Wedding Cake Tasting Grand Finale

We found the perfect wedding cake at Satura Cakes in Palo Alto. I always have a good experience eating the baked goods from this bakery. It is a Japanese European bakery, so the cakes are not as sweet, yet the flavors are still really intense. Plus, the presentation of the cakes are really nice. Once, I went with a friend, and she said the cakes almost look too pretty for consumption.

This was by far the most professional cake tasting experience that we had. We went for our appointment, and the catering manager brought out a big plate with 11 different kind of cakes. The attached picture is not taken by me, I found it on Yelp, but I thought it gives a rough idea of the crazy amount of cakes that we got. She gave a description of each cake before the tasting, and the order of the cakes start from the lightest to the richer flavors towards the end (again, the order was a bit different from the picture).

1. Strawberry shortcake
2. Shortcake with mango-passion fruit cream and red currants
3. mango coconut mousse
4. green tea cake with vanilla cream
5. chocolate cake with caramel-mocha cream
6. chocolate cake with chocolate cream
7. carrot cake with cream cheese frosting
8. red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting and fresh blueberries & raspberries
9. triple chocolate raspberry with raspberry preserve
10. classic chocolate - rich chocolate sponge with light & dark chocolate mousse
11. yuna - rich chocolate cake with bittersweet whipped ganache (gluten free)

I enjoyed most of their cakes, except the chocolate cake with caramel-mocha cream because I don't like both caramel and mocha, and the yuna, just because it is a gluten free cake, and hence left a strange after taste and the texture was a bit odd. However, it was definitely one of the best gluten free dessert that I ever tasted.

My all time favorite from Satura is the Strawberry shortcake - the sponge cake is light and fluffy, and the fresh cream and strawberries are just to die for. Matt loved all the chocolate cakes that we sampled (no surprises there), but our favorite was their classic chocolate. The chocolate sponge was moist, and the milk and dark chocolate mousse gave it a more intense flavor, plus the toasted almonds on top added a nice touch to the cake. One cake that we both really liked was the green tea cake. The green tea flavor was subtle, and the combination with the vanilla cream worked really well. You first taste the vanilla, then later you can taste the green tea. These are our top three choices, and will be the flavors of our wedding cake. I am very happy with our pick, and hope everyone will enjoy the cake on our big day.

Overall, the wedding cake tasting experience was pretty good, but I am glad we finally made a decision on where to go. How can you complain when you get to eat all these cakes, right?

Wedding Cake Tasting Part II

2 weeks later, we ventured out to Icing on the Cake in Los Gatos. First thing you will notice when you walk into this store is the strong sugary aroma that just lingers in the air. Since they have 2 complimentary wedding cake tastings every month and they do not take reservations, you can imagine what a mad house this bakery was when we walked in. We had to wait about 30 minutes before we got served. While we were waiting in line, I got a chance to look around the bakery. The decor in the bakery is defintiely cute, and and not only do they sell cakes, cookies, cupcakes, they also sell cute little plates, mugs, cupcake holders, etc.

The tasting here was somewhat different than at Prolific Oven. There, the cake manager just brought out the flavors that they have for us to taste; here, they give you a sheet with their different cake flavors (8), fillings (8), and icings (7), and you pick which cake you want with which filling in the middle, and what icing on the top. So theoretically speaking, you can have a total of 8x8x7 combinations. However, certain cakes only go with certain filling and icing, so if the manager thinks that you have created a strange cake, he will advise you otherwise. We actually did very well, he only changed one out of the 6 cakes combo that we picked out.

Below are the flavors we tried (cake+filling+icing):
1. Chocolate buttermilk+chocolate fudge+white buttercream
2. Chunky carrot+cream cheese+cream cheese
3. Fresh banana+chocolate fudge+cream cheese
4. Classic white+raspberry+white buttercream
5. Marble+almond buttercream+almond buttercream
6. Marble+mocha buttercream+mocha buttercream

The first reaction when I took a bite into the cake was - jeez, the icing is extremtly sweet! After several bites, I think I adjusted to the high level of sweetness in the icing. I love the texture of the cakes here - they are just right, and absolutely moist. I think if I were to eat their cakes, I will just scrap off all the filling and icing, and I will be perfectly happy just eating the chocolate buttermilk cake. One of their icing I really liked - the almond buttercream. The marble cake with the almond buttercream was my absolute favorite that day. Between the 3 of us, we picked out 3 of our top choices - chocolate+fudge+white buttercream, marble+almond buttercream, and white cake+raspberry+white buttercream. I must say the white cake and carrot cake here pales in comparison to the one at Prolific Oven. Matt prefers the Prolific Oven to Icing on the Cake, but I think Icing on the Cake actually has better cakes than Prolific Oven. Plus, the designs of their cakes are much better that at Prolific Oven. However, Matt being Matt, said that he will be fine with either of the choices. I on the other hand, still find these cakes too sweet for my palette. I never understand why a lot of these American bakeries put so much sugar in their product that it just overwhelms the real taste of the cakes. Plus, the buttercream icing is just heavy, I want something lighter. So, I am still on the quest to search for the perfect wedding cake.

Wedding Cake Tasting Part I

For the past month, we have been cake tasting. The first place we went to was Prolific Oven in Palo Alto. We tried a total of 6 different cakes - carrot cake, chocolate rum cake, chocolate mocha cake, orange almond cake, white cake with raspberry filling, and a chocolate orange almond cake. In general, the cakes were decent, although I do find them to be too sweet. Matt didn't seem to have any issue with the 'too sweet' part. Plus, the texture of the cakes is a bit more 'crumbly' that what I normally like. One nice thing is that we can pick to have 3 different cakes for the 3 tiers of our wedding cake. Overall, our favorite cake from the Prolific Oven is the carrot cake. If we were to order our cake there, we would have picked the chocolate rum, orange almond, white cake with raspberry filling, and of course the carrot cake. The designs of the cakes were alright, nothing really caught my eye. One thing that I really did not like is that they usually freeze their wedding cake after they make it, so the cake will go through a freeze/thaw cycle, and I find that a bit disturbing since who knows how much that will affect the texture of the cake. Oh, and since this was our first cake tasting, the 3 of us gobbled down all the cake and was on sugar high the rest of the day, hehe.

After that, I went to Sheng Kee, a Chinese bakery, since I really like light fluffy spongy cakes. I asked if they offer a cake tasting service for wedding cake. The lady behind the counter looked at me as if I have gone nuts! She just pointed at the cakes they sell, and said - pretty much this is what you will get - vanilla sponge with cream, chocolate sponge with cream, or orange sponge with cream. So I ended up buying these cakes and brought them home for our self made cake tasting session. I have always love Sheng Kee cakes because they have a great light texture, and the flavor is not overly powerful, plus the dosage of sugar is actually reasonable. Matt said that although they were delicious sponge cake, they were not fancy enough for a wedding cake. I do have to agree, plus the ability to get 3 different cakes did not seem to be an option at Sheng Kee.

So the hunt continued...

Happy Birthdays to Mark, Sophya, and Michael. Can't wait to see you guys.