Lovecrumbs

Aside from the great name, there’s plenty to like about Lovecrumbs. Mostly, that this cake-only café laughs in the face of savoury, and chooses to embrace only the sweet stuff. Sandwiches and soups are firmly off the menu, although teas, coffees and rather tasty hot chocolate are all on offer to wash that last little morsel down. Lovecrumbs is set just beyond Edinburgh’s busy Grassmarket, nestled close to two of the city’s best vintage clothes shops (Godiva, Herman Brown), and near the odd – whisper it now – strip bar. Dreamt up in 2011 by cake lovers Rachel Morgan and Hollie Reid, its current home on West Port opened its doors in 2012. The idea was simple: celebrate all things cake with fresh buns, tarts, brownies, pies and bundt made daily.

There’s plenty to help you pile on the pounds here, and notable highlights include a rich, salty peanut butter chocolate tart, and a moist and fragrant violet and blueberry cake. Those with a savoury tooth can munch down on a rogue cheese scone. The space can feel a bit cluttered when it’s full to capacity (which is the norm on a weekend), but the vintage, upcycled look works nonetheless. A nice touch, too, that the day’s cakes are laid out in a Narnia-style wardrobe, with helpful descriptions scrawled on a blackboard alongside.

Don’t be fooled by the students who sit there, laptops on knee: the window seat may look cosy, with its bright oversized cushions, but you’ll be glad you bagged the somewhat comfier couch if you’re planning on staying for a decent blether. Coffee comes from Edinburgh’s own Artisan Roast, and the tea from utterly charming traditional tea house and antiques store Anteaques, whose own outfit can be found in Clerk Street.