UPDATE: Apparently this has now moved to a shop opposite Woolworths. Not sure where that is!…read more Update on the update: Turns out the 'move' was actually another pasty chain opening... Cornish Bakehouse is still in the same place. This is a tiny little shop with barely room for four or five customers to stand inside. And in fact there's often a queue right out the door. The reason is the delicious pasties, which really are the best I've ever tasted. Historically Cornish pasties were made with a thick crust along one edge: miners, covered in toxic dirt in the tin mines, held their dinner by the crust and then threw it away, and so avoided touching what they ate and poisoning themselves. Though we think of them with a stuffing of meat and vegetables, they could actually have contained many different fillings, savoury and sweet. Anyway, there's no need to throw away the crust on these: even the pastry is delicious. There's an excellent range, including the conventional and a fair few vegetarian options. I never seem to be able to resist the spicy chicken: big hunks of real chicken breast (no reconstituting or water padding here), potatoes and a lovely sweet and mildly spicy sauce. Or you could have lamb and mint, beef and stilton, pork and apple, spicy vegetable, cheese and onion or more. I hear they have branches in London too now will have to check them out!

I adore cornish pasties at its a delight to be able to enjoy them in Swindon of all places! Lamb…read moreand mint, apple and pork, or just the original and best!

To my knowledge Sugar Celebrations is the only dedicated cake accessories shop in Swindon. They…read moresell a wide range of cake making goods from cake tins, colourings, stencils to home made chocolates, cakes for all occassions, icing and cake toppers. They also rent cake tins for a reasonable price of £3 for 2 nights (you can extend this). Staff are very knowledgable and have ordered me items from catalogues on request at no extra price.

One of the best feelings is stumbling onto something by accident. In this case it was a cupcake…read moreshop! On my first visit, I stopped in quickly just to get a little treat for Mr. Snarky as he had said that he hadn't had lunch yet. I know... I should have gotten him a sandwich, but I didn't hear him complaining about the cupcake. While I took notice that it was a cute shop, I didn't really get to have a look around. Cupcakes are £1.50 and at that price, one could very easily get in trouble. On the first visit, I bought a Strawberry and Cream Cupcake and a Snickers Cupcake. The frosting is quite sweet, in fact I would say that it is one of the sweeter frostings I have tasted. I didn't get a bite of the Strawberry and Cream cupcake, however, I did get a peak of the surprise bit of strawberry filling in the center of the cupcake. The Snickers Cupcake is a yellow cupcake with chocolate frosting, a drizzle of caramel, and a slice of a Snickers bar on top. There is another surprise... a bit of peanut butter in the center of the cupcake. On the second visit, I had a bit of a nose around and you can see some of the designs they create for cakes... and if you stand quite far on the right (facing the till) you can see a glimpse into the kitchen/workshop area. I saw frosting and fondant... clearly there was some decorating going on. I also noticed that they sell Tiffins and a couple of other desserts, so if cupcakes are not your thing, you might be interested in one of those. I had trouble deciding on two more (one for me and one for Mr. Snarky... this sharing business is for the birds!). I chose another fruit based one for Mr. Snarky, the Raspberry and White Chocolate. Then I was stuck. The girl behind the counter asked me which ones I was stuck between. So I told her a chocolate one or the Carrot Cake. She suggested the Carrot Cake and seemed very excited about it. I just had the Carrot Cake with a bit of tea and I have to say, it is not my favourite Carrot Cake. What I did like is the fact that the Carrot Cake was not super sweet because the frosting was very sweet (including a little fondant Carrot on top). However, I didn't taste a lot of spice in the Carrot Cake, but it was very moist. The frosting didn't taste like a cream cheese based frosting, which is what I prefer for Carrot Cake. While I might not order another Carrot Cake, I would happily order another Snickers cupcake. I am patiently waiting for Mr. Snarky to try his cupcake... maybe I'll get a bite :)