Doom Cakes, the wedding edition!
September 21, 2011 7:17 AM   Subscribe

Our wedding cake people canceled on us 2.5 weeks before our wedding! So we're seeking some affordable NYC bakeries who make GREAT cakes (we don't care about decorations, just the flavor) and can fulfill an order for 100 people on fairly short notice. We are considering asking for multiple smaller cakes, as it seems requesting one large, stacked cake significantly narrows down our options when ordering sort-of last minute.

We had planned on having an incredibly simple, white, circular, tiered red velvet cake. No decorations that the bakery would need to do - we were going to add them ourselves upon delivery to the event space.

So far, Cake Man Raven canceled on us, so they're out. Two Red Hens doesn't stack, and thanks to their location I doubt I'll get a chance to taste their cake before the wedding. Baked is booked solid, which kills me, because I loved their fall-inspired flavors. Perry Street Bakery wanted a whopping $825 (CMR had quoted us at $200, though we realize that's quite low). I vaguely distrust Sugar Sweet Sunshine because their red velvet flavors were just atrocious, but maybe I'm being too picky!

I am warming up to the idea of asking a bakery to make multiple smaller cakes, though it seems like even this is a large order because it's a busy fall wedding season and many places I've called can't fulfill even that request.

Where should I look for a reliable, affordable bakery that can make multiple cakes on short notice? Doesn't need to be red velvet. Reading Yelp! and Chowhound reviews are making me insane because all bakery reviews feature gourmands endlessly debating on whether or not X Bakery's red velvet is the best or the most overrated, and I really don't have time to go through all of them.

I left voicemail message (possibly frantic and a bit incoherent) BeesKnees, Betty Bakery and Billy's so far this morning, but would like further pointers!
posted by Hwaet to Food & Drink (29 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
Sugar Sweet Sunshine seems affordable, has Red Velvet, and seems to have a reasonable turnaround time. I remember them as being tasty (they did a bunch-o-cupcakes display for a friend's wedding I attended). They're based on the Lower East Side/East Village border.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:24 AM on September 21, 2011


Can you get to Chinatown? Try Tai Pan (on Canal St), they can make great cakes for about that price! They are a bit on the busy side all day long since they sell all sorts of other delicious baked goods, you may have to have a little patience when you go there. I can get you other bakeries down that way if you need, let me know. Congratulations!
posted by Yellow at 7:24 AM on September 21, 2011


I love Sugar Sweet Sunshine. I just ordered my husband's birthday party cake there the other day.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 7:25 AM on September 21, 2011


Best answer: Try One Girl Cookies in Brooklyn. We used them recently for our wedding and ordered multiple regular cakes rather than one wedding cake. Everyone loved their cakes (we also had cookies and other treats). I can't guarantee they will be able to work on your short lead time, but it is worth giving them a call to ask.

The last couple weeks before our wedding were super stressful. I probably would have had a brain aneurism if the desserts were cancelled so close to the wedding day. Good luck!
posted by Falconetti at 7:26 AM on September 21, 2011 [2 favorites]


Omonia in Astoria? They did the My Big Fat Greek Wedding cake, and by the looks of it seem to have enough of a turnover to maybe handle a last minute request. Ordinary, classic wedding cakes.

No idea how good they actually are... And congrats!
posted by Capt. Renault at 7:31 AM on September 21, 2011 [1 favorite]


I was at a wedding with cake from Black Hound. They had one normal cake, and then individual mini cakes for the guests (probably about 75 guests) (I believe they got the poppy seed raspberry lemon cake and said that it was relatively affordable)

Every cake I've had there has been very tasty.
posted by larthegreat at 7:38 AM on September 21, 2011 [1 favorite]


Best answer: I have no bakery recommendations, but if you get multiple individual cakes instead of them tiered, you can get a floating tiered cake stand to have the illusion of tiers. You can also get tiered stands for cupcakes, if you do not object to them instead of an actual cake.
posted by jeather at 7:39 AM on September 21, 2011


Best answer: For some alternatives, how about cupcakes? Trendy and easy to mix and match; also easy to fancy up.

Also, we had wedding pie (at my, um, first wedding) and OMG, fabulous. Apple streusel, peach-blueberry lattice top and French Silk. To die for.
posted by Madamina at 7:40 AM on September 21, 2011


I used Sugar Sweet Sunshine for my wedding, but with cupcakes, not larger cakes, and they were awesome. I'd check with Billy's too (which you already mentioned), because their cakes are delicious. The only other bakeries I can recommend are gluten-free ones: Tu-Lu's and Babycakes. I ordered 10 small cakes from Tu-Lu's a few weeks out from my husband's 30th birthday party and they were able to do it with no problems, and all of the guests loved it and said they couldn't tell the difference from non-GF cake.
posted by bedhead at 7:43 AM on September 21, 2011


Best answer: I LOVE Robicelli's cupcakes and they do weddings.
posted by mlle valentine at 7:45 AM on September 21, 2011


Best answer: (They're Brooklyn-based, too.)
posted by mlle valentine at 7:45 AM on September 21, 2011


We went with cupcakes for our 2009 wedding, and after a tasting that included the best bakeries we could find in Manhattan, we chose Make My Cake in Harlem. They were big, moist, beautiful, delicious and I think each one had a pound of awesome in it. Compliments galore from the guests. MMC was very easy to deal with, filled the order perfectly.
posted by maniabug at 8:10 AM on September 21, 2011


FWIW, $200 for an excellent cake to serve a hundred people, delivered in NYC, sounds impossibly low. $825 doesn't sound exorbitant, either.

Earlier this summer my wife and I made a wedding cake for a friend, to serve about 125. Ingredients alone ran north of $100. It contained almost 11 pounds of butter, 10 pounds of sugar, 55 eggs, 2 1/2 pounds of raspberries, 13 oz. of chocolate, 2 1/2 C of Chambord, etc., etc. And it was a huge amount of work.

Your red velvet cake doesn't have quite such a pricey ingredients list, but there's still such a thing as going too cheap. Every baker will tell you their cakes are delicious. Some of them are lying. If you spend too little you may get something that looks the way you imagined but tastes like unsweetened Crisco on a cellulose sponge.
posted by jon1270 at 8:19 AM on September 21, 2011 [3 favorites]


Seconding One Girl - all my food friends love that place and its our go-to for baking. One option you might consider is doing a whole lot of cupcakes - all you need is some kind of platter to stack them like a wedding cake.
posted by infinitefloatingbrains at 8:24 AM on September 21, 2011


OK, obviously this is only if you are completely out of other options, but let me reassure you that the fresh direct cupcakes are really very good and nicely presented. We just ordered a bunch for my daughter's birthday.

Again... if nothing else works out for you...
posted by gaspode at 8:28 AM on September 21, 2011


Another option in the "only if you are completely out of other options" category, but I know Costco sells small red velvet cakes, I think they're 14".
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 8:32 AM on September 21, 2011


Nthing cupcakes. Try Magnolia and others. Arrange to have them put on a cupcake tier. Cupcakes can be presented gorgeously, and guests love them. Just Google "weddings cupcakes" to see how they look on a tiered stand.
posted by Elsie at 8:35 AM on September 21, 2011


Just my 2 cents - I would consider cupcakes even if you weren't out of other options. Presented well, they're really awesome looking. Plus you don't have to deal with slicing anything. It's non-traditional, sure, but people will forget that when they see how pretty they're presented and how tasty they are.
posted by TangoCharlie at 8:37 AM on September 21, 2011


I forgot to add... we included red velvet in the cupcake assortment we got from Make My Cake, and they were smashing.
posted by maniabug at 8:49 AM on September 21, 2011


More brainstorming: Get one small cake for you to do the whole 'cake cutting thing' with, and ask your caterer if they can provide other desserts for guests? (We had a smallish chocolate cake we cut and shoved in each others' faces and then a plated toffee bread pudding for the guests. Nobody seemed to care as long as they got dessert!)
posted by Green Eyed Monster at 9:28 AM on September 21, 2011


Costco's cakes are actually pretty fucking delicious, and especially if you will be decorating yourself, would make a logical option
posted by Blasdelb at 9:34 AM on September 21, 2011


I'm going to disagree: Cupcakes should be a last resort.

I've hosted several large catered events in New York and firmly believe that Amy's Bread has the best cakes (especially red velvet cake) in the city. They should also be able to make several cakes for you--but I don't know about stacking.

The bread is made in the Chelsea Market location, but the Hell's Kitchen location is where they do the pastry and cakes, so give them a ring and ask about your request.
posted by yellowcandy at 9:36 AM on September 21, 2011


Forgot to mention that for cupcake weddings, you order a small cake for cutting. It goes on the top tier of the stand.
posted by Elsie at 9:37 AM on September 21, 2011


I vaguely distrust Sugar Sweet Sunshine because their red velvet flavors were just atrocious, but maybe I'm being too picky!

No, I agree with you, their other flavors like lemon and pistachio are excellent, but something about red velvet at SSS seems off. Personally I'd go with Amy's Bread's red velvet like yellowcandy says above if you really, really want red velvet. Much, much better than Sugar Sweet Sunshine's.

I got my 3 tiered wedding cake for 65 people from Momofuku Milk Bar. All of my friends said it was the best wedding cake they'd ever had. I liked the rustic, non-fondant look and didn't care about having buttercream, I just wanted a damn tasty cake. We had alternating layers of chocolate (yellow cake icing, chocolate crumbs, fudge sauce) and dulce de leche (tres leche filling, milk solids).

It was not super-expensive as far as Manhattan wedding cakes go. A three-tier wedding cake will be $400 and 60-75 servings (with the top tier to save), and four-tier wedding cake for $575 and 150-200 servings (ditto).

If you're not really attached to the whole "freeze the top layer for your 1 year anniversary" thing then I bet you might be able to get more servings out of the 3 layer one. Or just get an extra smaller cake that is for cutting but not on display to get it up to 100 servings.
posted by kathryn at 9:52 AM on September 21, 2011


I'm going to disagree: Cupcakes should be a last resort.

Eh? It's your wedding. Serve what you want to serve. The only people who would possibly care are the sorts of people who meander through life with Serious Expectations For Everything, and you should not feed those people any of your cake anyway.

We served petit fours and kransekake at ours. You should embrace this last-second change of plans to serve something awesome that you both have some attachment to.
posted by Mayor West at 10:25 AM on September 21, 2011


Yeah, Mayor West: She wants cakes. So cupcakes would necessarily be less-than. Hence the comment. I don't care if people serve cupcakes as their first choice. They are just not the OP's.
posted by yellowcandy at 10:36 AM on September 21, 2011


Response by poster: Update: Robicelli's was a great lead! They offered to do 100 cupcakes for $300 (we'll probably order something like 120-150 though) plus a minimal delivery fee. I am a huge cupcake fan, and while the notion of doing wedding cupcakes is super-trendy right now, I love how nice the guy was on the phone, the low-ish price, the local Brooklyn aspect, AND HELLO CUPCAKES.

One Girl Cookies was also extremely helpful, though she said their best flavor was vanilla and as a risky baker I tend to opt for slightly less, ah, vanilla flavors. She quoted me at $700 for a cake, which is still quite low apparently. But I'm really into the idea of having fall-inspired flavors now that red velvet is no longer a hard and fast requirement.

I refuse to use Amy's Bread for red velvet because they use buttercream frosting instead of cream cheese. I am not a religious person, but buttercream on red velvet is as close to sacrilege as it gets for me. Maybe something else is good from them?

For the record, I'm not worried if cupcakes are nontraditional; if anything, it makes them kind of cute and appealing. In any case, everything will sort itself out, even if it means just ordering a bunch of tacky cakes from the damn Associated grocery down the street. But the cupcakes sound like a great lead, so I'm swinging by Robicelli's stand at Dekalb Market tomorrow!
posted by Hwaet at 10:37 AM on September 21, 2011


I'm so happy to have helped! I adore the cupcakes and also the Robicellis seem like wonderful people.
posted by mlle valentine at 1:36 PM on September 21, 2011


I've used Jackie Cakes for numerous occasions but not a wedding. If you don't mind going to Staten Island she does great work and look at her list of clients!
posted by jara1953 at 6:04 PM on September 21, 2011


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