It’s hard to imagine that cupcakes and Red Velvet cake were virtually unknown in the UK before Tarek Malouf opened the first Hummingbird Bakery on London’s Portobello Road in 2004. The Hummingbird Bakery has recently celebrated its tenth anniversary and has London-based bakeries in South Kensington, Soho, Spitalfields, Islington and Richmond, with three bakeries in Dubai. Since the very first day it opened its doors, everything at the Hummingbird Bakery has been baked fresh, with each site having its own kitchen and baking team, making sure the authentic American cakes and desserts taste as close to home-baked as possible.
Tarek grew up in London, attending the American School in London and later university in London and Los Angeles. While working for America’s ABC News network, he noticed that the range of indulgent, high-quality cakes and bakes loved by Americans was almost non-existent in the UK. He decided it was time to bring these treats to the British public. After sampling more cakes than he should, and attending baking classes in New York in order to understand the different ingredients and techniques, the next step was to devise recipes and test them over and over on friends and family, and thus the Hummingbird Bakery was born. Tarek lives in London and Life Is Sweet is his fourth cookbook.