Tastings of Cake

Over the weekend we met with two potential cake bakers, one Saturday morning and one Sunday afternoon.

The tasting on Saturday morning was at a local bakery/ coffee shop that does a lot of wedding cakes. The tasting was $10.00 per person and $20.00 of that would go towards the final bill if we chose to get our cake from their shop. We invited our parents along. At the bakery we were brought three cupcakes each. One white cake with maple Italian buttercream frosting, a red velvet with cheesecake buttercream frosting, and a chocolate with American buttercream frosting and a blackberry filling. We tried our best to sample each cake with each frosting. Matt and I liked the American buttercream better at the beginning of the tasting because it was thicker and had a sweeter taste, but by the end of the tasting were so overwhelmed with richness that we preferred the smooth, light, fluffy Italian buttercream. Though we all agreed that the "maple" in the frosting was lacking. Another negative was that the yellow cake cupcake wasn't cooked well. It was kind of hard- either stale or overcooked. The most negative part of the experience, however, was when the baker explained the pricing to us. There was, seemingly, a never ending list of additional fess- Rental fees, delivery fees, filling fees, frosting fees, design fees... the list went on and on. In my mind I couldn't help but compare the bakery shop to an airline...

The tasting on Sunday afternoon was at a local baker who runs a small wedding cake business out of her home. The tasting was free so we decided not to take advantage and just the two of us attended. The baker brought out three cupcakes, each cut in half. She had emailed me earlier in the week asking what flavors I would like to try, something the bakery shop didn't offer. Unbeknownst to me I chose a very similar selection to what we were given at the bakery shop. We tried A white cake with an almond buttercream, a red velvet cake with original buttercream, and a chocolate cake with white buttercream, and maple buttercream filling on the side. I started with white cake, since that is my least favorite. I was floored by the moistness of the cake-- but that didn't compare to the deliciousness of the frosting. All three of the cakes were incredibly moist and delicious. The kicker was that the maple filling tasted exactly like the famous maple creme donuts I had as a child from our local donut store. The baker then explained the pricing, which was far simpler than the bakery shop. And then, to top it off, she gave us an actual full price quote! We basically wanted to sign her on the spot. Instead we drove home and emailed her as soon as we walked in the door.

Another check on our list! The cake is decided!