Ella's Yummy Delights, Brighton

Jordan and I recently went back home to the south coast to enjoy the sea air and glorious spring weather. We whizzed over to Brighton one afternoon and found ourselves strolling down the Laines with my camera in tow marvelling at the antique markets and stalls filled with exotic stones and jewels. We've lived here for most of our lives but I still have yet to grow tired of everything this city has to offer.

We were determined to find somewhere that would welcome us in and allow us to nurse our food babies (from our lunch at Burger Brothers - post coming soon!) with freshly brewed coffee and tea. I think we've found it. Ella's Yummy Delights - a café nestled between a row of independent shops and restaurants on Queens Road, a short walk from Brighton train station. Step inside and you'll be greeted with a warm 'hello', the smell of freshly baked cakes and quirky ornaments shipped in from Germany dotted around the shop. Check out those cow milk jugs - I'll take the lot.

It's a family run café by the loveliest mother and daughter team who constantly had a smile on their face and were more than happy to chat away whilst they were getting ready to recaffeinate us. We sank into the seats with our brew in hand (flat white for Jordan and a soy chai latte for me) and jealously watched generous slabs of cakes and pastries being served to hungry customers. I tried to wake up the special reserved spot in my tum for dessert but only received a lazy groan and a snore in response. I spotted a Chinese couple nestled in the corner with a giant chunk of cappuccino cake and warm biscotti pieces - they kept exclaiming loudly in Cantonese about how amazingly delicious it was.

Pfft, I'll be back for you, carrot cake *shakes fist*

You can find Ella's Yummy Delights here for your own piece of heaven.

The Steyning Tea Rooms

A few weekends ago, we decided to take a break from city life for some afternoon tea and cake. The Steyning Tea Rooms is nestled in the heart of a quaint little town of Steyning and it sits between independent shops bursting with antique furniture and boutiques filled with vintage gems.

It's deliciously British and the exterior alone is inviting enough to escape from our technology-filled lives for an hour or two, right? Spot the colourful bunting and flower baskets in front of the pastel painted door. Shall we go inside?

As soon as you step in, you're welcomed with the sweet smell of freshly baked cakes and a warm smile from the waitresses. It was completely full but we perched on a side table and waited for an available seat whilst drinking in the shabby chic inspired interior.

Shelves were adorned with hand painted ornaments and different shaped teapots. The wooden chairs didn't match and were gathered around tables decorated with flower pots and bowls of sugar.

I felt like a character from a fairy tale: Little Red Riding Hood at her granny's humble abode for a slice of cake or two. It was magical.

We were presented with a laminated menu of sweet and savoury choices ranging from a hearty fry up, hot bowls of homemade soup to a medley of baked goods. It would be a crime to not indulge in a slice of cake before washing it down with some tea served in a delicate teacup and saucer, eh?

I opted for a teapot of lapsang souchong and Jordan had his caffeine fix with a cappuccino. We shared a generous slab of Victoria sponge and were told upon ordering that it was a customer favourite. The sponge was light, the filling had the right amount of sweetness and it tasted home baked in the best possible way. I wanted to curl up in a quilted blanket and read my favourite book stopping only for a bite of this. One slice was plenty and left us room for the giant fruit scone that arrived with its accompanying pots of clotted cream and strawberry jam.

The picture above doesn't do this sultana filled scone any justice. It was huge and even sharing half of one initially seemed difficult to finish (until we slathered it with the spreads and realised that we'd make room in our stomachs for this). It was still beautifully warm from the oven and no crumbs were spared. It wasn't dotted with delicate sugar roses or piped with a ring of rich buttercream icing but it didn't need the fancy frills and decorations. It's a classic staple of British afternoon tea in its own right, it tasted decadent yet was still comforting.

Whilst I wouldn't complain of sampling fruit tarts and an assortment of macarons at a posh hotel, I have a feeling that it'd have a hard time beating the overall experience of a quick stop off at a tea room like this.

You won't be greeted with glasses of champagne or a cake stand filled with the very best fondant fancies and carefully decorated fruit tarts but you will feel like you're surrounded with the loveliest home comforts with rickety furniture and a roaring fireplace all served with a china teapot and a mismatched teacup and saucer.

Who needs 5* hotels when you can feel right at home?

Cronuts/Crodoughs, Rinkoff Bakery

Rinkoff Bakery:
Addresses: 224 Jubilee Street, E1 3BS or 79 Vallance Road, E1 5BS
Tube Station: Whitechapel - Aldgate East 

[repost from my review on my fashion blog - it's more appropriate and it's too good to not share with you]

Ah, the cronut. A croissant-doughnut hybrid that's taken the baking world by storm and has earned itself a top spot in every pastry lover's wishlist. If you know me in real life, you've most probably heard me go on and on and on about wanting to try one since I first heard about them in May.

It was first pioneered by the genius Dominique Ansel for his bakery in New York. The queues were long and there were rumours that a single cronut sold on the black market (there's a black market for doughnuts? get me there) for over $40 a piece. My doughnut-shaped prayers were answered when I spotted a tweet from a bakery named Rinkoff Bakery selling a variant of the fried good 'the crodough' and it was only a 10 minute stroll from work. If I'm sinning indulging, you bet I'm bringing people down with me. I convinced 10 of my work colleagues to try it and after organising a bulk order of 17 crodoughs last Friday, I can confirm that the staff (and owner) is just as sweet as the goods themselves. I had such a positive experience with their customer service that I thought I'd just highlight that fact as I think they deserve that extra bit of positive recognition! : ) 

Two visits later, I've finally tried all four of the flavours (obviously for the purpose of this review) Warning: grab a bowl, you'll be drooling. Scratch that, get your Oyster card/train tickets out and be ready to run out of the door for these after this post.

[pictured above from t-b: toffee apple crumble and custard crodough]

Toffee Apple Crumble Crodough: £2.80
Rinkoff's description: filled with fresh apple and cinnamon, topped with crunchy crumble and drizzled with toffee.

If you're a lover of apple pie/crumble/cinnamon then feast your eyes (and stomach) on this. With your first bite, you're met with the soft sinking texture of a freshly fried doughnut. The aroma of the apple crumble filling inside then meets you and it tastes exactly like a just baked apple pie/turnover. It finishes off with the buttery layers and chewiness of a croissant. In other words, it's beautiful and I need to lay off the overly sexual descriptions. It's getting awkward.

You want a close up shot? Of course you do.

Custard Crodough: £3.00

Rinkoff's description: our custard crodough is filled with fresh custard with a layer on top for good measure

Do you have a sweet tooth? If so, this one's for you. There's a custard layer on top and it's filled with the stuff inside too. Some people mentioned that the taste was too artificial but I liked it. It reminded me of school dinners and impromptu desserts at home in the best way possible. It wasn't overly sweet and I can imagine this to be the perfect companion after a hearty British dinner in front of a crackling fire. Eating this obviously made me want to talk like a spiffin' ol British man too.

[pictured above from l-r: toffee apple crumble and raspberry crodough]

Raspberry Crodough: £2.80

Rinkoff's description: the raspberry Crodough is filled with jam and dusted with sugar with a fresh raspberry

Think of the best jam doughnut that you've ever had and multiply it by 10. I thought I'd like this flavour the least but it's surprisingly battling for the winning flavour. The raspberry filling has the right balance of a sweet, sour and sharp tang against the sugary dough.

Chocolate Fudge Crodough: £2.80

Rinkoff's Description: this Crodough is filled and topped with delicious chocolate fudge fondant

The chocolate ganache has the right amount of creaminess and isn't overpowering 'chocolatey' thanks to the mix of fudge fondant included. The flakes on top adds a nice texture to the crodough and differs from your average generic sprinkled doughnut. 

...and there we have it!

Are you now a drooling mess?

I thought so.

As much as I love them, I find half of a crodough to be the perfect portion size. They're huge and I'm somewhat obsessed with having everything in half portions. Don't fret your calories away, it'll give you the chance to taste another half of another flavour. Smart thinking all round.

Several restaurants and cafes dotted around London now stock them too so it's worth checking online to see if there's one close to you! It's definitely worth the extra walk (and you'll be thankful for it after you've eaten one of these)

As I'm feelin' extra cruel today, I'll leave you with a final image of the crodoughs.

Have you tried a cronut/crodough?
What are your thoughts on it? :)

Note: This post isn't sponsored by Rinkoff Bakeries. I just love anything to do with croissants/doughnuts and much like Pokemon, I gotta catch 'em all. I loved my experience with Rinkoff's crodoughs and customer service so much that this post was inevitable :)