I finally made it to Love Bakery on Kings Road. It's been open for quite awhile but living in East London I never found myself over in Chelsea on a Saturday afternoon (Love Bakery is closed on Sunday).
I already have the Love Bakery cookbook so I knew going in that the cupcakes would be good.
The shop itself is small (more than three people in the shop and it feels a little uncomfortable) so plan to take your cakes home. There are three stools against a small counter. We were lucky and they were free. It's a shame there aren't more tables. It felt so nice to sit down for a few minutes after walking up and down Kings Road.
Love Bakery also make custom made to order cakes. I got the impression that they make a lot of cakes for children's parties. There are some cute Barbie cakes in the window you can see if you pass by. The bakery has a fun laid back nature about it which I really like.
The chocolate cupcake was perfect. The frosting was spectacular. It had a deep rich chocolate flavor and was definitely made with a quality chocolate or cocoa powder.
The Rhubarb and Custard Cupcake was lovely. I love the flavor combination. It's one of the more innovative ones I've seen lately. A person can only eat so many Oreo and Lemon cupcakes.
The cake was just the way I like it, fluffy and springy. It was a true American cake. I've only ever eaten rhubarb a handful of times and this did not disappoint. It was slightly tart and sweet at the same time (that green color looks a bit unpleasant though). This recipe is in their book as well.
Any cupcake with "goop" in the middle gets extra points in my book. It's like an extra treat when you bite in and find it.
Any cupcake with "goop" in the middle gets extra points in my book. It's like an extra treat when you bite in and find it.
Last is the Earl Grey Cupcake. I love tea so this was my favorite. It had a lovely aroma and the cake was similar in consistency to the Rhubarb and Custard but more moist due to the addition of the brewed tea.
The frosting was really sweet but I had eaten two whole cupcakes so I was feeling the sugar rush at this point.
A small selection of hot drinks is available as well. Overall, I can see myself coming back here many times. If I was ever going to order a vanilla cupcake this would be the place. I'm usually more interested in the "extreme" flavors but the cake has a nice texture, is really tasteful and simple that it doesn't necessarily need a lot of jazz or "love" as she calls it in the book. I'm interested in baking the vanilla cupcakes from the book to see how they compare to the ones in the shop.
Cupcakes ranged from £1.65 - £2.50 and drinks were £1.00
