A couple of months ago I was invited by Hunny Bunny's Cake Factory, a newly opened cake business in Dubai, to try out their homemade cupcakes. As a self-declared dessert connoisseur I always jump at the chance to try out locally based baking businesses, and can understand how much work and effort goes into creating a good cake or cupcake - the base, the right balance of icing to cake, and flavour intensity are all factors which are crucial. Not that it means these factors ever go right for me!
As well as cakes, Hunny Bunny's has an extensive list of cupcake flavours to choose from, whether the more traditional or creative, both in taste and presentation. I decided to opt for their more original creations, going for the Absolute Arabian, Crazy Caramel, Happy Hi-Hat and Bombastic Banana. It had actually been a while since I had eaten any cupcakes at all so I looked forward to tasting them with enthusiasm. The verdict? They definitely did not disappoint!
Absolute Arabian
With a coconut cake base and orange blossom and rosewater buttercream topped with pistachio slivers, this combination makes for a very pretty cupcake. By now you already know that I'm a sucker for anything rose water, orange blossom and pistachio flavoured. I also really love coconut so I couldn't wait to try this flavour the most and boy was it good. I absolutely loved it! There's something so good about the nuttiness in a coconut cake and together with the floral frosting it lent an amazing combination both in texture and taste!
Crazy Caramel
This one is for the salty-sweet fans - salted caramel cupcake with salted caramel frosting and a pretzel on top. I had never tried a caramel cupcake before this and was really pleased that it wasn't as super sweet as you might imagine with most caramel flavoured desserts. The cake and frosting both had a pleasant caramel flavour, and the added hint of salt imparted that lovely contrast which makes salted caramel so irresistible!
Happy Hi-Hat
This is seemingly just a chocolate cupcake, but once bitten into the chocolate dome reveals a fluffy meringue frosting encased inside the crispy exterior shell. So cute, and the meringue frosting was a lovely alternative to buttercream - think marshmallow pillowy-ness on cake! I loved that it was a different way to enjoy a chocolate cupcake and the cake base itself was perfectly chocolatey.
Bombastic Banana
This cupcake is Hunny Bunny Cake Factory's take on a banana split with banana cake, strawberry buttercream, chocolate ganache, whipped cream style frosting and a cherry on top. It not only looks party perfect but with all the classic layers of a banana split also tastes like a party! The banana cake didn't have any of the artificial banana flavour you often get with banana desserts, and considering the number of toppings added it was indulgent without being overly so.
Although my favourite's were the Arabian and Crazy Caramel it was hard to find any fault with all of the flavours I tried. They equally tasted how they read and none of the ingredients were crazily overpowering or too jarring. This went for both the cake base and the frosting as well as the toppings.
How often have you eaten a cupcake only for the buttercream frosting to be far too sweet making it difficult to enjoy more than one cupcake in a sitting? With these cupcakes this wasn't the case - the frosting had just the right amount of sweetness and in addition it didn't overpower the cake bases. Similarly the sweetness of the cake itself too was balanced, with the cake to frosting ratio just right. I easily enjoyed two to three cupcakes in one go (don't judge!). As for the texture and baking quality, the cake base's were all moist, fluffy and neither over nor under-done. I would have happily eaten them even without the added frosting!
I cannot recommend Hunny Bunny's Cake Factory enough - if you're looking for quality cupcakes in both traditional and unique flavours you can't go wrong in choosing them for your special occasion or just as a special treat.
Order straight from their website at http://www.cakefactorydubai.com/ or call/whatsapp on +971568460856
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Instagram: @hunnybunnys_cake_factory
Facebook: @hunnybunnycf
Twitter: @hunnybunnyscake
