ISO: Best place to order birthday cake (pref near Cleveland Park)

[Petitpois]

Hi DC Hounds,
I'm in search of a delicious birthday cake for my husband's 40th. Ordinarily I'd bake my own but we've not fully moved into our new place. Cake should serve about 13 -- hubs likes chocolate, or carrot, but must be moist. (Firehook will not cut it, I'm afraid.) We live in Cleveland Park but I'm happy to travel to pick it up. Thanks for the suggestions.

[Elyssa]

I just had an INCREDIBLE cake from Marvelous Market...it was the chocolate truffle cake. Truly wonderful (and even better that I got it for free because I won it from a drawing at the store). There is a MM in Dupont Circle---not too far from you.

They also have a yummy carrot cake and lots of other chocolate options. You should call the store and talk with the manager. They were very pleasent when I had to choose my free cake for a dinner party. One of the best cakes I've had in a long time and FAR better then Cakelove (blah!)

Also, you should see if you can buy the full chocolate layer cake from Kramerbooks...it's quite good. Same with the chocolate layer cake at Busboys and Poets.

[Jeserf]

Filomena sells their cakes whole....

[Petitpois]

Thanks for the suggestions. Sticky Fingers isn't going to work -- I'm all for vegan but turning 40 is challenging enough. I've left a message for BakeShop and will report back. Heller's could work in a pinch -- the hubs is fond of vanilla cake and chocolate frosting.

[mselectra]

Will be curious what you end up with, so looking forward to your report. I haven't had BakeShop, but remembered some raves on here about it.

[Feastradio]

Heller's bakery in Mount Pleasant is great -- but I do think of them for more of a vanilla cake with white frosting. (Fantastic donuts though).

If you're willing for quite a drive, Stella's makes a wonderful rasberry chocolate cake, three layers, incredible rich flavor. But it's way up on MD 355 - Rockville Pike - the strip mall on the left just before the White Flint metro stop (if you take the metro, it's about a block and a half from the stop).

For 13 people, you may need two. In that case, I'd switch it up and get one raspberry and one mocha.

[Jeserf]

I heart Sticky Fingers in Columbia Heights....

yum.

[mselectra]

Did you see Tim Carman's recent dig against Sticky Fingers?

"...the vegan Sticky Fingers Bakery may be the last place I’d go for sweets, unless of course I get a lobotomy and suddenly can’t tell the difference between butter and margarine." Sept 5, City Paper, http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/fo...

Not that that's help to the OP.

You might want to try Heller's Bakery in Mount Pleasant. And also search this board for BakeShopDC.

[Jeserf]

yes i read it.
and i can tell the difference between butter and margarine, but i still think they do an excellent job with their sweets. If you haven't tried them, i say make your own judgment before you trust that of someone who probably likes CakeLove better.

[mselectra]

Sorry, I should have said, I really like Sticky Fingers too, just thought his comment was funny and wondering what your reaction would be -- and I'm not sure they do use margarine, don't they say something about no polyunsaturated fats? I really don't understand this stuff, baking is a mystery to me -- but usually vegan pastries are dry, aren't they, and Sticky Fingers are moist and good.

I really don't like Cakelove, totally with you (I wanted to like it). And I just fell for (yet another) dry, oversweet thing at Tryst that tasted like it had been sitting in a refrigerator (like CakeLove). What's up with that? Is it a matter of different tastes?

[Jeserf]

no, i meant you third person plural.

if he's going to say it's not good, he should say why other than "it's vegan". I've brought their stuff places and no one has known anything other than "yummy baked goods".

[mselectra]

I agree. I thought it was just about writing a clever dig, couldn't even tell if he'd ever had anything from there.