Cupcake Combat
If you know me then you know that I have a deep love of cupcakes that has out-lived the Cupcake Trend of the early 2000’s (generally believed to have started with the mention of Magnolia Bakery in an episode of Sex and the City). While most people have disloyally shoved their cupcakes aside and moved on to cronuts (or was it macarons?), I remain true to the former while also meddling in the latest craze when I’m feeling adventurous.
As I am nibbling on a Bloomsbury’s chocolate cupcake while I write this post, I think that’s a good place to start. With multiple locations across the UAE, this cupcakerie exploded locally due to its red velvet cupcake, widely believed to be the most delicious red velvet cupcake in the country. While I find the ambience of the stores adorable and the staff attentive, I find their cupcakes a little too dense for my liking.
My favorite flavor was the tiramisu for a while, then I moved onto chocolate, which is a decadent affair, topped off with gold dust. In a country where diabetes is a huge issue, their saving grace is their Diabetic Dream cupcake- a carrot cake suitable for diabetics.
On the international end of the debate is Hummingbird Bakery, this London-based bakery has a couple of locations in Dubai. Similar to Bloomsbury’s, several people are obsessed with their red velvet. Again, I am not a fan. However, their Black Bottom cupcakes are heavenly and I often find myself craving them in the middle of the night. I have tried a couple of other flavors but always return to the trusty Black Bottom (although I have recently discovered that it has been moved into rotation so it's not always available).
While Bloomsbury’s has a lot going for it and I have frequented it’s branches quite a bit (their chicken pesto sandwich is delicious), I think that Hummingbird wins this round as nothing I have ever tasted compares to the Black Bottom.
