Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Sugar High: The Search For The Perfect Wedding Cake

While the hunt to find the perfect supper for our laid-back wedding left our taste buds missing the "dating stages" of caterer-hunting, we thought that at least we have cake to taste.  Lots and lots of it.

That is until I started calling around for prices of wedding cake.

I still cannot believe that prices that some places can charge for just one piece!  There was complete sticker shot when you multiplied that by the number of guests we approximated that we would have.  And while I am sure that those cakes are absolutely delicious and unbelievably beautiful, our pockets aren't bottomless & we are pretty wise to know that money doesn't grow on trees.  

Our cake inspiration was pretty simple.  I mean, I am by no means a cake decorator, but little dots can't be that hard right?  We wanted something that was simple and... well instead of trying to paint a picture with words let me just, well, show you what I was sugary sweets had me drooling:




Image via Ruffled / Cake: Brookshire Brothers / 


Photographer: Katie Day

I just love the swiss dot look of a wedding cake, especially with the idea of our vintage cake topper gracing the top layer. Oh so simple, yet oh so gorgeous.

So we decided to start by ordering cakes for family birthdays and get togethers from local bakeries that lie right in our own neighborhood.  

The cake that we ordered for my out-of-town Aunt's birthday when she and her family visited from Bakery X (that both our moms frequented after Sunday mass) left us a little disappointed I must say.  Bakery Y in our neighborhood was good.  But our tastebuds just didn't jump up and down when we ate the small cake we ordered just because it was Friday.

That's when I remembered that Grandmom Sweet Cream's sisters from upstate couldn't get enough of a certain-someone's German sticky buns when they came in to visit.  Super sweet, super cool Godmom Sweets made a super secret exit while they were chatting away and got them a dozen to take back home with them.  They all squealed with glee.

Now I've only had  devoured this famous bakery's infamous German sticky buns with the ridiculous cream cheese frosting that you just know heaven is made of....but what about their cakes???
 Just Look!!! Look at those buns!
Image via My Glamourology

Sure enough Fritz's Bakery has such fantastic cakes.  We should know.  We tried them all during the course of a strip of family birthdays that took place January well through April.

The San Francisco (a three-layer  cake with fresh strawberries, bananas, custard & whipped cream) is my personal favorite.  We actually tried it out on my very own birthday.  

Mr. Sweets' favorite?  I think it was the Chocolate Cheese Dream (a three-layer chocolate cake with a cheesecake center... and to top it off, a whipped cream cheese and chocolate fudge icing)... or was it the Peanut Butter Cake (a two-layer cake with a thick PB Mousse filling and a rich chocolate icing)? 

To tell you the truth, I don't even know if Mr. Sweets could pick a fave if he tried!

But I guess what I'm trying to say is... that we found our cake!  Well cakes I guess I should say.  

For our traditional wedding cake, we decided on Fritz's pound cake with their whipped butter creme filling and icing (except for the bottom layer, which will feature a raspberry filling too.  I'm talking serious yum).  

And since we loved all of their other cakes... we are ordering them too so that we can have as a valley of cakes for those chocoholics, those who fancy fruit or crazy-PB-lovers on our guest list.  

I have vintage cake stands to display the variety of confectionary sweets besides our wedding cake.  I was thinkin' a little something like this...
Image via Oh So Beautiful Paper / Photographer: Punam Bean

And the icing on the super delish cake?  The total bottom line for our 3-tier cake and 4 additional cakes is a whopping total of 290 dollars.  I think it winds up being a little over a buck a slice, which was sugary sweet music to my ears after said previous sticker shock.  Delicious AND cost-effective!

So there you have it.  We just hope that there's lots and lots left over!

So tell me: What does your cake look like? What flavors will be gracing the outside and in between?  Did you chose fondant? Buttercream? Chocolate?  How many cakes did you try until you found "the one?"

NOTE: For anyone who lives near Bucks County or will be visiting near there in the future: go.... no! run to Fritz's Bakery and order one of their sticky buns...or any of their cakes for that matter.

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