Sunshine Bakery: Chapel Allerton Leeds

 

Now I'm on maternity I have entered the realm of 'ladies what do lunch' and my friend was keen to try out the Sunshine Bakery. It's really cute and bijous - we had to leave the pram outside. They now have a terrace and so on a day like today (28 in Otley!) it would be great. It is inspired by a Parisian bakery and so is decorated in lots of opulent pinks - so my friends' little girl blended in well!

I have blogged about it before here and had a deliciously light and fruity strawberry cupcake before - but this time opted for the cookie cupcake above. It had cookie pieces in the chocolate sponge, chocolate ganache and strawberry ganache topped with cookie crumbs and a piece of home made cookie. David, the owner and main baker, won best cupcakes of the year and says his secret is ground almonds to replace some of the flour to keep the sponge light.

I am always impressed by the reasonable prices too - they had giant cookies for a £1, delicious brownies for £1.50 and cupcakes for £1.75. This is such good value compared to the cupcakeries in London that offer dry and quite average cupcakes in excess of £3!

We only went for afternoon tea and so have yet to try the sandwiches or award winning sausage rolls and pastries - but there were plenty of customers popping in for savories too. Their website includes their full menu and address etc.

 

I love that as well as tea (last time I tried the hibiscus tea and it was lovely) they also have classy soft drinks like Fenimans. I adore the Rose Lemonade with ice - so refreshing.

We both got some brownies to take-away with us - the two choices were crunchie or malteaser flavour. I got one of each and shared them with my OH in the evening and they were fudgy and delicious.

Overall: 

• some of the best baked goods in Leeds
• reasonable prices for great quality ingredients
• lovely terrace for sunny days
• Burger clubs on Sundays and a good savory menu too
• a great place to meet up with friends  
• they also have stalls at local markets like the Kirkstall Deli market that I reviewed here

Kirkstall Abbey Deli Market: Leeds

It's a Saturday in Leeds and the sun is out Leeds List tweeted about Kirkstall Deli Market and we decided this was a good place to check out. It is on from 12-3 on the last Saturday of every month - check out the website for more details.
I love markets with local fresh produce, but also cuisines from around the world and this is what we found here. 

 Canadian stall - just in time for Canadian Day!

 Yorkshire Pies

 Salts Bakery

 Stalls selling local produce from their allotments

 Plenty of tasters and free samples - this chipolata ketchup was seriously spicy but very tasty

 My husband's lunch of Nepalese curry from The Hungry Buddha

 My personal favourite stall - The Yummy Yank

 In the gorgeous surrounding of the Abbey

 Yummy brownies from the Yummy Yank (find her on twitter here: Lisa Gair @TheYummyYank)

 These slices with reeses pieces and oreo are the tastiest thing on her stall

 This is where I got my lunch - a sweet potato falafal wrap with hummus and taziki

The Hungry Buddha

We are definitely going again in July and I look forward to trying out some of the Mexican food then...

Outsider Tart: Chiswick London

So a few months back I was in London staying with my sister and she was working so I had the day to myself. She suggested I braved the Circle and District line and went to explore Outsider Tart. It is a cute little local bakery owned by two American guys who she said are a real scream as she had attended one of their cookery demonstrations. They are called David and David and she felt I would particularly enjoy chatting to the Southern David who is a real joker and we could have chatted about my days at UGA! Sadly after the trek from North London they weren't in the shop but I settled on a carrot cake whoopee pie and a key lime pie soda (they have a great range of American sodas) and sat for an hour chatted away to the waitress and a local who was a real hoot (as if I can't remember her name - I can do a great impression of her east end accent though!) and she even walked me to the nearest tube stop afterwards. I think this community sense is what they are all about and what they stand for - perhaps why they opted to open their shop in 'local' area as opposed to central London where it would be mostly tourists not local customers.
Since publishing their book they said many fans are making it an essential stop whilst visiting London, despite it's less than central location. They have a delicious range of bakes and I also tried their Mile High Club slice which had oatmeal and raisin cookie dough chunks and was gorgeous. Their bakes are all inventively named and all look just as tasty and full of different American style flavours and a refreshing break from cupcakes and other recent baking trends.
Their signature bake is their Hepburn brownie which has a delicate Cinnamon flavour and is pictured in the middle (I picked up these slices at their market stall - check out their blog for details of when they will be a food markets).

 

They have won an award for best shop design and I believe non-Southern David was formerly an architect. It has got a very welcoming feel with the bar with cakes on and stools so that everyone is sat together and can chat - as we did. Lots of locals popped in as they stock lots of American goodies like pancake batter, American sodas and lots of cake mixes etc.
So if you're in London I would highly recommend a visit - if not check them out at one of the many foodie markets.