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Cake tasting is hard to do.

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Gypsy

Gypsy

Super_Ideal_Rock
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I mean it.

It''s work.

This is the third time (third wedding planned) we''ve done it and after each tasting I feel sick over sugared and icky.

Went to Bijan in San Jose. The tiramisu cake was nice. The others were a waste of time. We tried chocolate mouse-- if there was chocolate in there for anything other than coloring I''ll eat the box-- princess cake (bland) and fresh strawberries (bland with strawberries). Pricing was really reasonable though. 535 includes 2 tier fondant in any design I want, includes all the fresh flowers for the cake and the delivery. It says it feeds 70 but it could easily feed more. Don''t need a layer to freeze.

So, that''s option number one. Got two more tastings this weekend. And I am NOT looking forward to them. My stomach is feeling all yucky just from this tasting. I can''t imagine eating cake on Saturday AND Sunday too.

I know... no pity. Boo hoo. But still, I do NOT enjoy this part of the process.
 
Oh, Gypsy! Cake should NEVER be work! How dare these bakers feed you cake that makes you wish you didn''t have to eat it! And charge you almost 600??? Oy, I''m sick just thinking of it.
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FI and I got really lucky and came across a woman at a small bridal show (the first we went to) that works from her house and makes the best cake I''ve ever tasted. Her slogan? "Saving the world from bad cake one slice at a time."

Any chance you can find a bakery that doesn''t really specialize so much in wedding cakes as just does them when asked? I think a lot of the wedding cake "specialists" get so caught up in the decorating that they pay no more than 0.00000001 seconds thought to making it taste good.
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Definitely keep us updated on the cake tasting front. I''d like to know where I should go when its time for me to look. Speaking of which, how far in advance should the baker be chosen?
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I know what you mean, thats why I'm so happy we liked the second place we tasted at enough to book it! And actually, I think part of the reason I was sold on it was that I didn't feel sick from too much sugar after eating their samples! :) But the first place I went to I just felt awful afterwards, both from the sugar and the difficult cake lady that we met with. So best of luck in finding a great place!


Not to thread jack, but I'm curious, do the prices of cakes really vary that much from different areas? Without looking at the to be positive on the exact amount, I think our cake cost a bit under 600, that was for 4 tiers, all the decorating (they're creating the topper for us too) and delivery. Of course it could just be I found a great place to get my cake from that tasted delicious and was very reasonably priced? I guess I didn't really pay attention to the other cake places prices as we knew we didn't want to get it from there... hmmmm


ETA: GoldenStar, at the end of January every cake place I asked told us not to wait too much longer than the end of February without booking our cake, and our wedding is in September. Now of course this could kind of be like wedding dresses where they want you to buy it NOW so they tell you to do it sooner than you really need to, but I wanted great cake so I wasn't willing to risk it!
 
I loved the cake tasting. We did three and I adored the place that we picked. Chocolate biscuit cake is going to make the base of ours and we haven''t decided on the other layers yet.
 
Try Jil''s European Bakery....I think it''s in Milbrae? or San Carlos?
 
Gyps, if I lived anywhere near you guys, I''d totally make your cake for a little over cost, and it would taste fantastic and not leave you all sugared out and feeling nasty. I know that feeling and had it lots during the baking part of school.

I''m sorry you had a bad experience. Cake tasting should be fun dang it!

And whoever said that most bakeries spend all their time making the cake pretty and forget about what it should taste like-you are so RIGHT ON THE MONEY!! These big bakeries use mixes for everything, fake whipped cream, shortening (read:pure hydrogenated oil a.k.a. trans fat) and Rich''s "Bettercream" blargh!!!!!!

Anyway, let me know if you want to get me a plane ticket!
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jk.
 
Cake prices are apparently very different from region to region. CA is expensive. Lady C... I've only enjoyed one cake tasting EVER and it was in DC. Hollin Hill Bakery Alexandria, VA. Best cakes EVER. They do cakes for Senate. I'd import one if I could they are THAT good.

goldenstar, I'll keep up with the updates, I promise.

Freke... the baker I'm meeting with on Sunday is supposed to be amazing. No freezing her cakes, all fresh REAL ingredients, and so forth. She works out of her house and only does a limited number of weddings a year. But she's REALLY PRICEY. She priced out a cake for me, and it was like 700, for her basics. And we aren't really the 'basics' types. She upcharges for every little thing too. So while I think I'm going to like her cakes, I'm cringing at the price.

We're driving WAY THE HECK out of our way on Saturday for another baker up in Marin (about 1.5 hours away from us) who is also supposed to be really good about all natural, locally grown materials, no freeze cakes. Her prices are better, and she's really friendly and overalll pleasant. Not that the other woman isn't nice as all heck, she's just really expensive.

I've been trying to shoot for bakers who work with local, all natural ingredients, who fresh bake and are known for TASTY cakes. I'm fine with a simple tiered cake with ribbons and flowers, or even just flowers. Don't need a fancy design. Would prefer an edible cake. lol.

scm... I could not find them, can you link me.
 
Take a prilosec (OTC)...then focus on tasting and spitting, like you''d do with wine. LOL! Trust me, spitting of cake CAN be done discreetly.
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RI is one of the more popular areas of the country to get married in due to the Newport Mansions so I''ve found that a lot of the vendor rates are inflated to be closer to those of a large city like Boston or NYC. I''ve gotten a range of quotes on the cake below-one large enough to feed 100-from $350-$600 including delivery charges. If you look closely at the cake, you''ll see that this is the most basic of white buttercream frosted cakes with just the chairs fence, brown sugar added. We don''t want the sea shell accents. So when I saw quotes for upwards of $600 I laughed. We''re gonig to set up a tasting with the $350 vendor soon.

But that''s my cake!

Wequassett%20Wedding%20Cake.jpg
 
Let''s see if it works this time...
 
I give up
 
Gypsy have you tried looking up bakeries on www.yelp.com? If the reviews aren''t good enough posting or searching in the Talk section can be helpful. No idea on pricing really I haven''t gotten to that stage yet. I''m definitely interested in reading about the prices you''re coming across though!
 
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Date: 2/29/2008 2:57:01 AM
Author: monarch64
Take a prilosec (OTC)...then focus on tasting and spitting, like you''d do with wine. LOL! Trust me, spitting of cake CAN be done discreetly.
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Click to expand...
I think I am going to employ this method. Discreetly of course.

Hudson,I would like to see your cake very much. There is one woman we are meeting with next week who works out of her house and bakes fresh with good ingredients and she''s significantly less pricey than the rest, and still has good referrals. She''s an odd duck about certain things though, and I think her cakes are going to be saccarine sweet, so I''m not counting on it.

Hi Violet, I''ve used yelp a bit,and a lot of other websites. I didn''t know about searching through their boards, but will do that too. I''ll keep you updated as things progress.
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http://www.yelp.com/biz/bijan-bakery-and-cafe-san-jose#hrid:StIhSwIIEEAgShJbg0GRbA/query:bijan Yelp review for the bakery we went to Bijan. Apparently the tiramisu is generally liked. Baffling to me is the raves about the princess cake. It was just a waste of calories IMO, but what do I know. We went to this bakery cause my mom insisted on it.

Aki in San Jose is suppposed to be very good too. One of my coworkers suggested them. And if the bakers I''ve already scheduled don''t come through, they are next on my list of possibles.

Copanhagen has a good reputation too, though apparently.
 
Gypsy, I don''t know if this would be too far for you to go, and they''d probably charge for delivery to SJ area, but the Buttery in Santa Cruz is awesome! I am getting my cake through them, but I haven''t gone and done official tasting/pricing yet. I was at a few bridal shows and saw Just Cake which is in Capitola, and they are the type described above where the cake and decorating is beautiful, but the the flavor just isn''t there. They are really famous actually, and have been featured on the Food Network etc... but the cakes from the lesser known Buttery were 10x better in flavor. Just a suggestion if you haven''t found a cake after your weekend tastings.
 
Gypsy...Since you''re adverse to the saccharine sweetness I''d start looking for a baker who uses Italian/Swiss buttercream-it is frosting with real butter, sugar and egg whites-and it''s NOT super sweet, but it uses all real ingredients and it''s harder to make because it''s halfway made on a stove (meringue) and then whipped like crazy with the butter. If they don''t know what it is-RUN! But the women you''re looking at sound pretty good. Italian/Swiss buttercream is an ivory color due to the yellow of the butter so keep that in mind.
It''s what I''m going to have on my wedding cake because it''s yummy!

Stay away from American buttercream-that''s the stuff with the hydrogenated oil, and sugary sweetness. And it''s cheap because its just shortening, a little water, and sugar thrown in a mixer and left to beat forever more. No skill involved. And its nasty nasty in my opinion. I''m getting nauseous just thinking about it.

Feel free to ask if you have any questions.
 
Wedding cake is spose to taste good?
Iv been too one wedding that had good tasting cake and it was from walmart LOL
All of the others have been real bland or downright yucky!
 
Date: 2/29/2008 2:23:24 PM
Author: strmrdr
Wedding cake is spose to taste good?
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That''s the GOAL anyway. Actually the NYE wedding we went to in NY (Flowerfield in Long Island, NY ) had a FABULOUS cake. TDF. The design was not to my taste. But it was delicious.
 
Date: 2/29/2008 1:29:30 PM
Author: BriBee
Gypsy, I don''t know if this would be too far for you to go, and they''d probably charge for delivery to SJ area, but the Buttery in Santa Cruz is awesome! I am getting my cake through them, but I haven''t gone and done official tasting/pricing yet. I was at a few bridal shows and saw Just Cake which is in Capitola, and they are the type described above where the cake and decorating is beautiful, but the the flavor just isn''t there. They are really famous actually, and have been featured on the Food Network etc... but the cakes from the lesser known Buttery were 10x better in flavor. Just a suggestion if you haven''t found a cake after your weekend tastings.
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I don''t know if they''d deliver to Livermore, but I''ll ask. That''s a key thing for me. I''m NOT taking on liability for cake transport. No pick up the cake-y. You dropy the cake off. Leave. With cake in one piece. I''ll pay for the delivery.
 
Strm you need to have one of my cakes. :)

Gypsy- Fat Angel-you need to have a tasting. I don''t know what kind of buttercream that they''ll use, but everything on their website looks fine...I''m thinking of calling them myself and asking about what type of buttercream they use just because their emphasis is on organic "slow" ingredients. ("slow" meaning from the general area that isn''t shipped from somewhere else)

Sue Faina- Looks like she''s all about flavor. Her pics of cakes-the ones that aren''t totally pixelated look ok, but nothing fabulous. I think from what you''ve said that you''re more interested in flavor than look anyway? Correct me if I''m wrong. And you should post a pic of what look you''re going for! Anyway, it seems as though she depends on flowers to decorate the cake, and if it tastes great-thats fine, but I wouldn''t expect anything fabulous from her.

Glass Slipper Gourmet-looks alright. One thing they scored a point with me on is that they have croquembouche mentioned. What I don''t like about them is that they cook on the side instead of baking. That makes me think that they just do wedding cakes on the side. Which means that they aren''t their central focus. Not a good sign in my opinion. It''s like saying, we aren''t good enough to just bake, but we do wedding cakes for extra $$$. Or, we''re not good enough at cooking to just cater, so we do cakes on the side. Basically in the culinary world, there are bakers/pastry chefs or chefs/savory food cooks. They don''t usually combine because the needs are different in the kitchens and the requirements are different in the cooks too.

Blah I''m going off on a tangent. I''ll look at it more later.
 
It bothered me that glass slipper gourmet didn''t have any pics of cakes (easy access at least-I didn''t look too hard yet) and that-to me is a huge warning sign.

Dammit, someday when I make cakes out of my house I''m going to have a nice website with amazing pictures of my amazing cakes. And I''m going to say WHAT KIND OF BUTTERCREAM I USE.

Sorry.
 
I''ll ask them today what ''type'' of buttercream they use. I can tell you bijan''s was the "NASTY" type. *shudder*
 
Are you going for tastings today?
 
No tastings today thank god. Tomorrow is Fat Angel. And Shannon from Fat Angel said that it's Italian/Swiss... stovetop ton of butter the whole nine yards. Sue doesn't take calls on Fridays, Saturdays or Sundays, and I left a message for Kelly (glass slipper) to get back to me. So I'm a little more enthusiastic about tomorrows tasting.

She fresh bakes all her samples for tastings (actually all of the remaining bakers do). Here's what we asked for from her-- 2 samples:


The first would be a dark dense chocolate cake with a dark or bittersweet chocolate mouse type filling and Grand marnier either in the mouse or brushed on the cake. Butter cream frosting on there… if you can add in some orange rind or orange flavor to the buttercream that would be awesome.

The second would be her citrus cake with some type of citrus/ ginger filling. Like a cream cheese with ginger and citrus or something. We love candied ginger, and I think it pairs well with citrus, particularly with meyer lemons or oranges and orange rind so I asked her to think something up to wow us.

We'll see.
 
As for design:
My dress is ivory so I'm fine with an ivory cake.

http://weddings.theknot.com/ODB/themes/realweddings/detailview.aspx?id=25000&type=3%2c11&wedding_details=Cake&pageindex=4 With flowers to match my bouquet on top.

http://weddings.theknot.com/ODB/themes/realweddings/detailview.aspx?id=20821&type=3%2c11&wedding_details=Cake&pageIndex=15



Or a smooth finish with orange ribbon around each layer like this one: http://weddings.theknot.com/ODB/themes/realweddings/detailview.aspx?id=22068&type=3%2c11&wedding_details=Cake&pageIndex=11



Three or two layers. Either some icing design and flowers on top. Or no design and a ribbon with flowers on top. Really basic wedding design.
 
The only cake tasting we''ve had so far is with our caterer. We had a chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream. An almond cake with fondant. And a yellow cake with raspberry filling and italian buttercream. I don''t think we''re getting the cake from them, but the italian buttercream was really tasty! Much more so than either the fondant or the buttercream.

I have the type of sweet-tooth where I love the corner slice of a supermarket sheet cake. Sugar sugar and more sugar. So I can''t imagine cake tasting being bothersome!

Gypsy - your cake choices sound yummy and unique. I love chocolate and orange together.
 
Okay so if you are in Marin... or the bay area and feel like going to a tasting in Marin... Fat Angel is worth it if you want the real deal: a fresh cake that's not saccarine sweet and uses fabulous ingredients but a pastry chef who knows her stuff.

Unless Sue REALLY manages to knock my socks off tomorrow, we're getting our cake from Shannon at Fat Angel.

First we tried the chocolate. I had asked for a dense dark bittersweet cake with a heavy decadent mousse... and OH MAN did she deliver. It was all that and more. VERY good.

And then.... THE CITRUS CAKE.

OMG. The first bite was heaven. And we finished THE WHOLE THING. It was a citrus cake which is like a white cake but with lime, lemon and orange rind in it. With a ginger cream cheese and orange rind filling that was TDF.... AND she had topped it with the lightest most LUSCIOUS whtie chocolate buttercream ever. It was TDF. Everything was fresh, and top quality and so very good.

Shannon herself is SUPER nice, no nonsense. Knows her stuff is good and accepts praise graciously and humbly. No funny businesss with nickle and diming you for everylittle thing either. Her price is 6 dollars a person. She does alll the delivery and set up herself. And her delivery charge is VERY reasonable considering she's in Fairfax and I'm in Livermore. There are places in Walnut Creek (30 minutes away from LIvermore) that won't deliver cause it's too far and not cost effective for them!

So, we have Sue's tasting tomorrow, and since I know she's fresh baking two cakes for us, I feel obligated to go. But I'm FULLY expecting to order Shannon's Citrus, ginger, which chocolate concoction tommorow night following Sue's cake tasting.

Shannon's shop is totally unassumng, and typical bakery with cookies and sticky buns and so forth in picturesque downtown Fairfax, so I was totally unprepared, despite the raves on the website's I'd trolled for that wonderful citrus cake.

Now if you want chocolate decacence... the other one we tried is DEFINITELY worth tasting. John was in LOVE. But we both agreed that the citrus was totally unique , lighter and just fit the wedding of it all better than the dense chocolate of it all. But trust me I will be ordering that chocolate cake for another occasion.

So... Freke, honey you are TOTALLY right about the buttercream. I don't know WHAT Bijan had topped thier cake with but it was from a different planet than the lucious goodness that covered today's cakes. I'm a convert. Itallian or swiss or WHATEVER it was buttercream all the Freke-ing way...
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And guess what? I GORGED myself of that cirtus cake, and no icky tummy at all. Great cake.
 
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