Eating London: Hummingbird Bakery

May 29, 2012
By: Z Khan

“Hummingbird Bakery: Authentic American Cakes and Desserts”

It’s been since my buddy and I last went out and reviewed an eatery in London (I lie. It’s been a while since we last remembered to take photos for an article!). Cupcake connoisseurs that we are, we decided to pay The Hummingbird Bakery in Soho a visit. The interior of the shop is absolutely amazing, decorated in the company’s signature colours and glass cabinets filled with beautiful looking cupcakes and tray bakes. The bakery has some indoor seating and they also sell cookery books and other merchandise. We’d heard really good things about The Hummingbird Bakery and were expecting to be impressed. After a good 5 minutes of deliberation (the very good looking guy who served us was extremely patient and friendly), we settled on two beautifully packaged red velvet cupcakes and took them down the road to Crêpe Affaire (the tea is really good!).

Sadly, it was a case of ‘All Frosting, No Cake.’ The cream cheese icing was solid and way too sweet, and the cake bland and dry. Good Red Velvet cake should be rich, moist and tender as a result of adding vinegar or buttermilk to the mix. The cream cheese icing should provide a light, tangy contrast to the otherwise slightly bitter cake.

The Hummingbird Bakery appears to have graduated from the same school as the Primrose Bakery, who believe that a mountain of tooth-achingly sweet frosting will turn an average, or even bad cupcake, into a culinary masterpiece. This is a sin that too many bakers are guilty of. I have baked enough cupcakes in my time (that are much better than the ones I’ve paid for at both the Hummingbird and Primrose bakeries) to know that no amount of icing can ever fix a bad cake!

Just to be fair, I also tried the Hummingbird Bakery’s Raspberry Cheesecake Brownie only to be disappointed again; the brownie was dense, dry and bland. It was such a shame, because the cakes look fantastic and at around £2.00-£2.75 for a cupcake and £2.50-£3.75 for a brownie, you really expect to get your money’s worth.