Cake Tasting/Selection

Anorton1204

We are going to be back in MN in July which (sadly) might be my only trip back this year/before the wedding (May 18, 2013).  Planning from so far away is much more difficult than I would have imagined.  BUT ANYWAY!  One of the things I am planning to do while I am there is the cake tasting.  We are getting married at Mississippi Dunes in Cottage Grove.  The place that I was looking at setting up a tasting at was Buttercream. 

Any thoughts on if they are good/affordable?  Any other suggestions?  Do you normally do a few tastings at different places to get more ideas of pricing/vartiety?  Help! :-)

TIA

khornbach

I hated buttercream. They were not creative or supportive of throwing ideas out. They basically said here is our showroom of cakes which one do you like. They're cake tasted good, but they were far from impressive.

Our cake came from A Piece of Cake, on Grand Ave. Mary (the owner) is amazing to work with. We did a tasting with my parents, and then another when my DH was in town, and then she did a "mock" cake where she gave us a top tier done with our design to make sure we liked it. PLUS she delivered the cake personally to our venue. She also recommeneded using sheet cakes and finding ways to make it affordable. She goes the extra mile

srdavis21

I loved our tasting at Buttercream!  We got to merge together ideas from several pictures of cakes that I brought in and created the exact look I wanted.  Plus, my fiance came up with a new cake and mousse flavor and they created the flavor for our tasting and it turned out even better than we had hoped!

The cake is like $3.50 per slice (our venue gives a discount, though, for using Buttercream) and even with all the options we chose (additional ribbon, design, custom flavor, cake stand, delivery, etc) the options only came to an extra $300 or so.

We worked with ReNae at Buttercream in St. Paul and I can't tell you how wonderful and patient she was.  She kept updating her sketch of what I wanted the cake to look like and made it perfect.  She gave us some options for saving money in the process, which I thought was nice.  Also, her follow up since our session has been great - based on our experience, I would totally recommend them! 

Lang125

I think Buttercream is overrated.   Right now I am researching cupcakes - either through Cupcake on University or Byerly's/Costco.   Then I don't have to pay a 'cake cutting' fee and we love cupcakes!

vs0609

We did a tasting at Buttercream and loved it.  We also worked with ReNae.  She helped us come up with a new design that matched what we were thinking about.  We just loved how light and not overly sweet their cakes were.  We also liked how they will give us a fresh, smaller sized cake, at our first year anniversary.  This way, we won't have to eat a year old, frozen cake.  Based on our experience, I would recommend using Buttercream.

SSaltzman87

I haven't tasted any of Buttercream's cakes, but I do know that they're very hit or miss. It never hurts to look at other options depending on what your venue will allow. I've had many sheet cakes from Costco and Lund's and they never disappoint, I've also heard nothing but great things about Penny Steele Custom Cakes.

kekr0202

Highly recommend Queen of Cakes.  Our consult was awesome and delicious.  We're going with a 5 tiered cupcake stand & 120 cupcakes.  SO yummy!

trixie549

We tasted at Buttercream and while the cakes were yummy, they weren't spectacular (or that affordable, for that matter).

We are also going with Queen of Cakes; just finalized everything today and can't wait for our wedding cake (dark chocolate with raspberry filling / carrot cake)!

MaggieandJake

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_minnesota-minneapolis-st-paul_cake-tastingselection?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:81Discussion:a48a6fb9-4f28-4f6e-8cb3-bb961e5c58c8Post:852c6cef-468a-46ed-97c6-bd8bb86ddcc0">Re: Cake Tasting/Selection</a>:
[QUOTE]I hated buttercream. They were not creative or supportive of throwing ideas out. They basically said here is our showroom of cakes which one do you like. They're cake tasted good, but they were far from impressive. 
Posted by khornbach[/QUOTE]

<div>THIS. </div><div>
</div><div>We did a tasting at BC (our venue's preferred vendor) and at Queen of Cakes.  We went to the Minnetonka location for BC and the guy we met with was snooty, uninterested in what I wanted, and completely unwilling to design the cake I wanted and was paying for.  Apparently they don't dye cakes at all.  (so how do they make red velvet cake then??????)  They were barely cheaper than QOC with our vendor affiliation, but we decided we'd rather pay a little more and give our money to someone who actually cared about getting our business.  </div><div>
</div><div>We were VERY happy with QOC and got a 3 tiered 2-flavor cake.  It tasted and looked amazing!  They have excellent customer service and were more than willing to customize our design to our specifications.  </div><div>
</div><div>I have a full review and pics in my bio if you want more info. </div><div>
</div><div>I would suggest doing a tasting at at least 2 different locations just to get a feel for price, customer service, and taste-just so you have something to compare it to. </div><div>
</div><div>ETA: we also got a sheet cake from Costco to supplement our tiered cake, which was also delicious and very affordable. </div>

AlisonMarie3

I did a tasting at Buttercream and it was OK.  I wasn't impressed but it wasn't horrible.  We ended up going with Country Cake and Cupboard- it is located in Long Lake.  We worked with April and she was GREAT!  She had good suggestions and she will deliver the cake herself day of the wedding!  Good luck!

FutureMrsSheeler

I went with my mom to Queen of Cakes when she was getting married, and it was definitely good cake. But, FI and I are not big fans of regualr cake, so we went and had a tasting at Muddy Paws Cheesecake and it was the best cheesecake we've ever tasted, so we booked with them on the spot! They do tiered cakes, various sized cheesecake, and minis

tpender13

Since this will be your one chance to go, I would schedule tastings with one or two other places, at least.

Anorton1204

Thank you for the responses, this was a big help!  I am glad that you had some other good options for me.  I am going to probably do 3-2 different tastings while I am there, I think that will make me feel better about the choice that we make.  Today has been a frustrating day with my Venue [see my new post] so this was a bit uplifting 

flower_lover

Chiming in late, I'd also recommend checking out Roseville Bakery if you haven't already. We did tastings with them and Queen of Cakes. Loved them both, but Roseville Bakery had prices much lower than Queen of Cakes. They had great service on our wedding day-- delivered the cake to Chaska, which is quite a way from Roseville-- and did so in the narrow timeframe that our venue required. Cake was decorated exactly as requested.

If that was not enough, they gave us a FREE replica of the top of our cake (made to look exactly like the cake) on our first anniversary! We didn't save the top of the cake after the wedding, so we just ordered a fresh one from the bakery. I was floored when I went to pick it up and they gave it to us for free. I wish there were more businesses out there like them!

Genevieve04

I had a terrible experience with Buttercream. They are rude and over priced. Oh and don't leave them a bad review or they will threaten to take legal action

Genevieve04

Oh I should add that I ended up getting my cake from Costco and saving a fortune. Under $100 for 5 huge sheet cakes! They were so good and made it possible to have the cake buffet with different flavor combinations that I wanted.

CatLuvr2011

My future husband and I are not cake people and did NOT want cake at all, but his family insisted we should have a cake.  We hesitantly made an appointment at Buttercream and went from cake haters to Buttercream cake lovers.  Wow.  The tasting was fantastic and delicious.  What we sampled did not taste like your typical cake, but smooth, flavorful, not heavy or cakey and nothing like we had ever tasted.  We tasted cake from other places at several wedding fairs we have been to (Queen of Cakes) and they tasted like cake.  Good luck!