A Mini Pastry Safari - Mayfair to Soho
One of my dear friends had a milestone birthday in June I wanted to plan something fun, memorable, and most importantly, delicious, to celebrate. What I came up with was brunch followed by a pastry safari around Mayfair and Soho. There were six of us and initially I had a list of fourteen places to visit. The idea was to get a treat at each place and share it, and with a handful of ladies, we could hopefully try lots of bites of many different desserts.
To start the day we had Brunch at Hide- a Michelin star restaurant that does an elevated but very approachable brunch. Top tip, if you are doing a pasty safari eat a savoury brunch or breakfast that day.
After a leisurely brunch we made our way to our first stop in Burlington Arcade,
Laduree
The macarons here are divine. Perfectly flavoured, and melt in your mouth delicious. As they are hard to share, we each got our own flavour. Next up was
Le Café by Nicolas Rouzaud
Also located in Burlington Arcade, this is a newer cafe, with a playful and welcoming interior, and a pastry case full of delicious treats, both savoury and sweet. We opted for the raspberry brioche and chocolate chip cookies. Both absolutely delicious, and both worth going back for. Then onto
Fortnums
Head to the basement where you can find their baked goods. We picked canelé, one peach, one blueberry pistachio. They were crispy on the exterior and light and fluffy in the middle. Absolutely perfect. Just around the corner from Piccadilly we stoped into
Cake and Bubbles
Their take on cheesecake is simply divine. I ordered the cheesecake to takeaway as we were eating on the go and wanted to make it to our next stop before some of the ladies had to head off for school pick up duties. We didn't have to walk far to get to
Crumbs and Doilies
We were going to get mini cupcakes to share, but when we walked in they had the viral dot cakes so we opted to try the chocolate one. At this point we were getting full and we looked over the remaining places on the list. With school pick ups looming and our tummies beginning to protest, we decided this was the perfect time to stop of safari and end on a note of sweet contentedness.
We only visited five of the fourteen places on the list, but I call it a win. It was so fun to walk around with friends, eating delicious treats. London rewards those who go on a pastry safari :)
