Time for Cupcakes.....Hummingbird Bakery, Guildford

Hello there,

Welcome back to Tea With Me and Friends - this week I've been on a staycation, enjoying the glorious summer in the UK and eating the odd cake or two!

When Hummingbird Bakery opened a shop in Guildford earlier this year it was welcomed with queues along the street of hungry cupcake lovers! The photos of the queues on social media were quite amazing! For anyone not familiar with Hummingbird Bakery - they arrived in London in 2004 and are famous for their American style cakes and cupcakes. Fast forward a couple of months and its a random Tuesday lunchtime when I pop by, no queues great me....but I do find a wonderful selection of cakes and cupcakes to drool over!

Hummingbird Bakery Guildford - what to pick?

Hummingbird Bakery Guildford - lots of cupcakes!

The bakery itself is light and airy and very pretty, decorated in pinks and greys. 

There were two friendly servers working at the time, both were welcoming and very knowledgeable about the cakes on offer. Hummingbird Bakery prides themselves on serving delicious, fresh cakes, something they achieve by each branch having its own kitchen, with dedicated bakers and cake decorators.

Cupcakes include salted caramel, red velvet, carrot cake, chocolate and vanilla to name just a few. They also sell slices of large cakes, traybakes and whoopie pies. After asking the servers which were their favourites (something I always like to find out) I opted for a salted caramel cupcake and a cup of coffee.

Hummingbird Bakery Guildford - salted caramel cupcake

Please ignore Niffler in my photos - I'd just bought him and was having a bit of a geeky moment! 

The cupcake was light and moist and had a wonderful chocolate flavour. The frosting was super sweet and encased a dollop of dulce de leche, but sprinkled on the top was just the right amount of sea salt and this combination was wonderful as it balanced everything out. The cake tasted fresh and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I think part of the joy of eating at Hummingbird Bakery is definitely the surroundings, I loved the colours used and the general atmosphere which was relaxed and friendly.

I'll definitely be popping back to try the other cupcakes....it might take me a while to work through the menu though! For more information about Hummingbird Bakery please visit their website.

Do you have a favourite Hummingbird Bakery flavour - we'd love to hear about it!

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel

Time for Tea....Radisson Blu Guildford

Hello there,

Welcome back to a very special guest blog post at Tea With Me and Friends!

This is a special post because we are joined by someone who has experienced their very first afternoon tea adventure.....and she is just eight years old! Connie visited the Radisson Blu in Guildford, Surrey with her family recently and she wanted to share her adventure with us....

Connie Lewis a review from Radisson Blu Guildford

Connie reporting for Tea With Me and Friends
from Radisson Blu Guildford

Today I have been to have afternoon tea to celebrate Mother's Day with my Nanny and also my brothers 11 birthday!

When we arrived we were shown the menu and given a choice of teas and for us kids a milkshake!  I chose strawberry and it was truly amazing. You could tell it was made with ice cream and real strawberries!

Afternoon tea - Radisson Blu Guildford

We had a selection of sandwiches that were delicious on fresh soft bread and my favourite were cucumber that had been cut in heart shapes.

Heart shaped afternoon tea sandwiches
Radisson Blu Guildford

I ate the pastries after, my favourite being a chocolate truffle.  We also had mini eclairs and raspberry tarts.  Homemade shortbread biscuits and fresh strawberries to dip into the chocolate sauce.  I noticed that mummy kept asking for milk as it was in very small jugs and when there was 7 of us it didn't last long.  I thought it would be nice if they had brought it over instead of mummy having to ask.

Afternoon tea pastries
Radisson Blu Guildford

Shortbread, cream and jam
Radisson Blu Guildford

The waiter asked us if it was a special occasion and mummy told him it was my brothers birthday yesterday.  He brought out a plate saying happy birthday with a lit candle. I liked that they did this.

I thought the scones were light and fresh not like the kind we have at home!! And plenty of them (we took 7 home in a take away box!)

I found my afternoon tea very exciting and hope my mum will take me again.

Mummy asked me to mention that it was a reasonable price for us kids to come along also!

It sounds like Connie had a wonderful first afternoon tea adventure. Connie also made a short video of her experience, take a peek at our YouTube channel to see more!

Connie and her family enjoyed a Queen of Hearts afternoon tea which costs £17.50 per adults and  £10.00 per child (under 12). You can choose four of the five afternoon tea fillings on offer, pick from Cheddar cheese, Cucumber, Egg mayonnaise, Honey roast ham or Smoked salmon. For more information about this tea visit the Radisson Blu website.

A huge thank you to Connie (and her family) for sharing her afternoon tea with us - we are so pleased that she enjoyed the experience! Don't forget to take a peek at Connie's vlog post too!

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel