Restaurant review: Cupcake Cafe Bar, Westerwood Farm, Torphichen, Nr Edinburgh

Worth the journey as cafe’s cup runneth over with tasty treats

IT has to be said that the Cupcake Cafe Bar is a weeny bit out of the way. OK, it’s just 14 miles from Edinburgh Airport and a stone’s throw from the historic West Lothian town of Linlithgow but it’s not exactly what you’d call on the main drag.

However, if you’re looking for a tranquil atmosphere to compliment your cuppa and cupcake, the cafe’s rural surroundings certainly fit the bill.

And if there is anyone who can draw customers to such an off-the-beaten-track location, it’s the sugarcraft master and one half of the pair behind the bar, Paul Bradford.

The Bathgate-raised baker is Scotland’s leading novelty cake creator, whipping up quirky numbers for footballers, celebrities and royalty in Britain and Monaco, a talent which saw his business – run with partner David Brice – expand rapidly over the course of just a few years to include a concession in Jenners department store and a shop in Corstorphine.

Now he concentrates on running cake-decorating courses at his Sugarcraft School based on the same site as the cafe, Westerwood Farm, and working as a consultant for the company he founded, Truly Scrumptious Designer Cakes.

The cafe itself offers breakfast till 12, then lunch till 5pm including homemade soups, sandwiches and toasties. But obviously no visit would be complete without a cake, chosen from a wide selection of flavours, and fabulously decorated with glitter, sprinkles and curls and topped with a generous swirl of icing.

There’s also the chance to admire some of the imaginatively designed birthday and celebration cakes, waiting to be collected.

Cupcake Cafe Bar, Westerwood Farm, Torphichen, Nr Edinburgh, EH48 4NQ, 01506-654 697