cupcake/wedding cake/Miette

[newsysuzy12]

I would love some tip's on cupcake/wedding cake providers. I am tasting at Miette in the ferry building tomorrow, I know there are some other good cake places in town.
Thanks for all the help!

NY Bride in SF

[rcinsf]

I've gotten cupcakes from Kara's in the Marina twice...each time getting about 10 assorted cupcakes for a group. We cut them up so everyone could have a taste of a bunch of different ones. Must say that as a group we were underwhelmed. The cake was often dry (both the vanilla cake and the chocolate cake, not the banana) and many frostings were just too sweet. Of course, some people love sugary frostings, but the majority in our group found them overly sweet, with just too much frosting to cake ratio. Kids, I'm sure, would love this though. Some of the filled cupcakes were very nice, but again, some were simply too sweet.

A couple weeks later I went to a kid's birthday party where cupcakes from Sweet Things were served...they were much better...moist cake, and not-too-sweet frosting. They don't have the same variety as the specialty cupcake places, but I thought they were executed much better.

[Pei]

Just goes to show that every bakery has on/off days and has different strengths and weaknesses.

Kara's fleur de sel is one of my favorite cupcakes of all time. Incredibly chocolatey with the smoothese ganache I've ever tasted. Not overly sugary, with a nice contrast provided by a pinch of salt. Of course, I haven't tried any others.

My friend brought over some cake from Sweet Things after a wedding cake tasting, and I couldn't eat any of them. The white cake tasted dry and like it was made from box mix, the layers of preserves added to the sweetness, and the white buttercream was toothachingly sweet. Maybe that's just what they use for wedding cakes because it pipes well?

[Atomica]

Yeah, I really hate Sweet Things. You can buy their inferior goods all over town at many coffee places.

My husband also doesn't like the cupcakes I bring home that have a lot of frosting. Doesn't bother me. I really do not like the filled cupcakes, though. Thus, our experiences (mine and rcinsf's) are polar opposite.

[newsysuzy12]

we did go with three flavors of cupcakes from Miette...the raspberry and gingerbread were a hit, apricot pretty good as well.
Also the customer service was the best...almost as important when you are throwing a wedding.

[mspea]

You might also consider Sibby's Cupcakery, http://www.sibbyscupcakery.com. They did the cupcakes for my daughter's wedding (4 different flavors), and they were delicious and lovely.

[newsysuzy12]

10:30 am, and I have already tasted cupcakes from two bakeries. I could almost fly home on this sugar high.
Miette, light, delicate, well crafted, dainty, some frostings were amazing, some a little bland. VERY NICE people, went out of their way to get us cupcakes to taste on a preposterous schedule. Every cup looked perfect.
Kara's...overall a richer taste,cake batter amazing, some of the frosting bland, very very sweet,
fillings good, fleur de sel AMAZING, presentation a bit sloppier, customer service not so nice.
On the other hand since this was my second stop, I appeared to be a frosting-smeared cup cake fiend, and probably frightened them.
Thanks for all the help SF'ers!
Peace out!
NY bride in SF

[Atomica]

I am one of the only people in CH who actually likes and defends Miette's cupcakes, and even I wouldn't describe them as light and delicate. The cake is heavy/has a very dense crumb (many will say they find them too dry). Please report on what you decide and how it turns out!

[newsysuzy12]

I am a little worried after that comment...we got the cakes at 9:30 am...so they were pretty moist...the choc is dense. I hope they don't dry out too fast.
But the Miette frosting is so yummy.
Kara's passion fruit was tasty as well.

[absc]

I'm also one of the Miette fans who lurk around here. I've had them make numerous special orders for me over the years and have heard nothing but raves about all of them. I'm pretty sensitive to dry cakes a a problem and we haven't had that happen at all.

[Pei]

There some bakeries that have a great reputation for ordered items while having a fairly poor reputation for the stuff they keep on their shelves. I haven't liked Miette the few times I've tried, but I've only heard good things from friends and on this board about their made to order items. So I suspect that's the case.

[newsysuzy12]

My partner tells me to stop obsessing.... by dessert everyone will be so drunk they won't notice! HA!
I am thinking of serving ice cream on the side..perhaps that will compliment the texture. With all this cake talk I am sort of sad my leftovers are three thousand miles away.

[Pei]

I take it back: Miette's old fashioned cupcake (chocolate with a meringue frosting) can be good. I think I finally got lucky and got a very fresh cupcake--moist, very chocolatey while still being cake and not brownie, fluffy not too sweet frosting. Hopefully they caught wind that people are complaining about them letting cupcakes get stale!

[david kaplan]

I wonder if Miette's cupcakes have improved over time. In the past I found the cake portion too dry, but today I had a vanilla/vanilla cupcake at their main location (Ferry Bldg) and it was dense yet moist. The frosting today was less sweet and more buttery than Kara's -- the denseness of the frosting matched the denseness of the cake. Yum.

[sugartoof]

Have you checked into I Dream of Cake on Grant? It's a really nice shop, special orders only, and everything in the window looks beautiful. I couldn't say how it tastes, but they do specialize in wedding cakes.

[Pei]

I Dream of Cake has probably the most exquisite artistry I've ever beheld, and that's even compared to those wedding cake competitions on The Food Network. I looked up their website on a whim and recall the smallest possible cake being $600 (and that's a small birthday cake), so it's no bargain, but wow. What artistry.

Cupcakes: I love Kara's fleur de sel.

[chezchristine]

My sister used Kara's Cupcakes this past weekend for her wedding and everyone raved. Very inexpensive too, $3/cupcake. You can also rent tiers from them.

[Atomica]

Through extensive research over many months (and it was arduous, I must say--haha), I do think Kara's has the best cupcakes. I like the Delessio mini cupcakes too, but they're a different type of cupcake altogether.

[Mari]

I guess this depends largely on your budget, but I found a fantastic baker for my wedding cake. Her name is Stephanie and she runs her business out of a commercial kitchen for now. Here's the link: http://www.flours-sf.com/
She used to work at Tartine and her ingredients are organic, local, etc etc. I tasted a few famous wedding cake makers in the area and Flours had the best flavor combinations and cakes. I was going after taste over look and fancy designs too. Her prices start at $6 or $7 per slice.

[newsysuzy12]

thanks for the tip!