Bakery #1 - Alexandria, VA
This is an actual bona fide bakery, and not just a custom wedding cake vendor. They offered everything from appetizers and sandwiches through desserts. We loved the pastry section and agreed to come back at some point in time, just for additional desserts. They offered us warm tea, but I took warm plain water so that it wouldn't interfere with the cake tasting.
We tried several cakes but our favorite was a fruit bavarian. It was a light vanilla sponge cake, with cream and almond ladyfingers and topped with a row of fresh berries and tropical fruit. Let's just say that the bavarian cake was so good, Will would even eat it over the chocolate cake.
Another pro is that this is what they make all the time, so they're very good and efficient at it. There's no major customization, so not many opportunities for errors. In fact, the owner served us the cake slices right from his shop. The con though is that we could get it any time, and so wouldn't need a special excuse to get their cakes. Still, we left thinking we'd be pretty darn lucky to serve that fruit bavarian at our wedding.
Bakery #2 - McLean, VA
This had a pretty store front and sold some cupcakes and macarons to-go, but it was definitely a custom cake vendor.
Their tasting philosophy is to serve the cake, filling, and cream separately, so that we could mix and match and pick what best suited our tastebuds. Now, here is where I have to say, it's very difficult since Will and I recognize great food, but we really couldn't mix and match the best flavor combinations to save our lives. So, we asked the baker for suggestions.
Our favorites were a white cake, made with whipped egg whites so it was extremely light and fluffy with passionfruit curd and blackberry buttercream. The runner up in a very close race a rich, creamy hazelnut cake with dark chocolate ganache, 2 layers of coffee buttercream, and 1 layer of hazelnut buttercream.
Salivating yet?
Bakery #3 - Alexandria, VA
At our our last bakery, this cake stared at us from the window. You'd have to see it live to truly understand the details and techniques that went into it - molding, painting, sugar flowers, and ruffles.Of all the tasting experiences, bakery #3 had the best presentation. We sat in a charming Victorian living room, with gilded mirror and were served cake with silverware passed down to our baker from her grandmother.
It was also very hard to choose between the mini cakes we were served:
White velvet cake, with raspberry preserves and lime-flecked vanilla buttercream
Pear cake, with blackberry preserves and white chocolate buttercream
Vanilla and sour cream cake, with peach and apricot preserves and milk chocolate buttercream infused with earl grey tea
Double chocolate cake, with seville oranges and la belle orange buttercream
Red velvet with vanilla bean buttercream
Our favorites were the white velvet, sour cream, and orange chocolate cakes. We loved the red velvet as well, but figured we could get it elsewhere. Ok, let's be honest, we would eat all of the flavors if we had a chance.
Final Thoughts
While we loved every baker, enjoyed meeting them tremendously, and appreciated the significant effort and quality ingredients that went into their cakes, taste was the major driver for us. Bakery #3 just blew us away. We'd be so excited to serve even the flavors that we didn't end up picking. More to come...
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