Let Them Eat *Chocolate* Cake

Yes, I have joined the ranks of those who are choosing Chocolate cake with Chocolate frosting as the Center of Attention Showcase Wedding Cake.

I had my cake tasting last night with my *amazing* new baker. She was Wonderful.. and her cake! Wow... Even better. We choose a chocolate cake with raspberry filling and chocolate buttercream frosting.

We are choosing a 3 tier traditional round cake. The bottom two tiers will be for serving, the top *being traditionalists at heart* will be for our first anniversary... if it will make it that long in the freezer without being eaten by one or both of us.

Things that impressed us:

1) She wore a chef coat *courtesy of FH*

2) She brought a whole cake... not a sample.. but a whole cake. And although some are charging for cake tastings now, she didn't charge us a dime

3) She came to FH's work as he was roped into working that night *his usual night off* and then waited half an hour for me since I was stuck in traffic

4) Her prices were more than competitive, she blew the competition out of the water

5) When business was all said and done, she didn't fly off, she actually stayed and chatted with me for quite some time. A half hour meeting turned into an hour plus some.

6) We LOVE small business. She had that beautiful small business feel with some big time background experience

Total cake total including delivery? $325, a mere pittance in the world of Wedding cake decoration, and our cake isn't just plain, it is topped with cascading tiger lilies and decorated by colored ribbons and some fancy icing tricks.

The best part? The taste was out of this world. After bringing the cake over to share with my mother, father and son, they came to the same conclusion I had, the raspberry filling made the whole cake POP.

I cannot wait to get home from work and have another piece tonight... Hopefully it will still be there as FH and little man will be home.

My advice to you ladies? FLOCK TO CRAIGSLIST. That is where I found this wonderful baker. Give the small vendors a chance and they are willing to give you a price break.

This particular professional is not new to the game but usually the vendors will be just regular vendors trying to break into the business. Her scoop? She just likes the extra advertising craigslist gives you.

Give small vendors a chance, and if you're in the RI/MA area, check out Amanda at CakesRI.