Wedding Blog

With so much money going into the wedding, I’d have to say that the wedding cake is near the bottom of my list of priorities. Mr. Eggplant and I will be hosting a chocolate fountain for guests, and Mr. Eggplant thinks this should cover the “dessert” portion of the meal. I agree, although I see the wedding cake as a fun tradition (and a really cool photo-op) that I don’t want to completely eliminate, even with a dessert bar. Using my female powers of persuasion, I was able to convice (brainwash?) Mr. Eggplant that we should still order a wedding cake, but keep it simple and inexpensive.

Luckily, there’s a great little bakery in the bay area called The Cakery that sells reasonably priced wedding cakes that taste good and actually look quite pretty. It’s a simple pastry shop with no frills (not even a website), but what they lack in amenities, they make up for in price. I researched many bay area bakeries before settling on The Cakery for both value and quality. Last weekend, Mr. Eggplant and I traveled to Burlingame, CA for a cake tasting session.

The Cakery Bakery. Say that five times fast.

Our cake samples.

We knew we wanted hazelnut cake because unlike the chocolate cake, hazelnut was moist and light (similar to the spongy texture of cakes found in Chinese bakeries). The Cakery pepared hazelnut with four different fillings: Grand Marnier, mocha, chocolate, and apricot.

Cake all gone! (*burp*)

This is the silver stand that will display our cake at the wedding.

A snapshot of what we are modeling our cake after (designed by Sylvia Weinstock Cakes in NY and found in a recent issue of Elegant Bride). We’re ordering a three-tiered cake that will serve around 130 people. Additional sheet cake (which was very reasonably priced) will be purchases for the remaining 70+ headcount. The Cakery’s prices included fondant covering which surprised me because typically fondant work is additional $$$ and very expensive. Instead of the sugar flowers pictured, we’ll be using silk or real flowers to save even more money.

One last picture outside their window of wedding cakes.

I’d have to admit that the cake at The Cakery wasn’t my favorite of the cakes that Mr. Eggplant and I tested. By far, Draeger’s had the best tasting cake out of all the bakeries we visited and their customer service was superb. We sampled a white cake with fresh strawberry and Grand Marnier filling that was to-die-for. Mmmm, it was so good. But alas, the prices at Draegers were way out of our budget and a wedding cake would’ve cost nearly twice what we’re paying at The Cakery. Well, one can’t have it all! I’m just happy we get a cake, period. After all, Mr. Eggplant was pretty set on not getting one at all!

Overall, I’m very satisfied with the combination of value and quality that we’re getting at The Cakery. I’ll keep you updated as to how it turns out!