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Looking for desserts for Passover? Or fresh Hot Cross Buns for Easter Sunday? Look no further!

Each year we exclusively bake Passover cakes without the traditional use of flour; instead, we bake with potato starch and Matzo meal. The two cookie options we have, Almond Macaroons and Coconut Macaroons, are also made sans-flour.

For chocolate lovers we have our Chocolate Orange Passover cake, which can be decorated with or without whipped cream. Without whipped cream, we generously top the cake with fresh strawberries and oranges. With the cream, we cover the torte with whipped cream first then decorate with fruit along the perimeter for some color.

A chocolate alternative to our Passover desserts is our Strawberry Banana Passover cake. This banana sponge is made with fresh bananas and Matzo meal (note: because of the Matzo Meal, this cake is NOT gluten-free). Between the layers of sponge lies fresh strawberries, bananas and whipped cream. It's decorated with whipped cream, sliced almonds on the sides and topped with some fruits around the perimeter. By default this cake is sprinkled with Orange Curacao liqueur for both flavor and to keep the cake moist; but this can be substituted with Orange Juice by request. 

We'll also be making two types of macaroons! Our Almond Macaroons, made specially for this holiday, is made with almond paste. It's available in plain and chocolate flavors. Lastly, the Coconut Macaroons we have in our case everyday also do not contain flour.

Hot Cross Buns (not flourless) are also in season again! Please place your orders in advance if you know you'll be needing them. We'll also be baking our Raspberry Sandwich cookies in the shape of bunnies -- so stop by after your egg hunts!

Check out these new boxes we now carry for cookies! Pick as many cookies as you'd like - of whatever assortment - and we'll box them for you with a great bow -- super fun and easy gifts!

So now there is a choice of Cookie Tins, Cookie Boxes or Cookie Bags (not pictured)!

Our Gingerbread cookies are very popular this time of year. We make a variety of shapes and sizes, including angels, boys, girls, trees and more. Pictured below is our Large Man next to some regular-sized Gingerbread.

And two more cookies that we feature during this time of the year: Spritz Cookies (Swedish butter cookies) and Mexican Wedding Cookies.

Last couple of days to get your orders in! Please call in by Friday to have your orders ready on Christmas Eve. Remember, we will be closed Christmas Day. 

Christmas Eve hours:

Palo Alto: 7:00am - 6:00pm, lunch until 3:00pm

Santa Clara: 7:30am - 6:00pm, kitchen closing at 3:00pm

Fremont: 7:30am - 6:00pm, kitchen closing at 3:00pm

Wishing you all a very Happy Holiday!

In addition to my last post on Holiday Gift Ideas, here are a few more ideas that are especially, although not exclusively, great for companies. Among the most popular are the Cookie Tins and Fruitcakes, but there are a few baked goods that can be ordered in large quantities that will work just as well, if not better.

1. Mini Dessert Platters

We make a variety of mini desserts including fruit tartlets, lemon tartlets, Eclairs, Cream Puffs, Napoleons and Grand Marnier Balls. Feel free to create an assortment with as little or as many desserts as you like. We can pack them in our standard bakery boxes or on party platters. We do offer special pricing for 25 pieces on a tray, limited to one kind of dessert per tray. 

2. Morning Pastry Boxes

With a large variety to choose from, there's something for every office! For your convenience, we have five preset boxes to choose from. Of course if non of these assortments are to your liking, we can also make custom boxes. Almost all of our morning pastries are also available in mini sizes.

4. Buche de Noels and Yule Logs

While we are already on the topic of gifting cakes, why not kick it up a notch? Our Buche de Noels and Yule Logs are exclusively made this time of year. They're a bit more extravagant, but can really brighten up an office party. Your clients will really be surprised and appreciate this one. Find more details on our Holiday Special Occasions page here.

5. Bags of Cake Bites

Since the launch of this product a few months ago, we have been getting tons of positive feedback! With these Cake Bites, there's no hassle of delivering a full-sized cake while having the same quality and taste and having enough to go around. They can be individually bagged per person or packed in a box (think box of donut holes!) or party platter (picture aboved). 

6. Box of Cupcakes

Each box holds six cupcakes, pick and choose the kinds you want: Chocolate with Chocolate icing, Chocolate with Mocha icing, Chocolate with Rum icing, Carrot, Orange Almond, White Cake with Chocolate icing and/or White Cake with Orange icing. Bow is complimentary :)

Or just send a whole bunch to the office!

Hope this helps. If ordering in large quantities, please place orders in advance. Please leave a comment or call our stores if you have any questions!

Happy Holidays :)

Holiday shopping can be a pain sometimes. The crowds, the lines and not to mention the headache over finding the perfect gift for your loved ones. Whoever that may be - maybe a parent or a sibling, a friend or a co-worker - skip the mall and head to one of our four convenient locations.

Let's start with co-workers or managers first. Our Holiday Cookie Tins or Cookie Baskets are perfect for the office. The best part is they're customizable to your needs. Choose to do a tin of six cookies, a basket of 100 (the perfect gift from one company to another) or any number of cookies in-between. Mini assorted, regular-size assorted, Gingerbread, our special Holiday-only cookies - the choice is all yours. You can give (and therefore spend!) as little or as much as you'd like. Any way you go, the cookies are baked freshly every day and packed with care.

A great gift for family members or neighbors alike - which many of our customers are already taking advantage of - is our Naturally Aged Fruitcakes. Our fruitcakes are made with raisins, currants, almonds, walnuts, figs, dates, prunes and a bit of fresh orange peel. They were baked in October so they could be naturally aged with brandy, which means we don't add any preservatives unlike other places. Even without additives these fruitcakes, because of the real alcohol, will last you throughout the year and into January. Because they were baked to be aged, we only have a limited supply left. Pick up a pre-wrapped box today at the stores or call ahead to place a hold.

And there's always our Gift Cards. Available at Palo Alto, Santa Clara and Fremont locations, purchase as many cards as you need for any amount (over $10, increments of $5) that is available to redeem at any of those three locations with no expiry dates. This gift is perfect for those who frequent our locations for breakfast or lunch, or maybe you know they love our cakes but you don't know which one. The Gift Card is fast, easy and yet still thoughtful.

Stay tuned for our next post... maybe you don't need gift ideas but you've been asked to bring dessert to dinner. I'll be making some recommendations and giving details about the cakes we exclusively make during this holiday season. Until then, keep warm!

After a little bit of a hiatus from macarons, we decided to come back with three flavors that were too good to not share with the world. Last week we began making S’more macarons (that’s right!) and this week we added PB&J and Chocolate. The S’more macarons are really fun – to eat and to and to make. One of my favorite things to do in the winter is to set up a little campfire to make S’mores with my closest friends. Ya’know, roast the marshmallow on a stick and right before it gets too gooey, stick it between two pieces of graham crackers with a small piece of chocolate. Somehow the S’more makes the cold winter nights more bearable. And hopefully you’ll feel the same about our S’more macarons.

In between the two graham-cracker-flavored macarons shells lies homemade, all natural marshmallows (none of that jet-puffed stuff!) and two thin layers of our famous chocolate frosting. The combination brings back great campfire memories.

Speaking of memories, somewhere down this road called life, I stopped eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I don’t know when, and I don’t know why. The only thing I know is that I miss it. Is it silly for an adult to crave such a thing? This is where my inspiration came from for our PB&J macarons.

The shells are made from a mixture of freshly ground peanuts and almonds, and then they’re filled with our very own peanut butter buttercream, infused with raspberry jam.

And who can get enough chocolate? We couldn’t make macarons and not have a chocolate one, but don’t say we didn’t warn you: this is VERY chocolatey! Chocolate shells filled with our incredibly rich mocha ganache.

Any other flavors you’d like to see?

I can’t believe the holiday season is behind us. 2010 definitely seemed to have flown by, and now we’re almost done with January too! I suppose that’s how Valentine’s Day creeps up on us. I don’t know about you but more than once have I found myself scrambling for a present at last minute. Something more creative than some flowers or a box of chocolates, yet still meaningful and perhaps even delicious.

This is where we step in!

Last year we began making our famous Chocolate on Chocolate cake in the shape of a heart. We drizzled some raspberry icing on the top, decorated with a few chocolate pieces and a couple raspberries. It turned out beautifully, so we’re happy to offer it again.

In addition, for Mother’s Day last year we stumbled across a sweet creation in our kitchen. We married two of my favorite desserts to create a tasty Tiramisu Cheesecake, unique to our bakery. This is available in 8″, 10″ and a 6″ heart.

And for years now we’ve been making our Sweetheart Cake specially for this occasion. Taking the same chocolate cake that put us on the map (so to speak!), we kicked it up a notch from our Chocolate Rum by frosting it with raspberry cream cheese. It’s so good we often get requests for it throughout the year but it’s only available these couple of weeks – so make sure to place your order!

If you or your loved one aren’t cake people though, we do have several other options: cream puff hearts (filled with fresh whipped cream, covered with dark chocolate and drizzled with raspberry icing), individually-sized heart-shaped Strawberry Mousse, heart-shaped cookies (available in Raspberry Sandwiches, Half-Dippeds, Gingerbread, and Snickerdoodle).

Critics call this holiday a “Hallmark Holiday”. It may or may not be true, but we hope you enjoy it anyway and let the people you love know you love them! Happy Valentine’s Day!