Macaroon and Cup Cake Tour

This is my kind of tour.  My friend Lynda and I joined the London Macaroon and Cup Cake Tour in London.  This involved a 2 hour guided walk led by a very well informed and interesting guide throughout the streets of London and interspersed at various points by stops at some of London’s best cup cake and macaroon shops.

 

First up was Laduree, a stylish French Macaroon shop in the heart of London’s Covent Garden.  I had a lemon macaroon which was delicious.  We were told that you should squeeze them gently and they should bounce back if they are fresh and if they are not fresh they would crack.  This one bounced back perfectly.

 

Next stop was BB Bakery just around the corner in Chados Place, Covent Garden.  This is one of the prettiest shops I have seen, all very pink and very feminine and a lovely place for afternoon tea with friends.  The cake here was a mini raspberry cupcake which included a whole raspberry inside.  Very tasty.

 

Stop 3 was the Hummingbird Bakery in the centre of Soho.  This is more of an American style bakery and we sampled their signature cake: the red velvet cupcake.  This was a full size cupcake consisting of delicious deep red cake coated in a creamy topping.  We were starting to get full, yet were only half way through the tour.

 

Stop 4 was Yauatcha – a Chinese Tea House and Patisserie on Broadwick Street.  A range of the most beautiful cakes and pastries were laid out like works of art under glass counters.  At the far end is the assortment of macaroons.  The cashew nut butter one was recommended so I chose that one.  It had a harder texture than the Laduree one and had an almost toffee like consistency and a flavour that developed as you eat it – very tasty.  This restaurant also included a range of savoury pan Asian dishes and will definitely be one that I will revisit for a proper meal – and dessert of course.

 

Shop 5 was Crumbs and Doilies on Morie Street, just off Carnaby Street.  This little store makes up to 35 – 40 different varieties of cupcakes including gluten free ones.  Today 10 different varieties were on show and the young shop owner greeted us and described each of the cupcakes in great detail.  I chose the gluton free salted caramel cupcake which was as it should be, sweet and salty at the same time.

Feeling very full now, it was on to the last stop which happened to be my all time favourite London store – Fortnum and Masons on Piccadilly.  I love this store, it really is the most stylish and luxurious store ever.  It was founded in 1707 by Mr Fortnum and Mr Mason of course.  The shop itself is a work of art with its beautiful architecture and chandeliers.  My favourite department has always been the food store on the ground floor, especially the picnic hampers that it is so famous for.  However, today of course it was straight to the macaroon section and what a hard decision it was to decide which macaroon to try.  It was between blood orange flavour, champagne and white chocolate flavour and peanut butter.  I felt I should go for the Champagne and White chocolate in a store like Fortnum and Masons but actually plumped for the Peanut Butter which was delightful. 

 

What a lovely way to spend an afternoon.  Although I haven’t commented much on the tour itself, it was very interesting and we discovered new parts of London’s West End including the street that JK Rowling based Diagon Alley on, the recording studios where stars like T-Rex and the Rolling Stones first played and the rooftop at the end of Saville Row where the Beatles performed Let it Be. 

If you are interested in discovering some unknown parts of London and like to eat Cupcakes and Macaroons, then I would definitely recommend this tour.