Finally, the last of my trilogy of trilogies of cake tastings. This time around, we looked at bakeries that were supposed to be more reasonably priced, at least according to Yelp reviews.
Bakery 7 – Jen’s Cakes
I called Jen’s Cakes after reading positive reviews on their cakes and pricing on Yelp. I called their number and spoke with Jen, who got my basic wedding information and said I’d get a call back later from Anthony (her husband) on scheduling a cake tasting. He did call back, and I arranged for us plus my mom to check out their cakes at their home the next Saturday afternoon, as they were in the progress of moving their bakery from Los Gatos to Willow Glen.
At their home, we were greeted by Anthony. Anthony organizes all the cake tastings, as well as helps deliver cakes, so he’s probably the person you’ll meet if you taste with them. He’s very laid back and chill, constantly joking and a bit sarcastic. Might be kind of weird if you don’t get his humor, but it’s easy to shrug off, which is what my doesn’t-speak-much-English mother did the entire time. Regardless, his casual demeanor makes him pretty easy to talk to and, I imagine, negotiate and work with.
He led us to their dining room table, where we checked out the albums of their past works. The albums are well organized, with each picture listing frosting and decoration types plus a reference name. Their cakes also looked lovely, with minimal, if any, complaints from Kelvin about lumpiness. Anthony talked to us, trying to get a basic idea how we wanted our cake to look. We still weren’t sure at this point, but we did point out a cake we liked (one with a clean and simple design) and he wrote it down as reference. I asked about fondant flowers and ribbons and other decorations, and he’d give me an estimated cost for those things. He didn’t want to give cake price until the very end, when we decided favorite flavors and general decoration choices.
Once we were done looking at the albums and talking about the look of the cake, it was time to check out the actual cakes. Anthony said it was good that we mentioned I was bringing my mom so he could prepare for her her own serving. He brought out two nicely laid out plates, one for Kelvin and me and a second plate for my mom, along with glasses of water and menu map sheets. Samples were cut into small pieces for each person, but the samples were still a good mouthful, so plenty to get a gist of the flavors. The cake map listed each sample’s flavors by position, and since my mom had a different plate layout, it was nice that she got her own map. They were print outs, so you could write notes on them and take them home for reference. We were also given a list of all the different flavors they offer.
After trying their cakes, I think their cakes are a bit on the sweeter side for me. They also varied in texture (one was pretty dry, while another was easily fell apart from moisture). The first half were decent; we liked two samples which happened to be the exact same two samples my mother liked. One of them had non-dairy whip cream filling, which was the first I ever had it, and it was pretty good. The last half of the samples was gross because of the flavors they chose (TWO coconut cakes, banana, and lemon), and I’m surprised they’d put all these unpopular flavors on their sampling plate at the end. Kinda gives it a bad finish, even tho their cakes overall were not bad. Jen’s Cakes was another bakery where we were alone as we sampled, so it was nice to freely discuss. (Kelvin said I was being rude and speaking a lot of Chinese explaining stuff to my Mom at this tasting, and I didn’t realize I was. I’ll have to work on that.)
Anthony came back after the tasting to discuss flavors and cake preferences. I asked when the cakes were made, and Anthony told us our samples had been frozen, but he emphasized that they never freeze the cakes they deliver. (I wouldn’t have thought they were frozen, but my mom claimed she could tell. Whatever.) We told Anthony our favorite flavors, and he left us alone for a few minutes to figure out the quote. He came back with numbers for buttercream and fondant options that included the simple decorations (I think dots and thin ribbons) based on the one cake style we liked best, delivery and setup, and “love”. The price was very reasonable considering it included delivery (Anthony: “And don’t forget love!”). My only beef with the numbers is that fondant is $2 more per person more when standard so far had been $1 more. No difference to us, because their cakes looked smooth enough for the buttercream option. Giving us a copy of our quote, we finished our tasting and were on our way.
Jen’s Cakes followed up through mail (a nice thank you card) and phone call about a week later to check up on our cake search. I don’t think we’re going to go with them since their cakes are sweeter for our tastes (though now that I think about it, they didn’t have many mousse fillings in their tasting… maybe that’s why), though their prices and service definitely make them worth looking at as an option.
Service and organization (at tasting and through communication): A
Presentation (based off photos): A-
Taste: B
Favorite flavors: Bailey’s Irish Cream cake w/Bailey’s flavored custard, German chocolate cake w/ non-dairy whip
Price: They quote they gave us included delivery, so if you get rid of $50 for shipping, slices start at $5.75 before any negotiation, which they seemed open to.
Bakery 8 – Sugar Butter Flour
A long time ago, Kelvin’s sister-in-law got us a cake from Sugar Butter Flour in Sunnyvale for our engagement party. It was the first time I had red velvet cake, and it was nicely dense without being too sweet. I was bummed that I forgot to ask for some of the leftover cake at the time, as I wanted for me. Lucky for me, Sugar Butter Flour opened a storefront in the Pruneyard a few months later, and whenever I’m in the shopping center, I make sure to grab a red velvet cupcake. I get the impression that their cakes, aside from the red velvet, would be too heavy for me. Since they were so close, I figured I’d give them a shot anyway, much to Kelvin’s anti-sweetness disgust. I made an appointment with them on another Saturday afternoon over the phone.
I haven’t been to their Sunnyvale location, but the Campbell store is very small as it used to be a Mrs. Fields shop. We met with a young woman named Alisha (I think), who sat us down at one of the cafe tables. The other employee was out doing the cash run, so she was working with us as well as manning the counter, but luckily it was slow at the moment. She gave us a sheet with their cake flavors and general pricing, which I used for notes. Their cake prices were more expensive than I expected, but just about every decoration (aside from massive amounts of fondant flowers or super complicated designs) was covered in the price. In fact, there was no difference in price for buttercream or fondant, so you can look at that as a deal for fondant or a rip-off for buttercream. There were no albums to look at, but a touch screen monitor by the counter had an electronic album of their work. I had already seen them online, so I opted out of looking at it.
When it was time to sample, Alisha came out with water and a plate with four large samples to try. She then left us to try the cakes alone and go back to working at the counter. The cakes were majorly sweet. One of the slices was red velvet, which I was excited about, but the cream cheese filling seemed sweeter than what I was used to. Cream cheese filling is supposed to be pretty sweet, but the cupcakes’ frosting had been sweet without being excessive or gross. It was as good as it usually was. The other samples were even sweeter, but my main issue was the texture. They seemed dry and not very soft. When Alisha came back, I asked when the samples were made, and she said she didn’t know since they were from the Sunnyvale store. So who knows what the status of those cakes were, especially after travel.
We were pretty much done after the tasting since we weren’t that interested in the cakes. After asking a few more typical questions, Alisha was nice enough to box up the leftovers up for us to take home. One thing that’s nice about their wedding cakes is that, in order to discourage the whole save-the-top-tier-freeze-it-and-eat-it-a-year-later thing, they offer a free anniversary tier a year from the wedding. Other bakeries have discouraged this tradition as well, but I don’t think anyone else offered a free anniversary cake. Maybe I should have asked… Anyway, I told all the bakeries I went to I’d be saving the top tier for standard sizing ( (Tip: Ask about the dimensions of the cake. A cake for 100 people at one bakery may be a different size than a 100-people cake at another bakery.), but I doubt I’d freeze a cake for a year and eat it.
Service and organization (at tasting and through communication): B
Presentation (based off photos): C+, their buttercream ones don’t look smooth at all
Taste: C-
Favorite flavors: Red velvet
Price: Start at $7.50 a slice, $40 delivery to Cupertino
Bakery 9 – Cakes by Ana
Our final cake tasting destination, Cakes by Ana, was another highly recommended Yelp business for flavor and price. All I ever got was an answering machine when I called them, but I was able to contact them through email and arrange an appointment on a Tuesday evening after work. They only let you try two flavors of cake, but the flavors can be anything out of their cake offerings. They let you try multiple fillings, which are served on the side. We chose chocolate and guava, as I was curious how their guava compares to Aki’s famous guava cake.
Their bakery is kind of in the middle of nowhere in a warehouse-y area in north San Jose. The front door was locked, but upon knocking, we were greeted by the friendly Annette, daughter of the baker (I’m guessing Ana). She led us to her office, where we sat at a table that had cake albums on top. We went over the albums with Ana, asking about how much various decorations cost. There wasn’t a quote sheet or cake menu for information or to write on, so I had to ask Annette about everything and write it down myself. They have a pamphlet, but we didn’t get it until the end. Most of the simple decorations (cake shapes, bands, dots) are covered, and they also have access to fresh flowers at whole sale price. Though their website and pamphlet advertise cakes starting at $2.90 a slice, we were told cakes start at $3.95 (fondant at $5.60), with price going up with complexity of cake. Still inexpensive when compared to other bakeries. Things like fresh fruit fillings also cost extra, but the cost would be like a couple bucks for the entire cake, so I wouldn’t really consider it an extra cost. Specialty cake flavors also cost extra; for example, having guava cost $30 extra for the entire cake. Looking at their cakes, presentation with non-fondant icing wasn’t very smooth, so we’d probably have to go fondant with them.
The cake tasting is done pretty uniquely here. To taste the two flavors you chose, they make mini-cakes of those flavors from cakes made that day (leftover cake or batter for orders, I’m guessing). A little piece is sampled from the mini-cakes, and the rest is to be taken home to share with others. Cakes are covered in non-dairy whip, which is what they use for most of their cakes in place of buttercream, and little cups of mousses and fillings are sided with the cake. They said they prefer to use non-dairy whip because it’s lighter than buttercream and better for the lactose-intolerant folks. (I’m guessing this bakery is probably popular with the Asians.) I’m not sure I’m a fan of the non-dairy whip. It is indeed very light and its texture is fluffy, but there’s something not quite right about it. After it sits in your mouth a bit, the texture sort of reminds me of something made from powder. I didn’t notice it in Jen’s Cakes’ samples, but Ana’s uses a lot more non-dairy whip than they did. Aside from the slightly off-ness of it, non-dairy whip isn’t bad at all. I really liked the chocolate cake, not too sweet but still moist. Annette bragged that their guava cake is better than Aki’s, as it used more guava in the batter and mousse. I could taste it had more guava, but I don’t know if I’d say it’s better than Aki’s. The cake had a gritty, dense texture, reminiscent of cornbread, probably from the guava puree. It tasted just okay, but I did like the extra guava-ness of the mousse. The chocolate mousse we had wasn’t bad either. We were also sampled a raspberry preserve (tastes like… jam) and fresh strawberries, the latter being tart if not mixed with a mousse.
After the tasting, there wasn’t much more to ask for aside for a sample contract. Annette said she’d email us a contract/sample quote the next day. She packed the leftovers for us and stuck a brochure with it. (Unfortunately, I didn’t drop by my mom’s place that week, so I had to eat all the samples myself. Poor me.) We didn’t get a contract in our email until a few days later, but it had a lot of the relevant contract information I had asked about previously. Cakes by Ana’s was one of the bakeries with lighter cakes, so while it’s nice to take mini-cakes home, I wish we could have tried more flavors. Based on price and quality, I imagine they’re a decent option for folks on a tight budget.
Service and organization (at tasting and through communication): B-
Presentation (based off photos): B-
Taste: B+
Favorite flavors: Chocolate cake with chocolate mousse.
Price: Starts at $3.95 a slice, $30 delivery to Cupertino.
New thing I learned today: Hummingbird cake, like red velvet, is cake flavor originating from the South. It’s basically a banana cake with pineapple and pecans.
We tried hummingbird cake at Sugar Butter Flour, and Kelvin predictably didn’t like it.
