About hummingbirds and cupcakes

Do you like cupcakes and other desserts? If yes, here is an inside tip for you - Hummingbird Bakery in London. On my birthday on March 21st I received “The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook” from my roommate and am a fan of them since then.

Hummingbird Bakery was founded by Tarek Malouf in 2004. He loves American-style baking but could not find a place in London to enjoy the food. So he decided to found a company where you can buy cupcakes and muffins as well as brownies and cakes. His courage paid off because Hummingbird sells more than 20,000 cupcakes per week in their five bakeries. The first one opened on Portobello Road in Notting Hill – a very exclusive area. Doesn’t it look awesome and trendy?

Why is Hummingbirds so exceptional for me? The main reason I like it more than my other cookbooks are the recipes. They all sound great, there is an appetizing picture for each recipe plus there are many innovative and exciting flavors inside the book. I have never heard of “Strawberry Milkshake Cupcakes”, “Jam Doughnut Cupcakes” or “Tiramisu Cupcakes” before. I tried the “Tiramisu Cupcakes” for my mum’s birthday and she really liked them. It was a bit tricky because you have to hollow out the cupcakes, sprinkle coffee on them and then fill the hole with

mascarpone cream. It took me one hour but it was worth the effort. I am not sure whether it is allowed to post one of their recipes, but let’s risk it :).

…

Unfortunately I could not find the “Tiramisu Cupcake” recipe on the internet (and my cookbook is at home in Lower Austria) but I found a recipe for “Vanilla Muffins”. I have tried them and modified the recipe a bit so that it is easier for you to understand and to follow.

• 120g plain flour
• 140g caster sugar
• 1½ tsp baking powder
• A pinch of salt
• 40g butter, at room temperature
• 120ml whole milk
• 1 egg
• ¼ tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 170°C

Put the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and butter in a bowl. Use a hand mixer and beat on slow speed until you get a sandy consistency and everything is combined.

Gradually pour in half the milk and beat until the milk is incorporated.

Whisk the egg, vanilla extract and remaining milk together in a separate bowl for a few seconds, then pour into the flour mixture and continue beating until it is incorporated. Continue mixing for a couple more minutes until the mixture is smooth.

Spoon the mixture into the muffin tray until two-thirds full. Bake in the preheated oven for 20–25 minutes or until the muffins are light golden and the sponge bounces back when touched.

 Leave the muffins to cool slightly in the tray before turning them out to cool completely.

Another fact I really like is that the cookbook clearly tells you not to change anything. It is really important to stick to the recipe in order to get delicious and beautiful cupcakes.

Cakes ♥

I love to be creative, theoretically. I’m neither able to draw nor to knit. I can’t do handicrafts and am not very patient when it comes to gluing small pieces together.
However, there is one creative activity I could spend hours with, without being bored or impatient – baking and decorating cakes.
I was always fascinated when I saw these eye-catching and colorful masterpieces in a shop or the internet. That’s why I decided to buy myself a cake-decorating book (50 Easy Party cakes, Debbie Brown) and watched many online tutorials.
The first fancy cake I have ever baked was for a friend’s birthday party. She was so excited about her birthday present that she “booked” me for the next party :).
Decorating cakes and buying handy stuff can be really addictive. I discovered some interesting online shops and ordered among others different kinds of food coloring, chocolate-flavored marzipan and edible, sparkling food glitter.
I know that I am not as good as a professional confectioner but I love to do it and it’s also the perfect way for expressing my creativity.

If you are interested, here are some of my cakes :).

Cake&Allie

It wasn't easy for me to write about my favorite food blog, but now I think I found the perfect one. I read about 50 different blogs but always was not satisfied with what I found. The most important thing for me was to present you a “sweet blog”, a blog with dessert recipes. I love baking and therefore was curious when I discovered how many different kinds of food blogs there are on the internet.

I noticed that some of them used very less pictures which was bad for me because I am a visual person. I have to see the desserts.

Many other blogs had too many writing on it. If I am interested in a particular recipe I do not want to read a novel about how the person discovered the recipe, what all his/her friends think about it….
For me, a short introduction, ingredients, preparation and (of course) a big (!) picture are enough.

So, after beating around the bush about which food blog qualities are important for me, I am presenting you the one which meets (nearly) all requirements.

http://www.cakeandallie.com/category/desserts/

Allie (as you may have guessed) is the name of the person who is responsible for this food blog. She blogs not only about sweet dishes but has also recipes for soups, salads, main dishes…
As I mentioned before, I tried to find a pure dessert blog (which is clearly not the fact but I ask you to ignore this – I did the same ) and for this reason only concentrated on her desserts.
I found pretty cool recipes and also great photos. Unfortunately I am not sure wheter it is allowed to publish the images or not. For this reason I present you my Top Five list in the written version (simply click on them and you will see the pictures).

1.     Chocolate Candy Cane Cupcakes

2.     Oreo Truffles

3.     Banana Split Cupcakes

4.     Tuxedo Cake

5.     Guinness, Jameson & Baileys Cupcakes

They look and sound amazing, don’t they? I can’t wait to go home next week and try some of them out. Baking here in Graz is too strenuous for me because I do not have all the ingredients and tools (and I do not want to do all the washing-up on my own).

Now, I would like to invite you to get inspired by these recipes and (if you are interested if they taste as good as they look on the pictures) try some of them.