Cake Taste Testing: Part 2

Posted Thursday, January 07, 2010 12:40 AM

As mentioned in yesterday's post, FH and I were scheduled to visit 2 more bakeries this morning.  We first went to Creative Kitchen.  They had strawberry mousse filling that was yummy, but the prices quoted to us were expensive.  We were told it was because creating the flowering branch would be so labor intensive.

On a side note: Creative Kitchen is not only a bakery/caterer but also a store.  They sell all sorts of neat kitchen utensils, dinner ware, and other nifty stuff.  Right as FH and I were leaving the place, I saw a heart shaped, shaggy rug made from strips of red, pink, and white fabric.  I liked it so much I (almost) immediately decided to get it.  I've decided to save it and put it away for now.  FH and I will start using it, probably as a mat in the kitchen or bathroom, after we're married!

The second baker today was a local Harp's store.  The prices quoted to us were less than what we were quoted earlier but still more than I wanted to pay for the cake.  Again, the reasons were because of the fondant and labor for making the blossoms and branch.  We weren't able to do a taste testing today, so if we are still interested in Harp's, we would need to schedule another meeting with them.

Both FH and I like to have strawberry in the cake in some form, whether it's the cake (sponge), filling, or both.  We're most likely going to stick with white on the outside so no strawberry there, except my sister/MOH suggested making the outside a dark blue so the cherry blossom pink would stand out against it and we would be able to incorporate both of the wedding colors.  I'll have to see what FH thinks about that and if it's not poisoning to use so much food coloring as I would assume you would need to color the whole cake.

Another suggestion from MOH was to just have floating blossoms all the way around and not have the branch.  That would reduce the amount of fondant used, work done by the baker creating and shaping the branch, and hopefully reduce the price of the cake.  I think it's a good idea.