Tips for Dining, Eating, and Food Shopping in the SF Bay Area (including Berkeley, Oakland, Napa, Sonoma, Marin, and San Jose)
Start New ThreadI need to pick up a birthday cake for a birthday party at work at Fremont & Market. Any suggestions for a good birthday cake (or cupcakes) in the financial district? Also, one of the birthday honorees can't eat chocolate, while another one loves chocolate. Given that, I'm wondering if cupcakes might be a better option, so I could pick up a variety. Any other suggestions are appreciated.
By kresge86
on Oct 12, 2007 10:09 AM
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Cafe Madeleine at Battery & California would be my pick. Delicious, beautiful cakes, both chocolate-based and fruit-based. They also sell mini-versions, which are slice-sized though usual in the shape of a little tart. An assortment of those might do the trick.
Two downtown cupcake options are Miette in the Ferry Building and Citizen Cupcake in the Virgin record store at Market & Stockton. I much prefer Citizen Cupcake.
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I second Cafe Madeleine.
Just Desserts used to be where our office went (cheaper I think than the other options mentioned), but I think they closed their Embarcadero Center location.
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I am curious to know how good their cakes are. I have been to their first location many times when they just opened and then some, my office was around the corner. I went to the California location and did not like it as much for pastries and salads and I thought the baked goods looked sad. Maybe I hit a bad day. Do they make the cakes there?
It just seemed to go down hill from what I had first encountered from the original spot.
I am not a fan of Just Desserts so perhaps our taste are not the same.
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Town's End Restaurant & Bakery- si close enough on 2 Townsend they produce some nice cakes.
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I was tasked with finding a cake for an office celebration this week. Last year, we had gotten the cake from Just Desserts on Church St., which delivered. However, that JD location is closed, and the one at the Metreon does not deliver.
So I checked out Cafe Madeleine and ended up with their 1/4 sheet raspberry truffle cake (layers of chocolate cake and chocolate mousse completely covered with fresh raspberries and strawberries on top. It was gorgeous and delicious! You guys helped me cement my chowhound cred (my manager said I was now his official "cake picker"). I believe the cake I choose was the most expensive at $58 plus 10 percent for delivery to my office (nice that I didn't have to go pick it up in the rain!); 1/4 sheets start under $50, although there's a $50 minimum for delivery. I was worried about lugging a large cake through the FiDi, but the box came in a nice handle bag that appeared to be specifically designed for this size cake, so it would have been easy to carry had I not chosen to have it delivered.
Big thumbs up! Thanks, y'all!
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I ended up ordering from Cafe Madeleine. The "Jealousy" was a HUGE hit with my office. It's an apricot and chocolate mousse cake with almond biscuit (somewhat spongy biscuit) topped with beautiful glazed fruit. Even our non-chocolate fan loved this cake, while the chocolate-lovers appreciated the hint of chocolate.
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Yeah, when I went in to order my cake, I bought a piece of the Jealousy for myself. One thing, though: they keep their cakes chilled, but they're so much better if you let them come to room temp. I decided not to put mine in the office fridge, so it sat out for several hours, but it was in perfect condition and was much better for not being cold and hard.
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