cupcake Around the Corner

Photography by the Cupcake Around the Corner

They let me go behind the counter and pretend I actually worked there. Oh how I wish I could...

Photography by the Cupcake Around the Corner

Photography by the Cupcake Around the Corner

They always have the cutest window displays...holiday themed! I'm pretty sure this was around Valentines day. 

A Lil' Cupcake Action in Paris

This was my Paris cupcake inspiration...

Photography by the Cupcake Around the Corner

Genius! A cupcake in a teacup...so cute!

Photography by the Cupcake Around the Corner

How do these relate to cupcakes?? They're tea cups and tea pots - which are both at tea parties and so are cupcakes!

Photography by the Cupcake Around the Corner

Cute little cupcake bakery in Mont Mart 

Photography by the Cupcake Around the Corner

Photography by the Cupcake Around the Corner

Photography by the Cupcake Around the Corner

The best book...EVER!

I got Hello Cupcake for christmas a few years ago and I still use it almost every single day! Its such a cute book with so many great ideas ...who knew that you could rebuild starry night out of cupcakes??? I suggesting getting this book NOW!!!

Photography by the Cupcake Around the Corner

Photography by the Cupcake Around the Corner

The "Perfect" Swirl

Photography by the Cupcake Around the Corner

I always wondered how bakeries managed to make their cupcakes have near to perfect frosting…was it the metal tip they used? the type of frosting they were using? How did they do it!!? Then one day I was experimenting with a batch of cupcakes I had made and think that is when I figured out the trick. Here’s how I suggest you make the perfect swirl on top of your cupcakes…

1)    Squeeze out one big blob of frosting onto the middle of the cupcake

2)    Then start spiraling and swirling around the cupcake

a.    Start on the part of the cupcake that doesn’t have frosting yet

b.    Once you’ve done a whole circle like this you can start to do the same around the blob.

Cheers!

Keep Calm and Eat a Cupcake

This is just a little inspiration for you all! I love London, I love "Keep Calm" quotes, and I love this poster!! It is pretty much my all time favourite quote ever...because you can NEVER go wrong with eating a cupcake!
    
 Cheers!

Photography by the Cupcake Around the Corner

By the way - my sister got this for me in Covent Garden!!! 

Become a Fondant PROfessional

How to Use Fondant:

I’ve always loved using fondant. Not only is it super fun to use and decorate with, but also quite simple, and it ALWAYS will look amazing! Here are my tips on how to use it:

1)     Buy pre-made fondant from a cake or baking store (the brand I use right now is Wilton, but I’m sure any brand would be fine) and bundle it into little balls about the size of a golf ball

2)     Roll the ball out flat so that it is about half a centimeter thick.

3)     Once it is rolled out, pick it up carefully, and place it on top of the cupcake

4)     Cut around the edge of the cupcake, taking away any excess fondant and now you are done!

If you want to add color to the fondant:

1)     Stop everything you are doing once you have rolled the balls of fondant

2)     Add about half a drop of food coloring to the ball

3)     Spread the food coloring out by squeezing the fondant with your hands and fingers until it is solidly the color that you want

4)     If you want it darker, just add more food coloring of course – always start out with a smaller amount of food coloring than you need because once it’s in, you can’t do anything about it, sorry!

Decorating after the layer of fondant:

With the extra fondant you have after covering the tops of each cupcake, you can decorate more on top of the fondant layer. I am not the complete expert at fondant decorating, but my box has some pretty cute ideas with very straightforward instructions as to how to decorate.

This is the fondant brand I use at home... 

Photography by the Cupcake Around the Corner

Cheers!

Frosting by Ziploc

Do you ever find yourself making cupcakes, and see that you’ve run out of frosting bags, or decorating tips? I know I do all the time! The solution I have for this (which in my opinion is actually even better than using the special bags and metal tips) is to use a Ziploc baggie to apply frosting to your cupcake. How do you do this?

1)    Make your frosting

2)    Empty the frosting from the bowl to the Ziploc baggie (probably should be the gallon sized one, but it will depend on the amount of frosting you are making)

3)    Cut off the corner of one of the bottom corners on the baggie

a.    MAKE SURE you know what size you want the frosting to come out.

b.    I would recommend to cut no more than a ½ inch hole (when the bag is laid flat)

4)    Make sure that your bag, now filled with frosting, is securely shut at the top

5)    Now you can start decorating your cupcakes!

a.    Make sure you are squeezing the frosting from the top to the bottom – not from the bottom to the top (that would make the bag burst and all of the frosting fly out!)

Good Luck!! 

Easter Egg-cupcakes

Are you looking for something creative? Try making cupcakes inside real egg shells. I made these yesterday and they turned out to be a big success. Who knew that you could make egg-cupcakes, and in perfect time for easter? 

Photography by the Cupcake Around the Corner

Photography by the Cupcake Around the Corner

...right before they went in the oven

they were such a mess when they came out of the oven, but I just peeled the extra cake off and they were fine. 

Photography by the Cupcake Around the Corner

A perfect cupcake egg!

The best cupcakes in London?

Because there are so many different shops where you can buy cupcakes in London, you run into trouble choosing which one to go to. I personally love all of the ones i've been to, but the top three that I've found are "The Hummingbird Bakery", "Lola's", and "The Cupcake Company." 

When I tried to find out which one was liked the best by the people around me, I took a survey. (by the way, my favourite cupcakes are the red velvet ones from hummingbird bakery!!)These were the results...

1. Do you like  cupcakes?
Yes	No
44	0

2. Which flavor of cupcake do you prefer?
Vanilla	Chocolate	Red Velvet	Coconut	Lemon
18	18	15	5	1

3. Which flavor of frosting do you prefer on a cupcake?
Vanilla	Chocolate	Cherry	Butter Cream	Cream Cheese	Lemon	Mint	None
11	19	0	11	14	1	0	2

4. Which cupcake company do you prefer?

Lola's     Hummingbird     Neither

6            16                      24

Finding Hummingbird Cupcakes in London

Wardour Street Directions:

1.	Head south on Regent St/A4201 toward Little Argyll St Continue to follow A4201	0.4 mi
2.	Turn left at Glasshouse St	190 ft
3.	Slight left at Brewer St	0.2 mi
4.	Turn left at Wardour St Destination will be on the left	0.1 mi

155 Wardour St Westminster, London W1F 8, UK

Old Brompton Road

Directions:

1.	Head southeast on Onslow Square/B304 toward Pelham St	144 ft
2.	Sharp right at Old Brompton Rd/B304 Continue to follow Old Brompton Rd Destination will be on the left	469 ft

47 Old Brompton Rd London SW7 3JP, UK

Working Hours:9am - 7pm Mon-Thu
9am - 8pm Fri - Sat
9am - 7pm Sun

Phone Number:

020 7851 1795

Portobello Road

Directions:

1.	Head east on Malton Rd toward Malton Mews	167 ft
2.	Turn left at Malton Mews	161 ft
3.	Turn right at Cambridge Gardens/B412 Continue to follow Cambridge Gardens	0.2 mi
4.	Turn right at Portobello Rd Destination will be on the right	0.4 mi

133 Portobello Rd London W11 2DY, UK