Cake Tasting

Been meaning to blog about this for the past couple of weeks.  My fiancee and I did some wedding cake tasting when I was back in New York over the holidays.  The caterer we're using can make the wedding cake for an additional cost, but it's pretty expensive and we figured we might be able to do better -- on price and on quality -- if we just get the cake through a bakery elsewhere.  So we set up appointments to taste the caterer's cake, and taste the bakery's cake.  I expected the kind of thing I think I've seen on TV or in the movies -- a little plate with some tiny bites of cake on it.  We get to the caterer's office -- and he hands us an entire cake.  For us to take home and eat.  I thought this was strange.  Not just a bite, but a whole cake for free.  I guess they figure if we pick them, they easily make up the cost of the cake (and how much is the raw cost of a cake to someone baking tons of them anyway), but still, I was very surprised.  Then we get to the bakery, and the woman had cut slices of two different cakes for us to try.  We tried them, and liked them.  And then as we got up to leave, she boxed up the rest of both of the cakes for us to take with us.  So we ended up with three entire cakes.  This has the potential to be an excellent scam for someone bold and hungry for cake.  We didn't have to prove we were engaged or that we needed a cake, we just called and told them we were getting married and wanted to know if we could taste their cakes.  In theory, we could call ten more bakeries and do the same thing, and perhaps get ten more cakes.  It's insane.  Free cake.  Homeless people who are not worried about their blood sugar should just pretend they're getting married to other homeless people and they can go to bakeries and eat free cake.

The bakery, incidentally, told us their wedding cakes can come in 6 different choices of cake base -- vanilla cake, chocolate cake, mocha cake, banana cake, apple cake, and carrot cake.  And then there's space for up to 2 different fillings -- chocolate, vanilla, mocha, lemon, raspberry, strawberry, etc (she didn't give us the whole list of fillings).  I have to wonder -- I like carrot cake as much as the next person, but has anyone in the history of weddings ever chosen a carrot cake as their wedding cake?  Or a banana cake?

If it were up to me entirely, I'd like to have a wedding pie.  I like pie better than cake.  More fruit, less bread, not so heavy.  Maybe it's just me.  Strawberry-rhubarb wedding pie?  Would be seasonal, colorful....  

Anyway, the cakes were very good (although not so much after three days of being in the fridge) and we think we picked one.  I recommend cake tasting as my favorite of all of the pre-wedding chores so far (it beats registry shopping and band website browsing).

Comments

[Andrea]

I recently went to the wedding of a close friend who did just that - Instead of a cake, they ordered about 15 different pies, because they were always pie people. It was a huge success, and instead of people getting yet another wedding cake they'll never think about, everyone will remember the "pie wedding." It's nice to shake things up sometimes.

[Jessica M.]

My friend Vanessa had carrot cake at her wedding. They just really like it! (Go figure.)

[Jessica R.]

Whoops I forgot that I am now Jessica R. :)

[PG]

Raffi recommended Soutine's to me, and they made both our wedding cake and groom's cake. The wedding cake was of their own devising, but they were willing to make this recipe (http://cannelle-vanille.blogspot.com/2008/04/matcha-lemon-and-chocolate-opera-cake.html also via Raffi) for the groom's cake, which was great. They didn't give me whole cakes except for the groom's cake; I got samples of a bunch of their different cakes instead. I think that was better, since it allowed me to try about 12 different options.

The only trouble with pie is that it is generally sloppier than cake, which makes the big dessert-of-choice cutting (and feeding to new spouse) moment more difficult.

[Lemon]

My parents had a carrot cake wedding cake. Natch.

But as my mom said, back then wedding cakes were these terrible, dry, white cakes that tasted like crap, and they just wanted a good cake. Ah, the 70s.

[Java bean]

I saw one of those wedding shows where the bride and groom were Junk Foodies. They ordered tiers of donuts,Twinkies, Hostess cakes, etc. as their wedding desert. Yuck! Carrot cake is not so crazy. :)

How about Cheesecake? Lots of bakeries make cheesecake wedding cakes. It has the look of cake but is actually a custard pie (no bread except the crust). Plus, it tastes great with just about any filling or topping including rhubarb and strawberry.

[Goldilocks Bakery]

Its good that there's a cake tasting,on my wedding i like something different on my cake very delicious so sweet and yummy!

reign

[catering]

Hmmm! i like this cake tasting for my wedding cake i need it,thank you for sharing. :)

winnie

[stephanie]

I guess the traditional cake for weddings was a fruitcake, as it was a symbol of abundance and also it does well a year later if you save your cake. So I suppose carrot cake,being spicy and such, is not so far off.

I think pie is a wonderful idea...perhaps tiers of little mini pies.