Something for Your Cake Hole

Think all cupcakes are the same? Think again. Peggy’s Cupcakes are different. I’ve done you all a little favour by trying 7 different flavours, just make sure they really are extra moist and unctuous. It was the least I could do in the name of research. The one woman baking machine behind Peggy’s cupcakes is actually called Rosalind (Peggy being her mother’s name) and when I contacted her about this post, she kindly invited me over for tea and er, cakes, of course. I found her just up the road from me in Forest Hill (SE London) - her house easily identifiable by the candy stripe painted cupcake delivering van parked outside. Rosalind’s background is in graphic design and painting and her creativity shines through in the cakes. She fashions some of the decorative sugar flowers using moulds made from pieces of jewellery for example and makes bespoke cakes such as these recent golden sparkly numbers to match a customer’s opulent party theme. On arrival Rosalind offers me a cake to try and after some anxious deliberation I go for the pear and cardamom. The flavours are stunning and I am surprised at just how dense and moist the cake is, with big juicy chunks of fruit. This is a relief as I often find cupcakes a bit dry, spongy and dull to be perfectly honest. We also agree on the cake-frosting ratio – not too much on top. There’s nothing worse for me than a towering pyramid of icing, sickly sweet and intimidating. None of that nonsense here. These are as cupcakes should be – like their full size counterparts but just a little more cheeky. Oh alright then…and more girly. Apparently the vanilla and chocolate flavours (below) are the most popular with customers but I seriously urge you to try the pear and cardamom, the carrot, the lavender and rose and the lemon curd centred cakes. Rosalind makes her own lemon curd and it is spot on – sweet but grown-up, with a good burst of lemon tang. She also makes her own vanilla extract by the way, steeping vanilla pods in vodka for six months (something which I will be trying at home). It is this attention to detail which makes the cakes so special. The word has clearly got out too as Rosalind has just had to hire a baker to help with orders and is now branching out into wedding cakes. Peggy’s cupcakes will, of course, be at this year’s Real Food Festival and I know for a fact she can’t wait to see people’s reactions to her cakes so get in there quick and try one before everyone else beats you to it. If you can’t wait until then get yourself down to Sweet Desserts Boulangerie and Patisserie in Exmouth Market, The Brunswick Market or Partridges (Sloane Square). Helen Graves also writes her own London-based food blog, Food Stories.