Cake Tasting

Mmmmm cake.

Cake shopping when you're gluten free can be quite a hassle. Going to wedding expos and shows is pretty fun, but the large majority of cake places (and a lot of catering places in general) unfortunately aren't equipped for gluten or allergen free events.

We found two locally here that can do more than one flavor that seem really really nice, so this post will be about tasting at the front runner, Bloom Bake Shop.

We live in a really progressive area and we like to support local businesses when we can, so Bloom is a natural choice. They're local, sustainable, organic, fair-trade - and have an AMAZING gluten free selection every day of the week... except for Sundays and Mondays but that's only because they're closed! They have a lot of gluten free things that are vegan too, which is important to me as I really do try to limit my dairy.

They also love to do cupcake weddings! They even have a tiny cake made to be the top of a cupcake tier. And their prices are not too shabby, especially considering we aren't planning on splurging horribly for anything.

When we got there tonight, we weren't sure just how it was going to go. Essentially what happened though is they brought us 2 plates of 4 cupcakes each, mine were all gluten free and his weren't, and we got to taste and talk to each other about it. In the end, I think we'll end up going all gluten free so I can eat allll the cakes!

We definitely need to try other places, but I really enjoyed getting to brainstorm a little with their main person and eating free cake. She was open to a lot of questions so I wish I had prepared some! But I've done a fair amount of research on them as well so maybe that was okay.

So here are some tips regarding cake testing!

• Ask questions - especially if you have an interesting theme or anything special you want to do with your cake
• If local and organic things are your preference, do your homework. Most bigger cities have at least one bakery willing to go the distance there
• And definitely do your homework when it comes to allergen issues and cakes. Bloom is not a GF specific bakery and so there is possible risk of contamination. However, they really do a great job to protect from that.

Next weekend, I head off to try on dresses with my nearest and dearest ladies!