Easy as cake

Today I continued my duties as maid of honor with the first of three cake tastings and the second of three gift registries.

You'd think tasting cake would be, well, a piece of cake. But so far it hasn't been so easy. We tried to go to a place that advertises free cake tastings once a month - but they canceled twice because they had too many cakes to decorate. Then my cousin, the bride to be, called another local place only to have the cake decorator say she doesn't really do wedding cakes except for friends and family - despite the elaborate Web site she had promoting her services.

But we finally had our first tasting this morning in Santa Clara at 11 a.m. As always, my cousin was running late. When it became clear we weren't going to make it on time, I called the bakery to say we would be a few minutes late, and the person who answered said she hoped we made it soon because she had a noon appointment. Of course, the bakery is in the middle of this industrial part of town and it has a VERY small sign. We missed it the first time around and ended up having to cross Lawrence Expressway to turn around. Then we had to cross it again to go back towards the bakery and still couldn't find it. About the third time around, I spotted the small sign and we got there 10 minutes late.

But as it turns out, someone else had shown up unannounced to order a bridal shower cake and the cake consultant used the time to help them. We were able to taste and peruse the designs while she finished up.

We tried five cakes - a rum-soaked tiramisu with mascarpone cheese, chocolate with chocolate mousse, carrot cake with cream cheese, red velvet with cream cheese and a poppyseed with lemon curd. I personally loved the tiramisu and the poppyseed. We also tried some of the other fillings available, including a delicious strawberry preserve and a mocha truffle.

I learned a lot about wedding cakes this morning. Fondant is very expensive. Decorators charge for each tier that they decorate. Delivery is extra. Now that I know the ballpark figure for a cake to serve 125 people, I do feel a little guilty for the piece of cake I took at a friend's wedding a couple years ago and misplaced due to having had a bit too much champagne. I probably wasted $10 of cake.

The joke of the day is that at the wedding, my mom, who is paying for the cake, will be going around the reception hall making sure no one wastes the cake.

We have two more tastings to go, but one thing is for sure. I will not be buying a bridal shower cake from any of these places - I think I'll go with a cheap sheet cake from Costco!