I wanted to share my thoughts and hear what others think about wedding cakes - who are you using? I am at a tie between Dawn Sanchez and Justine at Beyond Adobe Walls. Does anyone have any thoughts or experience with either place????
ABC Cakes - I did a tasting here. Very disappointed in the taste/flavor although they did set us up at a nice table in a private room and gave us a gift bag. We felt special but their cakes certainly were not. I am sad too as this was my cake shop growing up...always requested a cake from there and so I assumed when we started this I would use them. Wrong. I also heard from someone else that ABC has a problem with delivering cakes on time. If you use them request the cake to be there much earlier than your reception starts.
Price - $2.95 with buttercream, ribbon or flowers only, $3.45 with piped on design, and $3.95 for custom design. Delivery to Santa Fe $110, stand rental $25, pillar rentals $15 per tier. (I brought in a picture of a few cake designs that I thought were simple but she said it would be the $3.95 (and up) per slice.
Le Chantilly - We were warned by the girl serving us that their chocolate cakes tend to be a little dry because they use real chocolate, or maybe she said cause they use dark chocolate. I can't remember but she acknowledge some of their cakes would taste dry. Well, they all tasted dry even the white cakes.
Price - $4.50 for buttercream, $15. for fondant, $75 delivery to Santa Fe. $15 rental per tier but I think that was refunded when you returned them. I didn't bother about stand pricing as I knew immediately I wouldn't be using them. Later that day we met with another vendor (not cake) and I asked if she knew any good cake people and the first thing she said was Le Chantilly cakes were over priced and dry. I exclaimed when she said dry as that was our experience. Maybe we did our tasting on a bad day....if you go there for a tasting maybe make sure the cakes you are sampling are fresh.
Beyond Adobe Walls - Holy cow Batman these cakes were good! It was wild going from the two above to this lady. There was no comparison. It tasted like quality ingredients were used. She makes all her fruit fillings using real fruit that she reduces down. FYI - Some bakers will use jam - literally Smuckers that they spread on the cake or mix the jam with a cream base and then spread on. This isn't important to some people but quality is important to me and so is flavor. I want my wedding cake to be a real treat for people to eat, not a trinket of bad cake that serves the purpose of tradition.
Price - $5.50 per serving of 100 people. If it is less than 100 the price goes up to $5.75 a slice. That price includes any and all decorations. More expensive than the ones above but it makes sense for what you are getting. Stand rental is $25.
The Candy Lady - Who would have thought it? Apparently she does make wedding cakes. I liked her whipped creamed frosting (although, I have heard it is bad to use that when it is hot out.) The photo album she showed me of her proud designs were so dated, 10+ years, that I really just didn't pay much attention to anything after that. Would have been nice to see some recent work. Clearly her focus is on candy and not cakes. She was nice though and offered to deliver my cake and flowers to Santa Fe if I used a florist she recommended.
Price - $4.50 per slice, $175 delivery to Santa Fe (no wonder she offered to bring the flowers up too, that seems high.)
Dawn Sanchez Creations - This was another baker who seems to use quality ingredients. She makes her filling from reduced fruit. They were nice enough to fit us in on a day they weren't expecting to do a tasting so I will give them a little flex but the cakes we tasted very cold, almost on the verge of frozen. I think like most bakers they make cake samples and freeze them up into tasting samples. Would be nice to go in on a day when they weren't cold. Regardless of the temp these cakes still tasting good!
Price - $3.75 per slice with $75 delivery to Santa Fe.
A Cake Odyssey - Did not do a tasting here but the man on the phone, Jim, was very nice and helpful.
Price - $3.10 for buttercream, $125 delivery to Santa Fe, Pillar charge $25, stand rental $45.
I did call a few other places, Chocolate Maven and Maggie Farralla, but based on price ($8 and up per slice) I didn't bother wasting my time or theirs with a tasting.