Oh my sweet tooth – or rather, my 32 sweet teeth!
They were in for quite the sugar high earlier today over afternoon tea at Cutter and Squidge, the Soho-based bakery that’s home to the biskie among other treats…
If you’re ever passing down Brewer Street, there’s a slim chance you’ll miss this cheerful café with its enticing displays of dream cakes (decadently layered sponge cakes) and signature biskies – an exquisite mix of biscuit, cookie and cake, these pretty little hybrids sandwich all imaginable fillings from caramels to homemade jams.
Both are included in the recently introduced afternoon tea offering alongside a smattering of teatime goodies, all brought out in bamboo steamers – a subtle nod to the fact that C&S use all-natural ingredients, free from artificial colouring, flavouring and preservatives.
We started the feast on a savoury note with smoked cheese & black pepper scones. Although they weren’t all that pretty to look at, I have to say that we found ourselves relishing each crumbly bite, liberally slathered with cream cheese and a tangy roast-pepper salsa!
While our selection of finger sandwiches included the likes of Sriracha-egg; smoked cheese & roasted onion; and a lovely roast pepper and hummus sandwich.
It was then on to the main event, centred on a showstopper of a dream cake.
After much deliberating, we went with a slice of salted caramel – moist salted caramel sponge layered smoothly with a salted caramel buttercream, and yet more salted caramel in the form of a sticky sauce soaking through the sponge.
What’s remarkable is that despite all that salted caramel, the cake wasn’t cloying or overly heavy at all, likely due to the lightened buttercream used at C&S, which halves the amount of butter and sugar normally used in baking!
To deftly balance all that sweetness, we plumped for a matcha heaven biskie – a beautiful combination of bittersweet matcha green tea and raspberries, which lent just the right amount of tartness.
The final act was a moreish mix of sweet treats which came in all shapes and sizes, from an indulgently smooth chocolate and coffee-based mousse…
… to the softest and most pillowy handmade marshmallows; coconut cookies; honeycomb dream bites; and blueberry cake truffles (the meteor-resembling confection pictured below) which yielded a soft explosion of sweet and zesty flavours! Even the chocolate brownie impressed with its subtle richness elevated by a thick lashing of salted caramel on top.
As for the tea itself, we chose from Cutter and Squidge’s own loose leaf blends as well as their selection of Oomph-ades – white tea, coconut or sparkling water infused with fruit and botanicals, these iced teas are ideal as we step into spring!
I loved the passion fruit and green-tea based concoction, which did much to revive and refresh, preventing us from falling into a sugar-induced state of food coma that afternoon.
From the relaxed and friendly ambience, to the scrumptious spread – the entire experience was definitely one that this sugar junkie would repeat in a heartbeat, especially when the Hello Kitty pop-up opens in the cafe’s basement this June. Kitty’s mud pie chocolate dream cake anyone?!
And the fact that after all that indulgence, I still had the stomach to box up some biskies to take away for later in the night, says it all methinks.
In fact all this writing has made me rather hungry, so I’m going to go have one now. KThanksBye.
Cutter and Squidge, 20 Brewer St, London W1F 0SJ
I was a guest of Cutter and Squidge, but as always I hog full credit for my opinions.
Òooooooooo get in mah tummy!
All so tempting isn’t it 😉
love!! can’t wait to head there and review it for myself!
Hope you have a lovely time 🙂 x
I always walk past this cafe and they have the most beautiful-looking cakes!
I love how the food is presented in those steam baskets, it’s so cute!
Honey x The Girl Next Shore
Aah it’s definitely worth popping in next time to try, the cakes are just divine! And the presentation really added to our experience as well 🙂 xx
Ooh thank you for the heads up about the Hello Kitty tea – my niece will love that!
From what I’ve heard, it’s going to be pretty incredible! Do let me know how you liked it if you go 🙂 xx
Thanks for your review ! This tea time looks very great and yummy. I want to know if you try the other layer cakes ? They seem to be big and weighty in mouth :O