LET THEM EAT CAKE
What’s great about London is that there’s always something new for you to see, do or eat in the city. In terms of quirkiness, it has some catching up to do compared to places like Japan or Singapore, but we’re getting there! I’ve recently noticed a bunch of fun dessert places popping up around town, perfect for a post-shopping treat on a Saturday afternoon or a catch up with friends.
Freakshakes
from Molly Bakes, 450 Kingsland Road, E8 4AE
So these seem kind of excessive (can anyone actually finish a whole one?)… but I still want to try one! They just look so crazy and indulgent!
Macaron Ice Cream Sandwiches
from Yolkin, 40 Great Windmill St, W1D 7LY (check website for current location)
Most of the time I’d rather eat a Ladurée macaron, but these colourful ice cream macarons are really cute and perfect for summer.
Bubble Waffles
from Nosteagia,168-175 Shoreditch High St, E1 6HU
Bubble waffles are basically just normal waffles in a different shape, but the genius is in the toppings. For 50p per topping, you can add as many as you like! Go crazy! Choose from Nutella, M&Ms, Oreos, peanut butter, strawberries, bananas, cream, and a few more.
Cookie Shots, Cronuts, and Frozen S’mores
from Dominique Ansel Bakery,17-21 Elizabeth Street, SW1W 9RP
The inventor of New York’s famous cronut is now in London too! I really want to try the frozen s’mores: ice cream inside a brownie, wrapped in warm, freshly toasted marshmallow.
Crazy Frozen Yogurt
from The Sloane Brothers, 214 Brick Lane, E1 6SA
Okay so it’s not really called ‘crazy frozen yogurt’, but I still think it’s crazy. I mean, just look at the toppings! Sloane Brothers self-describe themselves as “the most fantastical frozen yoghurt in the land”. I went for natural yogurt with strawberries, a piece of homemade brownie and caramel sauce and it was DELICIOUS! Definitely have to go back and try the dulce de leche flavour.
Matcha Everything
from Tombo, 29 Thurloe Place, South Kensington, SW7 2HQ
Tombo is more matcha-crazy than anything I’ve seen in Japan! You could easily overdose on green tea here, with five different types of matcha drinks and pretty much every possible form of matcha dessert available. The afternoon tea looks amazing!
Pretty Eclairs
from Maitre Choux, 15 Harrington Road, SW7 3ES
You may have seen these on Instagram already – they’re a fashion blogger favourite. SO. PRETTY. Each one is like a tiny work of art. Made by three Michelin Star pastry chef Joakim Prat, they’re also supposed to be the best éclairs in London.
Unicorn Poop and Cereal Cocktails
from Cereal Killer Cafe, 139 Brick Lane, E1 6SB
I have to say, Cereal Killer isn’t my favourite concept – it’s mostly just overpriced cereal. I do like the quirky cereal box decor though and the idea of selling cereal from around the world is pretty genius.
Duffins
from Bea’s of Bloomsbury, various locations in Bloomsbury, Maida Vale, Farringdon and St Paul’s.
Yep, you guessed it – it’s a cross between a muffin and a doughnut. I promise you though, the Nutella-filled duffin will not disappoint. It’s like a doughnut cake filled with chocolatey deliciousness.
Nitro Ice Cream
from Chin Chin Labs, 50 Camden Lock Place, NW1 8AF
Chin Chin is apparently Europe’s first liquid nitrogen ice cream parlour, and The Times named it the best ice cream parlour in England. The ice cream is frozen to order here and they always have vanilla, chocolate and a couple of specials (check their website). Guaranteed to be delicious!
Update: they are now making ice cream tacos and toasted marshmallow-topped hot chocolate! *heart eyes*
Biskies
from Cutter & Squidge, 20 Brewer Street, Soho, W1F 0SP
So I’m not entirely sure what “biskies” are, but they’re definitely some of the prettiest sweet things you’ll find in London! Cutter & Squidge are also doing the most incredible-looking Hello Kitty afternoon tea this summer.
Ice cream Cookie sandwiches
from Milo and Hector’s, Brockley Market SE4 1UT and Primrose Hill Market NW3 3DS
I reckon these little beauties are going to be super popular in the summer months! Who wouldn’t want “all-natural ice cream cookie sandwiches with awesome flavour combos and toppings” on a hot sunny day?
Ice cream cookie sandwiches (again)
from Blu Top, Kerb: King’s Cross and West India Quay, and Druid Street Market
Please forgive me for featuring so many ice cream sandwiches – it seems like they’re the hot new thing for this summer in London! Blu Top promise to give you freshly baked cookies and homemade ice cream with some fun toppings. Mine will be red velvet cookies with lucky charms as a topping, thanks!
Vegan Froyo
from Yorica, 130 Wardour Street, W1F 8ZN
If you’re looking for “free-from” treats, Yorica is the place for you. Everything on the menu is bound to put a smile on any lactose intolerant, vegan, gluten-free, nut allergic person! The only problem is choosing what to order… matcha rice milkshake? gluten-free cone filled with vegan cookies & cream ice cream? or vanilla frozen yogurt with multicoloured sprinkles?!
Doughnut Bites
from You Doughnut, Kerb and Dinerama
This is one of my absolute favourites and is such a treat when I visit Dinerama. Warm little doughnut balls, covered in delicious salted caramel sauce and crunchy pecans, mmmm… just thinking about it makes me drool! My favourite kind of doughnut.
Candy Floss and Soft Serve Ice Cream
from Milk Train, 44 Bedford Street, Covent Garden, WC2E 9HA
So apparently this dessert concept is pretty common in Asia but this is the first place in London to serve soft-serve ice cream with candy floss and other toppings. Choose from vanilla, matcha or hojicha (roasted tea) ice cream and toppings like popcorn, biscuits and Oreo.
Icelandic Soft Serve Ice Cream
by Bears Ice Cream Company, 244 Goldhawk Road, W12 9PE
A few years ago I said to my family what a great business idea it would be to open an Icelandic ice cream shop (and hot dogs – see my post about Icelandic food) in London. Someone actually made it happen! As a (half) Icelander, this is something I am very excited about! Made with the best ingredients, these soft-serve ice creams can be dipped in chocolate and topped with nuts, fruit or sweets.
Caramel Everything
by Fatties Bakery, Druid Street Market on Saturdays
Caramel heaven! Fatties Bakery produces a variety of baked goods but what I really want to get my hands on is the salted caramel hot chocolate with a marshmallow rim. Looks incredible!
The Ice Cream Crone
from DumDum Donutterie, Boxpark Shoreditch E1 6GY and Harrods SW1X 7XL
Why have a cone when you could have a crone? Or if you’d rather just have a doughnut, try the Zebra: layers of croissant dough and chocolate croissant dough, filled with chocolate buttercream and topped with chocolate ganache.
Homemade Pop Tarts
from Café Miami, 24 Lower Clapton Road, London E5 0PD
I think this is genius! Why had I never seen homemade pop tarts before?! Makes me wonder what else should be homemade… their homemade smores look pretty epic too.
Japanese Taiyaki Ice Cream
from Bake, 9 Wardour St, London W1D 6PF (Chinatown)
These fish-shaped taiyaki waffle cones have been a huge hit in London. Filled with matcha or vanilla soft serve ice cream, they are a cute way to cool down on a hot summer day.
Coconut and Charcoal Ice Cream
from Soft Serve Society, Unit 35 BOXPARK, 2-10 Bethnal Green Road, London E1 6GY
I’ll let you decide whether you think grey ice cream is appetising or not, but the general consensus is that Soft Serve Society’s ice creams are deeelicious! Also available with a candy floss topping.
Phew! That’s a lot of sugar, isn’t it? I’ve been adding to this list over the past few weeks and I’m sure it will keep expanding. Please let me know if you have any sweet suggestions – even internationally! I’d love to write something similar for desserts around the globe.
What’s your favourite dessert in London?
Have I missed anything quirky? Let me know!
Rosy Flynn
May 29, 2016right so that’s me selling up and moving to London then.
Rosy | Sparkles of Light Blog
Liz Salthouse
May 29, 2016MMMMMMMMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!!!!!!!
Emma @ AdventuresofaLondonKiwi
May 31, 2016Get. In. Mah. Belly.
Lynne Webster
June 1, 2016I need those doughnut muffins, they look incredible!! xx
http://lynnethy.blogspot.co.uk/?m=1
Claire
June 3, 2016That vegan ice cream looks like a little bit of me!
City Cookie
June 13, 2016I haven’t actually tried it yet but I can hear it calling my name!
Anna
June 3, 2016OMG they are all amazing! Digging those bubble waffles!!
City Cookie
June 13, 2016What could be better than a cute waffle with ALL THE TOPPINGS?!
Kylie Neuhaus
June 3, 2016Oh man I’ve gotta get to some of these! I’ve got a couple of trips to London coming up so I may have to treat myself!
City Cookie
June 13, 2016Go on, treat yo’ self!
annaDishes
June 3, 2016Oh my gosh! This is all so gorgeous! I neeeeeed some of these in my belly.
City Cookie
June 13, 2016I know how you feel! These beauties need to be eaten!
Martha Jane
June 4, 2016I’ve saved this for later, because I need to visit as many of these places as possible! x
Martha Jane | http://www.marthajanemusic.com
City Cookie
June 13, 2016Quite the bucket list isn’t it?! xx
Hayley at Quirky Little Planet
June 5, 2016Oh my goodness! They all look amazing! Pinning this for next time I’m in London 🙂
City Cookie
June 13, 2016Thanks for pinning! Which ones do you think you’ll try first?
She Said Yes - Website & Blog
June 7, 2016Those Freakshakes look so good! We have something similar in Auckland now (Cereal Killa) but these look worth checking out too! xx
City Cookie
June 13, 2016Ohh cool! I’m starting to think about a next post about desserts around the world and Australia has plenty of amazing options.
Aditi Chauhan
June 7, 2016Mouth wateringly amazing. Those freakshakes are to die for!
Jennifer Morrow
June 7, 2016Yum, London offers some really crazy food options. Most of these look way over the top, but I would try them anyway!
City Cookie
June 13, 2016It seems like the trend now is to go more and more over the top! I wonder what the next trend will be.
Christine M Leger
June 7, 2016I have a giant sweet tooth and Germany just isn’t cutting it. I will have to try these when we go back
City Cookie
June 13, 2016Wouldn’t it be cool to do some kind of treats tour / dessert crawl in London?
Marta
June 7, 2016Oh my, oh my, it’s dinner time here and all I can think of right now are those duffins! i didn’t know they existed but all I need to crave them is your photo 🙂
City Cookie
June 13, 2016Filled with NUTELLA! It’s like they read my mind.
mishvo
June 8, 2016Wow this is such a creative and interesting post! I’m surprised at how many options you had to choose from to cover here. I’ve actually been to the nitro place when I was last in London – not really on purpose, just saw the smoke inside and wanted to see what the deal was. It honestly just tasted like regular ice cream haha.
City Cookie
June 13, 2016I was surprised too! London has so much to offer 🙂
Good to know about the nitro ice cream – at least it looks nice!
Divya Rai
June 8, 2016I have no idea what brought me here, but all I can say is, that I have put on 5kilograms just by reading through this. What an absolutly yummy post!
City Cookie
June 13, 2016I’m glad you made it here! You’re safe, internet calories don’t count 😉
Sheri
June 9, 2016Good gracious yummyness galore!!!!!!!!!! I could eat from the screen! All the options available. We have nice treats here but nothing remotely close to this.
City Cookie
June 13, 2016Hahaha! I’ll be using “Good gracious yummyness galore” next time I have dessert!!
Linda
June 10, 2016oh no! why did you post this?! how can I get through my day now….. You already had me at the first pictures…. I need to get to London… NOW! 😉
City Cookie
June 13, 2016I’m so sorry Linda, I hope you made it through the day without running over to London!!
Tamshuk Saha
June 10, 2016This post is pure evil.. I’ve put on some weight over the past 45 days at home. After seeing these pictures I got a dessert craving now.. 🙂 🙂
City Cookie
June 13, 2016I’m so sorry!! 🙂
epepa
June 10, 2016Omg I didn’t see that… It’s my 2nd day of diet and it sucks and those desserts look so yummy… No, no, no!
City Cookie
June 13, 2016I’m sorry!! Stay strong!!
Rashmi&Chalukya
June 10, 2016OMG these are so tempting why we didnt we get to read such a post before our visit, we would have definitely tried each one of these. They look so delicious and drool worthy.
City Cookie
June 13, 2016Might be worth another visit?!
Liana
June 10, 2016WOW, this is amazing! I love every kind of your pics! I do have a preference for the all matcha yogurt thing and obvs the crazy frozen yogurt! They look so delicious! x
http://tomboychronicle.com
City Cookie
June 13, 2016Thanks! Matcha isn’t everyone’s cup of tea (pun intended) but it’s becoming super trendy now!
Vyjay Rao
June 11, 2016All of them look really out of the world and could seduce even the most hardened, I for one am bowled over by each one of them.
City Cookie
June 13, 2016Sweetness to make your heart melt! Which one is your favourite?
Jona | Backpacking with a Book
June 12, 2016My god! These sweets will seduce the hardest non-sweet tooth humans like me!
Travelerette
June 12, 2016These all look amazing! I love macaron ice cream sandwiches. But what exactly is unicorn poop?
City Cookie
June 13, 2016That is a very good question!! I think it is a magical sweet concoction.
Jojo
June 13, 2016So much sweetness! I have been seeing a lot of the “bubble waffles” in Hong Kong but I am not sure how I would like them because I like my egg waffles a little crispy. I do want to try though! And the macaron ice cream.
City Cookie
June 13, 2016They were a little bit crispy! They’re great because you can choose from so many toppings!
Jessica Friend
June 14, 2016This is so good, quite frankly its not fair! I’m in Shoreditch on Friday and at least one of these places will be on my list!
City Cookie
June 17, 2016Let me know if you do try one of these! I might pop down to Shoreditch this weekend just so that I can have another froyo! x
Steven Kreimendahl
June 14, 2016This looks amazing. If I could just print these pictures out and eat them, I would!
City Cookie
June 17, 2016Same here! Can someone please bring me an ice cream sandwich?? 🙂
www.kidfriendlyeurope101.com
June 18, 2016Maybe they can make an ice cream 3D printer.
www.kidfriendlyeurope101.com
June 14, 2016So how long did you stay and how much did you gain? Kidding. I’m drooling looking at your photos and I’m kicking myself for not knowing about these awesome places before we went to London this past November. Om nom nom. Oh yeah I shared your link. =)
City Cookie
June 17, 2016Haha! So I have to admit that I haven’t eaten all of these things, except with my eyes! Great excuse(s) to visit again? Thanks so much for sharing!! xx
www.kidfriendlyeurope101.com
June 18, 2016Say wha??? Lol its the perfect excuse!!
Fábio Rosado
June 20, 2016Wow so many goodies! All of those desserts look amazing!
Cereal killer is one of my favourite places 😀
Becky
August 9, 2016Oh my all these treats look amazing! If you go into The Canvas Cafe near Brick Lane they also do vegan freakshakes!! 🙂 so cool x
http://www.wanderergirl.com
Anne-Sophie ~ City Cookie
August 9, 2016Oooh VEGAN freakshakes? I’m always amazed by vegan desserts. Thanks for the tip! I’ll add it to the list 🙂 x
Larissa De Corves
May 10, 2017HeyBeauty! May I ask, what plugin do you use for Instagram? much love!
Anne-Sophie ~ City Cookie
May 18, 2017Hi Larissa! What do you mean? On this post I’ve just embedded each image from Instagram 🙂 x