Over spring break, my mom visited me in London. This meant lots of exploring London. And shopping! We discovered the Westfield's shopping centre in Shepherd's Bush, and I was in love. Westfield's is similar to the Galleria in Houston or the Galleria in Dallas. As I was shopping for a gift for my sister, I came across the Hummingbird Bakery's new "Cake Days" book. PERFECT for Binita!
There's a funny story about me buying my sister a great Banana Republic leather tote and then basically hijacking it because I ended up liking it so much!! She will never let me live that one down. And it happened again with this cupcake book.
I love The Hummingbird Bakery in London. It's the closest substitute I have found for Crave or Sprinkles. Since it was spring break, I had a little extra time on my hands and decided to bake the lemon poppyseed cupcakes. Overall, they were a success! Not without a few hiccups in the process though. Two lessons learned.
1) Buy a scale. Baking can be a bit difficult for newcomers in this country. In the US, cookbooks provide recipe measurements in terms of volume (teaspoons, half cups, cups, etc.). In the UK, recipe measurements are given in terms in mass (grams, ounces). Well, I had a half-liter liquid Pyrex measuring cup with ounce markers. Except that was in fluid ounces. In my opinion, there should NOT be a unit of measurement that exists for both mass and volume with the same name. Because they are NOT the same. Baking is all about precision, and I ended up having to eyeball just about everything in that entire lemon poppyseed cupcake recipe. Thank goodness they were edible!
2) Whenever you are making simple syrup glazes, do NOT step away from the hob to go throw something away, answer the phone, turn on the music, whatever. Your almost ready simple syrup can quickly turn into liquid caramel fast. Haha.
Drumroll...here's the finished product. YUM!
Another reason to pay attention in class
This story is too funny not to share. My study group mate Prothit missed the first day of the summer term because he decided to stay at home in Delhi for the Cricket World Cup final. (GO INDIA...Whoop!). When he made it to London, it was about midnight and the immigration line was long (as usual). The funny part was that the immigration officer asked him to name the 4 P's of marketing to prove the he was studying at London Business School. HAHAHA!!! The immigration officer could've look at his Tier 4 visa in his passport but thought this question was a more appropriate way to see if he really was reading for an MBA.
There's a funny story about me buying my sister a great Banana Republic leather tote and then basically hijacking it because I ended up liking it so much!! She will never let me live that one down. And it happened again with this cupcake book.
I love The Hummingbird Bakery in London. It's the closest substitute I have found for Crave or Sprinkles. Since it was spring break, I had a little extra time on my hands and decided to bake the lemon poppyseed cupcakes. Overall, they were a success! Not without a few hiccups in the process though. Two lessons learned.
1) Buy a scale. Baking can be a bit difficult for newcomers in this country. In the US, cookbooks provide recipe measurements in terms of volume (teaspoons, half cups, cups, etc.). In the UK, recipe measurements are given in terms in mass (grams, ounces). Well, I had a half-liter liquid Pyrex measuring cup with ounce markers. Except that was in fluid ounces. In my opinion, there should NOT be a unit of measurement that exists for both mass and volume with the same name. Because they are NOT the same. Baking is all about precision, and I ended up having to eyeball just about everything in that entire lemon poppyseed cupcake recipe. Thank goodness they were edible!
2) Whenever you are making simple syrup glazes, do NOT step away from the hob to go throw something away, answer the phone, turn on the music, whatever. Your almost ready simple syrup can quickly turn into liquid caramel fast. Haha.
Drumroll...here's the finished product. YUM!
Another reason to pay attention in class
This story is too funny not to share. My study group mate Prothit missed the first day of the summer term because he decided to stay at home in Delhi for the Cricket World Cup final. (GO INDIA...Whoop!). When he made it to London, it was about midnight and the immigration line was long (as usual). The funny part was that the immigration officer asked him to name the 4 P's of marketing to prove the he was studying at London Business School. HAHAHA!!! The immigration officer could've look at his Tier 4 visa in his passport but thought this question was a more appropriate way to see if he really was reading for an MBA.
