Crumbs to Crunch

The Crumbs to Crunch sisters have always loved autumn colours . This year, I planned a special hike up Fukushima's most famous mountain, Mt. Bandai. Unfortunately, the weekend I chose for the hike happened to be right before typhoon Lan! Due to the lashing rain, we were forced to abort our walk. However, nothing eases wet weather blues like a nice cup of tea.  Mt. Bandai We found a charming little cafe called 1888, right next to the  Mt. Bandai Erruption Museum (a great little museum with information in English, well worth checking out). The name of the café refers to the eruption of Mt Bandai in 1888 which buried five villages and killed 477 people. Part of the mountain was blown off, creating the nearby Five Coloured Lakes (Goshikinuma).  Five Coloured Lakes (Goshikinuma) Ordinarily, 1888 would have a lovely view of the twin peaks of Bandai. However, due to the terrible weather, we could only just make it out in the mist! Even ...

Crumbs to Crunch have long been fans of the cake shop, Konditor & Cook . Over the years, their signature bake, the Curly Wurly (a dark chocolate sponge with vanilla cream cheese icing and chocolate curls) has been our birthday cake of choice. However, it is dull to eat the same thing so I popped into their London Bridge bakery to check out what else was on offer. As the weather is distinctively autumnal, I tried some pumpkin spiced cheesecake. The cheesecake filling was silky smooth, not too sweet and full of spice. The crumbly pastry base contrasted well with the filling. I also ordered the new sticky toffee cake. Sticky toffee pudding is my favourite dessert and this cake version did not disappoint. The toffee cake was sandwiched with caramel, smothered in mascarpone icing and drizzled with toffee sauce. So often, toffee flavoured desserts just taste of sugar but this cake was spot on.  After trying these sweet delights, I can't wait to go back to try some mor...