As Carrie mentioned in the previous post, we tried out a baker prior to our awesome adventure to Boston. At the end of it we came away from it with mixed feelings. On one hand the cake was good enough, and the baker had clearly put in a good deal of effort to make sure that we had access to all the varieties and combinations we could order. We found some combinations we really liked, such as yellow cake frosted with custard filling and lemon frosting. It had a really nice light taste and feel, something we feel is important, considering the fact we're serving barbecue and beer at the reception. Somehow heavy cake on top of that seemed a bit much. Despite these pleasant discoveries, there were some causes for concern. The baker was operating on a skeleton crew, and simultaneously attempting to effectively run a storefront and a to-order service. Overall we got the discomforting feeling that there would be a good chance that our baker would be completely burned out by the time October rolled around, which was reason to pause. Additionally, we got the distinct impression that they were very good at producing the standard generic baked goods, but not very willing or able to be creative with their work. Given their workload this is understandable, but it we were really looking for someone who would really be able to give our idea their all.
I can't remember if we've ever actually laid out what our cake plans are here, so for thoroughnesses sake, I'll describe it. Instead of the Space: 2001-esqe monolithic wedding cake, Carrie and I have decided to jump on board the cupcake bandwagon. Our we have several reasons for going this route, some are practical, others are purely a matter of taste (no pun intended). From a practicality standpoint, cupcakes are a far safer investment. When a wedding cake decides to take the suicide plunge off a table (as anything expensive is inevitably fated to), its a disaster. Wedding cakes are notoriously hair-raising to transport and have to be treated like a baby seal in a iron lung. Cupcakes are far more robust, and even if half of them get obliterated in a freak accident, the other half are still presentable and edible. Cupcakes are also immensely easier to serve and require no extra silverware and plates, meaning everyone can get their piece of the wedding magic without waiting for someone to peform surgery on the cake and ration it out onto plates. From a aesthetic point of view, Carrie and I feel that cupcakes are far more fun, and do away with a good deal of the pomp and circumstance we find suffocating in tradional wedding receptions. To our mind a wedding reception is a party, not a quiz on etiquette and protocol. Now this isn't to say we've banished the cake completely from our reception, we will have a small single tier cake. That gives us something to do the cutting with, as well as feed the wedding party, who we will undoubtedly spoil at every chance we get.
So as we headed down to Boston to meet with our awesome photographer, we fretted over our cake plans, and whether we felt the first baker was up to the challenge. As our time up in Maine was limited, we were worried that we would have to settle for a less than perfect baker. Fortunately, luck was on our side and the day before our departure we were able to arrange a second tasting with another baker. From their website I had assumed it was a larger operation, given the quality and quantity of the work on display. To my surprise, it turned out to be a husband and wife operation based out of their kitchen in South Portland. Despite the very short notice we were able to give them, they were able to whip together a impressive tasting. The cake from the first baker was good, the cake from the second was divine. Peggy Kovensky, the chef of the pair, is clearly someone who is not only dedicated to making great tasting cakes, but also cakes which are truly impressive to look at. During the conslutation, it was apparent that this baker was not only interested in producing something unique for our wedding, but quite possibly would be constitutionally incapable of producing anything that could be mistaken as generic.
One of Peggy's skills which truly caught me off-guard was her proficiency with crafting sugar. When I was initially browsing their website, I had assumed incorrectly that they were adding fresh flowers to their cakes to accentuate the decorations. Little did I suspect the truth: Peggy hand crafts each flower out of pure sugar with a level of cullinary artistry that frankly left me floored. After our consultation we quickly had a discussion in which we unanimously decided that this baker was the one for us. We ran back and immediately signed the paperwork to make sure that we had dibs on such a awesome baker.
You may have noticed I've failed to mention the name of the baker, this was intentional. I wanted to tell you how awesome they were and how we ended up choosing them before I revealed their name. Since I feel its safe to say that's been accomplished, let me say that Carrie and I are proud to have New England Couture Cakes as our baker for our wedding! I could go on for another paragraph listing out their staggering credentials, but instead I'll just give you their website address, so you can take a look for yourself.
Of course, as is usually the case with my luck, they updated their website design after our visit, so now you would have to be blind to miss their awesome edible floral making skills!
Cheers!
Alan
