My boy is seven! I can't believe it's been seven years, but it has! So happy birthday to E.
I wasn't going the big party route this year so I decided to do a fancy cake. E and I love cake and I've always wanted one of those pretty fondant cakes. They are just usually REALLY cost prohibitive. Everyone says fondant tastes bad but I disagree. I don't know about different kinds or whatever, but I've had a few fondant cakes from different places and I've thought they all tasted great. I LOVED my wedding cake- even a year after my wedding. My friend had one for her son's first birthday and she gave me a large section to take home. It was amazing that day and the next two days at my house. I've just never bought one because I couldn't justify the price. Any that I've priced out were over one hundred dollars and I've seen some around here for three to five hundred dollars. I love cake but not five hundred dollars worth. I am fully aware that it's an art and a craft and people totally deserve to be paid for their skill and hard work. Considering what I do for a living, I understand it all too well. That people have a problem paying for skill. Hundreds of dollars is just too high a price for ME to pay. THAT, breaks *my* bank.
I thought maybe Pam (from the closed A La Cupcakes) could make me a cake. I wrote her to ask if she's baking these days and she's just too busy. Her daughter is a bad ass ice hockey player and that's a schedule as brutal or more brutal as swim team. I figured my dream of a fancy cake was going to die there. Then I thought of Christine Macario. She is from my hometown and I went to school with her older brother. She and I are Facebook friends and on some of the mom's message boards and FB pages together. I recalled that she makes cakes and I thought I'd liked a business page for her cakes.
I quickly looked her up and saw that indeed, she does make cakes. It couldn't hurt to inquire how much it would cost for a cake that would feel around thirty people. I said thirty people because we all know that this cake, while decorated for E, was REALLY for me. To freeze. To eat until I run out of cake. Knowing I could have a freezer full of cake makes me happy. I rationed out one of Pam's cakes for a year.
Christine told me it would cost fifty dollars. After I recovered from the shock, about two seconds later, I said- OK THEN. Not having any kind of menu, I just told her I wanted a Pokemon themed cake, but to do it however she wants. I googled some images of Pokemon cakes and sent her a photo collage of them. I said that I like all of them, so some version of any of them would be great. I said I'd like vanilla cake, one part with raspberry buttercream filling and some with chocolate filling or chocolate raspberry filling. But I didn't even know how that works with fondant, so I just left her to do her thing.
Her communication was amazing. She drew a cake out and emailed me her drawing. She was making a bunch of Pokemon characters out of fondant. Every time she made a new character, she would send me a photo. I have no idea who any of these characters are, but it was fun to see them all as they were being made. I let her have full creative control though. I wanted it to be her creation and take all the credit for it.
The end result was amazing. Everyone who saw it was super impressed with how it came out. I didn't know what to expect as far as taste, because I've had some bad cake before. There is a famous bakery in NYC that is raved over, whose cake I find barely edible. There is a bakery local to me that I feel that way about as well. I'm not even tempted to go in there. You just never know how cake is going to be. I can honestly say, this cake was GREAT. The cake was really moist, which isn't easy when it's not made that day. There was just enough frosting and filling, but not to much, and the fondant DID taste good. Or maybe I'm just a weirdo that likes to eat fondant. It tastes like marshmallow to me. I also love the consistency.
It was also a blizzard and her husband delivered it to me. I'd just assumed I'd have to come get it. If I ordered a cake from Shop Rite, which probably would've cost me the same for a sheet cake, I would've had to go pick it up. It didn't even occur to me that she'd deliver. But she does! Her husband came out, in the snow, and brought me the cake. Cake delivery will leave me indebted to you forever.
I froze most of it, ate some last night and will be eating it for the foreseeable future. Oh, and of course, it goes without saying, that Ethan was FLOORED when he saw it. He loved all the characters, he ate the whole fondant Pikachu, and a giant slice of cake.
I highly doubt she'll be sticking with these prices for long. It would be impossible. I know she's just going to get busier and busier as time goes on. So, if you're thinking you are in need of fancy cake, I recommend getting in now when she's just really starting out. Hopefully she'll grandfather me in after I send everyone I know to her for all their cake needs.
Thank you Christine. It was everything I could've wanted and we were SO happy with your work! It exceeded my expectations. Even just that it was two tiers is amazing.
Christine's Confections
HAPPY BIRTHDAY ETHAN!!
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