Birthday Cake Awesomeness from Lovejoy Bakers

In honor of Dan's birthday last week, I took it also as an opportunity to try out a new bakery in Portland - one one that I've heard a lot about.  Lovejoy Bakers, known for their beautifully refined treats was the place I chose to custom create Dan's awesome chocolate cake.

About Lovejoy Bakers:
Boasting two locations in Portland, one in the trendy Pearl District and the other in the South Waterfront neighborhood, I chose the former to pick up my cake.  You can simply call their cake department to place your order and specify from which location you'd like to pick up.

On a lovely Friday morning, I found the Pearl District location to be quite busy, and the fact that it's strategically located on a busy corner spot near Jamison Square also helps the matter.  Aside from customers stopping in to pick up a casual sweet treat or coffee, they also serve breakfast and lunch so you'll notice plenty of people dining in and enjoying.  The storefront is bright and cheery and provides great opportunities for people watching, so that's definitely a draw.

Birthday Cake:
I ordered one of their popular cake combinations which is the Chocolate Peanut Butter, as I knew it'd make Dan happy.  Consisting of delicious moist dark chocolate cake layers broken up by even more decadent slathers of peanut butter mousse and finally covered with chocolate butter cream, it was pure heaven.  We all agreed that the peanut butter mousse was the piece-de-resistance, and we all would've gladly just scooped this out of the cake and eaten it on its own.  It goes without saying that we destroyed the next day's leftovers, with the peanut butter mousse being almost completely gone.

Service and Cost: 
Ordering the cake was easy-peasy and pick up was relatively smooth as well.  Although I waited on line at the bakery for a few minutes, it wasn't anything significant to warrant a complaint.

Costs are expensive but worth the price for the high quality products and ingredients used in their creations.  The birthday cake I just described set me back $36 but fed about 8 people, which isn't too bad.

3 Mmmms

Lovejoy Bakers - 939 NW 10th Avenue, Portland OR 97209
503.208.3113
lovejoybakers.com

Hubby's Chocolate Swirl Surprise!

Today was a lot of fun, as we celebrated Dan's 35th birthday - a few days early, but still special, as we got together with the whole family and indulged in comforting Italian food and some pretty tasty birthday cake courtesy of The Chocolate Swirl.  It's no secret that Dan loves his Miami Dolphins, so the cake took on a fun dolphins design, incorporating his semi crazy obsession with designer sunglasses too.  


This beautiful birthday cake was made up of a rich dark chocolate dough filled with Dan's two favorite flavors of peanut butter and oreo cookies. I loved how The Chocolate Swirl incorporated two types of flavors into the filling, which made the cake unique and special. It was fun to watch the expression on everyone's faces as the cake made its grand entrance, especially our little Maddie.
If you like what you see, you can custom order your cake from the Chocolate Swirl and infuse the design and flavors of your choice. Happy Birthday, Dan!

Special Cake for a Special Trio - Courtesy of Thea Sphere Sweets

This past weekend, my parents hosted our annual trifecta of family birthday celebrations.  It actually is a true trifecta, as my mom, dad and brother all have consecutive birthdays in the month of August.  "How bizarre," you may be thinking, but I've lived with this all my life and love to celebrate this fast and ferocious family holiday.

As we usually do, we had our cousins, aunts and uncles over for a big shin-dig.  Since I was in charge of the cake, I wanted to do something special and hit up my friend Thea who has a baking business called Thea Sphere Sweets, to do the job right.  First tasting Thea's delicious creations at this year's Ribfest, I was immensely impressed by her maple bacon cupcakes.  Since then, the two of us have been in touch, and I've been inspired by her sweet creations - and commissioning her to help out for my family's big birthday celebration felt natural.

Soccer and Heels Birthday Cake - Since I knew that Thea can make virtually anything, I designed a custom cake, including decor elements as well as flavor.  Wanting the cake to address both a masculine and feminine side, I thought that soccer balls (for dad aka Oci and brother, Peter) and high heels (for mom) would be appropriate.  From browsing her site, I saw that Thea had experience with fondant, so I was looking forward to this element shining through on the cake.
In terms of flavor, most of our party goers (including quite a few kids) were chocolate fans.  But wanting to keep the cake also sophisticated, I suggested that fresh raspberries be incorporated too.  Besides...who doesn't love that combination?!

When we received the cake (delivered to my parents' house on Long Island), we were pleased with its whimsical look and couldn't wait to dig in.  As we revealed it to guests, we got a nice reaction, as people automatically knew that it wasn't from a local bakery, but indeed something very different and special.

The taste was the best part, as it was rich and chocolatey, but not overly sweet.  The chocolate ganache and fresh raspberry filling was absolutely my favorite part, and I secretly wished to just pick the middle of the cake and eat it on its own.  I would've destroyed the whole thing if I followed my instincts, but still...I couldn't help to reach for another (and another) forkful of the chocolate/raspberry mousse.  

It was satisfying to see that the kids loved it too, my 5 year old cousin Emma exclaiming that "my friend is a good cook." Right on Emma!

To find out more about Thea's delicious creations, check out her Facebook page, and feel free to contact her directly.  And please tell her who sent ya ;-)

Martha's Country Bakery - Great for Birthdays!

My cousin Eva turned 33 this past weekend--and we had an impromptu celebration for her. Remembering a Red Velvet cake that I once ate at her house, I thought that it'd be a good birthday treat in her honor.

Dan went to no other than Martha's Country Bakery to pick up Eva's cake. It was a small 5 inch Red Velvet layer beauty, which looked simply divine. Even though there wasn't much surface area to write on, Martha's was creative and stuck a plastic "Happy Birthday" sign into the cake, writing Eva's name on top. I thought that was a neat approach! A cherry filo dough pastry was also bought for non-cream cheese frosting eaters (aka Dan).

The Cake:
Besides its pretty exterior, this cake was one of the best Red Velvet desserts I've ever had. I think that the dough really spoke for itself, as it was light, airy and super moist--it would've been good even without the frosting. But don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the frosting as well--and so did everyone else. The creamy, velvety mousse embellished the cake and made it more luxurious. Eva's girls devoured it with pleasure--just look at little Camryn above enjoying her "Happy Cake," as Matt referred to it.

Cherry Pastry:
I had to sample this delicacy as well and wasn't disappointed. Martha's excellence lies in using good quality ingredients and this pastry was no exception. The cherry filling was flavorful and included slightly sour cherries instead of overly sweet/syrupy ones. The dough was perfectly flaky and delicious, my only complaint was that there was too much powdered sugar on top--so I brushed it off.

Price:
While the cakes and pastries aren't cheap, they are worth the price. The small cake and the pastry that I described above set us back about $15--not too bad for a birthday celebration.

Martha's Country Bakery - 36-21 Ditmars Blvd, Astoria, NY 11105

718.545.9737

N/W Train to Ditmars Blvd (last stop)

www.marthascountrybakery.com