The Search for the Perfect Buttercream Confection

I decided to extend my trip back to Ohio last week for graduation a few extra days so I could knock a few more wedding-related tasks off my list: cake, florist, and make-up trial. Now that I'm back in New York and taking a few days off before studying for the bar, I decided I'd post a little bit about my experiences with each vendor.

Going into our cake tastings, I had a few requirements: (1) I wanted a fresh cake, not a frozen cake. That immediately knocked several vendors off of our list (including a very well-known bakery in the Cincinnati area); (2) we needed someone who wouldn't charge for doing different flavors/fillings in each layer (I'm more of a fruit person, while Joe is more of a chocoholic); and (3) I had a pretty specific idea about the design for the cake, so I needed someone who wouldn't balk at potentially doing another baker's design.

We first met with Marilyn, of Cakes by Marilyn, in Ludlow, KY. Marilyn works out of her home (her basement has been transformed into an awesome kitchen) and had prepared three cakes for us: a chocolate cake w/ chocolate ganache, a white cake w/ strawberry filling, and a vanilla cake w/ raspberry filling. We spent about half an hour there flipping through her gigantic book of cake designs - I was very impressed that Marilyn offered to make us a color copy of one of the cake designs from her book that we were particularly interested in. Overall, Marilyn's cake was very good. The cake was incredibly moist and her fillings were incredibly tasty. My only complaints would be that her icing was a little too sweet for my tastes (I am NOT a sugar fan) and her cake seemed to be a little less dense than what we were looking for. Her prices, however, couldn't be beat: $265 for a three-tier square cake with different fillings in each tier, delivery included to downtown Cinti (she also had silver pedestal cake stands for rent for a very reasonable price).

We had originally scheduled our next appointment w/ Lisa of Lisa's Cakes in Lebanon (I'd heard her cakes were second only to Maribelle from people who had tasted both) but, unfortunately, I received a call from a very hoarse sounding Lisa the day before our tasting informing me that she was ill and needed to cancel/reschedule our appointment. Unfortunately, I was flying back to NYC before Lisa would be well again, so I wasn't able to schedule a new appointment. I was, however, very appreciative of the fact that Lisa was more concerned w/ keeping her potential clients healthy than with making a sale. If I had had more days to spend in Ohio, I would have definitely rebooked an appointment w/ her.

To replace our appointment w/ Lisa, I turned back to the Knot. A search of the Knot's vendor list and reading through previous posts on the Cinti board turned up Tres Belle. I contacted Tracy at Tres Belle early the morning before I was due to fly out, and she was nice enough to squeeze us in for a tasting that afternoon (immediately earning extra brownie points) - she even found the time to make three completely different mini cakes for us to try, and even packed them up so we could take them home for FFIL to try. At Tres Belle, we tasted a lemon cake w/ lemon filling, a dark chocolate cake w/ chocolate ganache (VERY chocolatey), and a white cake w/ raspberry filling. I liked her cake flavors slightly more than Marilyn's, but her icing seemed to have a "strange" texture. Tracy's prices were *slightly* higher than Marilyn's, but not enough to really make a difference.

Our final cake tasting appointment was w/ the famous Maribelle Cakery in Cincinnati. Walking up to their door, FMIL actually joked that we probably shouldn't go in (we're both bad about picking expensive things - usually w/o knowing the price...) but I just had to try it - their cake design from knottie KaraMGM's wedding was my inspiration for going there and they get such rave reviews on the Knot.

Their shop is an actual shop (not a home-based business), and it was the first place we were offered something to drink with our cake. Once we were settled and had been offered our sparkling water, we tasted 5 different cakes: an orange butter cake w/ strawberry and cream cheese icing, a tiramisu cake, a white chocolate cake w/ mocha and raspberry, a lemon almond pistachio torte, and a chocolate cake w/ Irish cream filling. All were unbelievable. Their cake is a LOT more moist than anything else we tried, and their icing was the first I tried that wasn't sickly sweet. The price, however? Wowza. A little over $1000 for a three-tier square cake for 150 people, delivery included. They have the same silver cake pedestals, for free, w/ a $200 refundable deposit.

Our decision? Maribelle. It's a splurge, we know. But once we'd had their cake, we just couldn't go back. We're having the orange butter cake w/ strawberry and cream cheese filling in the first and third layers, and the white chocolate cake w/ mocha and raspberry filling for the middle layer. YUM! We've both been to weddings where neither one of us wanted to eat the cake, let alone finish it. We'd like our cake to be something that our guests remember - and they'll definitely remember this cake.

And my overall thoughts on cakeries in Cincinnati? You can find a really good cake in Cincinnati for much less than what Maribelle charges - but you won't find anything that comes close to matching Maribelle in taste. Maribelle was originally in our budget (well, a smaller cake from Maribelle was), but we were hoping to find somewhere less expensive. However, once we tasted Maribelle, we had to find room somewhere - there just wasn't any other option. So a word of warning: if you're SURE that you can't find room in the budget, you might want to skip them. I think you might be disappointed otherwise...