s/o: where do you buy your cakes or cupcakes?

[AnnieW625]

spin off of course.

We buy our sheet cakes from our local Vons store. I found out about them for DD1's baptism when I was asking around and half the recs. were for a famous bakery in my city and the other half were from Vons. I am soo glad I tried them. Only had one mishap a few months ago when they never baked our order and so I ended up getting a cup cake cake for half off. I probably could have gotten it for free, but we were in a hurry to get to DD2's party (we have a small fridge so we couldn't pick it up any earlier).

We have bought a cake for DD1's first birthday from a local bakery that we liked as well.

We get cupcakes very rarely from one of two local cup cake shops, but not for kids birthday parties because they are $2 a pop.

I also got a great cake for DH's birthday a couple of years ago from a co workers wife. If my co worker is still working here I'll most likely get his 40th birthday cake from her.

I also love to make cupcakes, but I am not that great at frosting them, but they taste great. I really want to learn to make cake pops as well.

[lizzywednesday]

I baked DD's 1st birthday cupcakes (from TJ's mix) but bought her cake for her 2nd birthday at Wegman's. I think I'll go to Wegman's for her 3rd birthday cake if I don't order an ice cream cake from a local dairy/ice creamery.

If I really want a cupcake but don't feel like baking, I drive to the diner (they have a bakery off site that bakes all their cakes & breads fresh every day) while DH seems to like a local bakery near the nursing home where his grandma lives.

I don't like the cakes/cupcakes from that bakery, but everyone in the area raves about them. Frankly, I don't see the big deal but the quality was legendary in the past, so I'm guessing that's what everyone is remembering when they eat their slices of cake. I am not from this area, so I don't have the same frame of reference.

[sophiesmom03]

I make them, chocolate from the Hershey's cocoa box and vanilla using a whipping cream cake recipe from my mom.

But I HATE making and frosting cupcakes. Loathe it.

So if I can, I order from a local bakery, but that gets expensive. This year DD1 wants cake pops for her birthday at school. I got a pan and made a trial run recipe (Nordicware pan from W-S) and they were much easier than cupcakes for me.

No allergies in her class this year (1 has egg allergies and her mom sends special treats, even if there are no eggs in the recipe...I totally understand this) so cake pops with Wilton (nut and peanut equipment) colored chocolate coating it is.

[codex57]

Cakes - Raley's (decent sized grocery chain). Amazingly moist, with incredible frosting for cheap

Cupcakes - local chain (Icing On the Cupcake)

[SnuggleBuggles]

Bake them all from scratch.

[essnce629]

Maybe I'm a cake snob, but I've never had a cake from the grocery store that I really liked. But then again I like lots of layers, chocolate mousse, whipped cream frosting, and chocolate shavings!

Since moving to LA we've gotten our cakes at Porto's Bakery.
http://www.portosbakery.com/cakes/readymadecakes/all

When we lived in San Diego we got our cakes at the European Cake Gallery.
http://www.europeancakegallery.com/gallery_new/index.htm

We also love the ice cream cakes at Coldstone!

[niccig]

Mmmm, Portos.

In the past I've made the cake for DS's birthday. The last couple of years I ordered from a bakery. I haven't made cupcakes in ages. I usually bake muffins - pumpkin or banana, if I need something like that.

[KDsMommy]

I usually get DS' cake from Publix supermarket...great bakery IMO

[Tondi G]

Mmmm, Portos.

LOL that was my first thought too! Porto's is pretty delicious! My boys LOVE their potato balls. But this is about cakes

If Porto's was closer we would buy cakes from them but we usually just end up at Pavillions market .... which is essentially VONS. Their white cake with whipped cream frosting and fresh strawberries is incredible and people always ask me where the cake came from .... lots of parents who usually turn down the slice of cake come back for seconds!

We made the mistake of trying to get a cake from Ralphs one year and they put that funky jelly stuff in with the strawberries .... it was icky!

[niccig]

LOL that was my first thought too! Porto's is pretty delicious! My boys LOVE their potato balls. But this is about cakes


For me, it's the guava and cheese pastry. Delish!

For those of you in/around the valley, there's a great cheesecake store in Glendale where you can buy mini-cheesecakes. You can order a full-size one too. DH loves their chocolate-raspberry cheesecake and I like their pumpkin (now year round because of the demand) and the lemon-basil.

http://pacificcheesecakecompany.com/
http://www.yelp.com/biz/pacific-cheesecake-company-glendale

[kaitlyns.mom]

I make cupcakes most of the time. There is a recipe for Sprinkles strawberry buttercream frosting that is TDF and gets rave reviews when I make it. I bought a 1M tip from Wilton and some pastry bags and it is super easy to pipe on frosting faster than I can with a spatula, and it looks professional. Highly recommend buying just that one decorating tip and some disposable bags if you enjoy baking at all.

Otherwise we have also bought cakes from Costco.

[Tondi G]

For me, it's the guava and cheese pastry. Delish!

For those of you in/around the valley, there's a great cheesecake store in Glendale where you can buy mini-cheesecakes. You can order a full-size one too. DH loves their chocolate-raspberry cheesecake and I like their pumpkin (now year round because of the demand) and the lemon-basil.

http://pacificcheesecakecompany.com/
http://www.yelp.com/biz/pacific-cheesecake-company-glendale

Oooh good to know, my sister lives in Atwater Village so not far from Glendale. My boys love cheesecake.

The guava pastries are delicious from Portos. My DS2 loves the little tres leches cake from the bakery. I also love the dulce de leche kiss cookies. Oh now I want portos! :)

[niccig]

Oooh good to know, my sister lives in Atwater Village so not far from Glendale. My boys love cheesecake.

The guava pastries are delicious from Portos. My DS2 loves the little tres leches cake from the bakery. I also love the dulce de leche kiss cookies. Oh now I want portos! :)

It's a light cheesecake. It's in same building as the Hyundai dealership on Brand. It's very easy to miss, they don't have a great sign, so just park in front of Hyundai and walk along the sidewalk back up towards the Americana.

For DH's birthday, I now call a couple days before to order the choc-raspberry cheesecake as they don't always have it - they rotate the flavours.

[AnnieW625]

I have not had Porto's, but I have heard they are good. We will have to try them soon. The Downey one is about 20 minutes from us.

Other So Cal bakeries that are good:
Takes the Cake, Pasadena (http://takesthecake.com/)
Rose Bakery, Van Nuys (http://rose-bakery.com) (I don't go to the valley much, but this place is amazing. If I lived closer this would be my go to for cakes. Essence & other north LA'ers, you should check it out. I have had a wedding cake, and two birthday cakes from there)
Great Dane, Huntington Beach/Los Alamitos (http://www.thegdbc.com)
Alsace Lorraine, Long Beach (http://www.alsacelorrainepastries.com/) (this is my place if I don't use the grocery store)
Sprinkles Cupcakes are good as well, I love their strawberry one

Lots of people in my area like Rossmoor Pastries (http://www.rossmoorpastries.com ), but I have had their cake and cupcakes and find them dry, plus I find their staff to be a little uptight and their prices higher than they should be.

At home in NorCal we always got cake (including our wedding cake) from a local shop called Timothy's (http://www.timothysbakery.com ). Lots of people raved about Freeport Bakery (http://www.freeportbakery.com/), and Solano Baking Company (http://www.solanobaking.com), but I had wedding cake from both and I thought it was dry, and awful. Neldum's in Oakland is good as well. Nugget Market makes a good store cake as well.

[crl]

I have mosty made them myself. We did buy cake from a local bakery once and twice have bought cupcakes from a local cupcake place that makes awesome vegan cupcakes (both egg and dairy allergies at the party).

I am sad that ds now prefers store bought--that's what other kids bring to school. I am a good baker, but not much good at decorating (though I have been praticing and have gotten a bit better) and ds wants the perfect looking store ones. So for his school treat last year I took in cupcakes from Safeway.

Catherine

[AnnieW625]

I make cupcakes most of the time. There is a recipe for Sprinkles strawberry buttercream frosting that is TDF and gets rave reviews when I make it. I bought a 1M tip from Wilton and some pastry bags and it is super easy to pipe on frosting faster than I can with a spatula, and it looks professional. Highly recommend buying just that one decorating tip and some disposable bags if you enjoy baking at all.

Otherwise we have also bought cakes from Costco.

I have made that as well, I wish I could get it to look just like sprinkles though. One time I didn't puree the strawberries enough though and it messed around with the consisitency. I tried the bags and tips and I still found it a bit hard, but I was trying to do this
http://images.meredith.com/bhg/images/recipe/ss_R143716.jpg. (http://www.parents.com/recipes/cooking/kid-friendly-food/cute-cupcakes/#page=2)

I also didn't make enough frosting to do the design I wanted to do and had to scrap the half I had already started as I was on a time crunch and didn't have time to get more ingredients before the party so I ended up spreading them. (this was DD1's 4th birthday and I was 9 months pregnant!).

[schrocat]

We've been ordering custom designed cakes from our local Whole Foods. I like that they don't use food coloring and the cakes are pretty reasonably priced. We ordered DS3's birthday cake from a local Hong Kong bakery which has a good reputation. They're actually more expensive than Whole Foods. Someone tried to cake-nap our cake from the bakery just now. I got a call from the bakery asking if we sent some woman to collect the cake for us!

[vludmilla]

I tend to not need a lot of cakes or cupcakes. So far I've been able to make them when I need them.

[maestramommy]

make my own.

[codex57]

I have not had Porto's, but I have heard they are good. We will have to try them soon. The Downey one is about 20 minutes from us.

I haven't been to the Downey location, but I'll vouch for Porto's as well. The cuban sandwiches are quite good too actually. Don't be afraid to try stuff other than the pastries.

[kaitlyns.mom]

I also didn't make enough frosting to do the design I wanted to do and had to scrap the half I had already started as I was on a time crunch and didn't have time to get more ingredients before the party so I ended up spreading them. (this was DD1's 4th birthday and I was 9 months pregnant!).

Ah yes, I don't do cupcakes for parties when I'm pregnant. :ROTFLMAO: I turn into a guaranteed stress case!

I think to get it looking like that design you would need to add more powdered sugar or something... Sprinkles' frosting is definitely more dense than a lot of bakery frostings so it doesn't have that fluffy look.

[Mopey]

I am a private pastry chef and have a company of my own so I make everything from scratch. I love my work but always scoffed a bit at my clients who go over the top..... And of course now I am ALREADY thinking about Miss Mopey's first birthday cake (she is a Spring baby so I think I will paint & pipe a whole garden of flowers all over it) :D

I will say, I never understand the million-kinds-of-sweets need, but the birthday cake - definitely! It is a total thrill to receive pictures from my clients of the faces of these kids when blowing out their candles. And I have a boatload of first birthday pictures and that little hand is crushing the cake every time! SO cute :)

[lmwbasye]

make them myself

[swrc00]

I am a big fan of the grocery chain, Publix. I love their cake.

I have several friends that have cake businesses, but I hate fondant.

[Twin Mom]

I usually get DS' cake from Publix supermarket...great bakery IMO

:yeahthat: DC's b-day's are next week and both cakes will be from Publix.

[swrc00]

:yeahthat: DC's b-day's are next week and both cakes will be from Publix.

Their ice cream cake is awesome!

[citymama]

We bake our own from scratch most of the time. If we buy it's from local independent or specialty bakeries. If those were less expensive, I might buy cakes there more often, but given that it would cost like $80+ for a really great birthday sheet cake, we always end up baking our own. I have two go-to recipes and every birthday cake is one or the other! Sigh. I must branch out.

[ellies mom]

It depends. We have a local (non chain) grocery store with a wonderful bakery so I buy decorated cakes from there. I make the occasional bundt cake with something drizzled over the top at home because it doesn't tax my non-existent decorating skills although it does occasionally tax my cake removal skills.

Cupcakes, I tend to make at home because kids honestly couldn't care less if they are fancy. For parties, I usually use white cake batter with a white buttercream frosting, then I put out dishes of small candies and let the kids decorate their cupcakes. It counts as an activity and they love it. Although I keep swearing that next year, I'm going to just hand out spoonfuls of frosting since that is all that seems to be eaten. If I don't make a bundt cake for the adults, I make nicer cupcakes for them (red velvet with cream cheese for example).