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Happy New Year to all! The holidays are never long enough, are they?

But now it's time to get back to business. With a new year ahead of us, we're very excited to be making some new additions! We'll be busy in the kitchen stirring up some new recipes. I've got a few in mind... maybe some sugar-free products, some gluten-free - although no promises! What's tough about these two kinds of cakes and pastries is we refuse to stray away from our philosophy: using the highest quality ingredients to bake the highest quality final products. We don't want to cut any corners, which makes baking sugar-free and gluten-free very challenging. 

Any other suggestions or recommendations? Over the holidays we were receiving numerous phone calls asking about Lemon Cake. We do bake a fabulous Lemon Poppyseed Cake as well as a Lemon Custard Cream and a Lemon Rum Cream, but I think a plain Lemon Cake would be nice too. Another request I received is for Coconut Cake, so I'll be working on that too.

What do you think? Anything else you would like to see our bakery carry?

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 :)

This blog post is for those of you who actively follow our Twitter and this blog. Since we're talking about the day to give Thanks, I want to thank each and every one of you by letting you in on a few secret menu items we have for this Thanksgiving. You won't find details of the following items anywhere else on our site - not even at our stores - so read on if you're interested in exclusive desserts!

You'll want to place an order in advance for these items, since they don't really exist for anyone else but you, our readers! :)

MINI PIES: Individual desserts are cuter, more elegant and less of a mess. If you agree, you'll love our Mini Pumpkin and Mini Pecan Pies.

Plus, you get more crust this way!

Sadly, these tiny pies (about 4" in diameter) aren't big enough to fit our apple or cherry fillings. Don't forget we do have Banana Cream Tarts though, inspired by our Banana Cream Pies (the tarts just use a different dough for the crust).

Now, my favorite Thanksgiving item: Cheesecake-filled Pumpkin Cupcakes. A few years ago, during a slow night at our Fremont store, I whipped up a batch and fell in love. I was only making them for friends and family, and occasionally for the stores when I had the time. Since this post is really to thank you, our reader, I'll definitely be sure to make time should you choose to order these. Besides, these are too good not to share.

A Pumpkin Cupcake (different from our traditional Pumpkin Cake that we've had for years - that one contains walnuts and cranberries) with just the right amount of pumpkin flavor and the perfect balance of fluffy and cakey. In the middle, you'll find a sweet surprise: a small layer of cheesecake filling.

Topped with our Orange Cream Cheese frosting for a perfect complimenting flavor.

So there they are, three products this Thanksgiving that no one else knows about. Thanks again for making the effort to stay up-to-date with us. Remember to place your orders in advance to guarantee these secret items or any of the items we bake. Hope you and your family have a very Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm a summer kind of girl but there's one thing that I love about fall that I undoubtly look forward to each year: PUMPKIN PIES. Well, Pumpkin-anything really. Pies, cakes, cheesecakes, cupcakes, lattes... you get the picture.

The other day I was at my neighborhood supermarket when I noticed several piles of Pumpkin Pies (officially the start of the season, for me). What was even more shocking than the number of pies on the table was the price tag that was attached to it: $5.99 each. 

Although I love a great buy, I know I'll get what I pay for. Our Pumpkin Pie is, I'll admit, more expensive at $13.25 each but we use quality ingredients without artificial flavors, colors or enhancers. I can also promise there aren't any strange ingredients that you can't immediately recognize, let alone pronounce. In fact, I'll name them for you:

Ingredients in our Pumpkin Pie filling:
Pumpkin (100% pure)
Sugar
Eggs
Spices (salt, cinnamon, etc)
Dairy

Like all of our baked products, we don't add any artificial flavors or artificial colors. We don't add any preservatives or additives -- nothing but common ingredients that you'll find in your very own kitchen. We only take the mess of making it off your hands, that's it. Natural, pure and made from scratch.

In much the same manner, we bake many other pies: Apple, Cherry, Pecan (above), Banana Cream and Chocolate Cream (below). 

So while our pies are just a bit more in price, you'll have comfort in knowing you only served a natural and pure pie that was made by hand from scratch by our family for yours.

Please also see our last blog post regarding Thanksgiving Dinner! Other items that we specially bake for Thanksgiving include: Pumpkin Cake, Pumpkin Cheesecake, Strudels, Sticky Buns, Bread Loaves, Panettone, Hot Cross Buns, Aged Fruit Cakes and more. Please place your orders in advance to guarantee items.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy November! Can you believe that it's November already? We are only weeks away from Thanksgiving and before we know it, it'll be the new year. I blame the crazy weather we are having in the Bay Area. Don't get me wrong, I love blue skies and warm temperatures, but I feel a little cheated by the return of fall. It has creeped up on us.

So while the temperatures might suggest otherwise, don't forget that arguably one of the biggest dinners of the year is almost here. Thanksgiving is my all-time favorite holiday. Each year my family hosts, and it's always so heart-warming to see my extended family crowded around our much-to-small dinner table. It's always overflowing with food, sometimes so that we have to hold our plates while we eat. But for some, Thanksgiving brings headaches, hassles and anxieties over serving something delicious and large enough for the party (those of us who cook know that sometimes these two ideas don't go hand-in-hand). Thankfully, this is something I don't have to worry about, and neither should you.

Perfect for both a corporate event or for your family meal at home, our Thanksgiving Catering package covers all the bases for your lunch or dinner, plus we offer anything else you may need: dinner rolls, bread loaves, PIES, cakes and more.

Let's start with the main meal first. Each Turkey Dinner includes a turkey that is at the very least 16 pounds,  homemade cornbread stuffing, hand-mashed potatoes and gravy made from scratch. Serving about 15-18 people, this complete meal is less than $7 per person.

-- Homemade cornbread stuffing for a large corporate catering order last year --

Popular add-ons we also offer include:
Honey-Cured Ham (natural juice, pure muscle) with homemade honey pineapple sauce
Dinner Rolls by the dozen, available in white and wheat
Sauteed Vegetables
All other items on our regular Cafe menu, including pastas, salads and our Vegetable Tofu Plate

And of course we offer a whole variety of dessert for Thanksgiving, the most popular being our homemade, made-from-scratch pies. If you order the Thanksgiving Catering package, we offer our phenomenal Pumpkin Pies at a discounted price of $19.95 for two. Unlike other bakeries, supermarkets and alike, our pies are all-natural and pure, with no preservatives, no additives and no artificial flavors. We also bake Apple, Cherry, Pecan, Chocolate Cream and Banana Cream pies in the same manner.

-- Rack of Pumpkin and Pecan (in the back) Pies on the morning of Thanksgiving last year (11/25/10) --

So as you can see, Thanksgiving Dinner can really be quite easy. The dinner comes hot and ready to serve, and you only need to make one stop for both meal and dessert. The only thing we do ask is that you call to place your order in advance - we won't have any extras on the day of (Yes! We ARE open on Thanksgiving Day). Actually, quantities are limited so if you're interested, make sure to speak to a Catering Manager ASAP. 

-- We can pre-carve the whole turkey for only $10 extra --

Considering Turkey Catering for a corporate event? Not a problem. We've catered our Turkey Dinner for 15 to 200 people in the past. Packages are available for pick-up or delivery the week before Thanksgiving too, in case your office won't be open the week of. Call our Santa Clara (408-986-8388) or Fremont (510-252-1098) stores and speak to a Catering Manager.

Stay turned for more Thanksgiving posts!

In a previous blog post we mentioned a growing trend towards individually sized desserts. We sort of took that to the extreme with our brand new Cake Bites. There were two different sweets running through my mind when I came up with this idea of Cake Bites. First, chocolate. Just plain ol' chocolate. Minute amounts of chocolate can make your day so much brighter, don't you think? I also love working with chocolate: making chocolate decor pieces, chocolate candies, chocolate bars and don't forget chocolate truffles.

Second, donut holes. Why is it that donut holes are so much better than regular-sized donuts? Well, for a couple reasons, I think. Firstly, because they are bite-size, they are easy to eat. You don't have to commit to a whole donut if you don't want to. Secondly, and probably more importantly, there's a better glaze to dough ratio. A much, much better ratio. Even though the donut hole is smaller, the entire hole is covered, AND it's more glaze than what you would get out of a bite of a regular donut.

I have the same problems with cake slices as I do with regular-sized donuts. Sometimes I really want cake but can't finish a whole slice (or rather, won't let myself... but the topic of weight-watching while working at a bakery is neither here nor there). And like the glaze on a donut, sometimes I wish there was a higher icing to cake ratio. Thus, the cake bites were born.

They're really perfect because you can have as many or as little as you want without compromising the quality of our cakes. We used the same exact batters, icings and ingredients as we do with our whole cakes but, obviously, scaled down. And then, mostly because I love playing with chocolate, I tossed the bites into chocolate shavings to give it the truffle look, inspired by dessert idea #1.

We're going to start off with chocolate cake. The chocolate Cake Bites are Chocolate on Chocolate, the white Cake Bites are Chocolate Rum and the mixed Cake Bites are Chocolate Mocha. If they really take off we'll start adding some other cakes and flavors.

They launched today at our Fremont store so stop by for a sample, and let us know what you think. They will hit Palo Alto and Santa Clara stores later this week/beginning of next week.

Hope you like them!

Tea? A cup of Joe? Try dessert. It has been so interesting to watch our customers’ wants and needs change over time. We have shifted from large cakes to smaller cakes and now, to individually sized desserts. So we started making more tarts: fruit tarts, lemon tarts, banana cream tarts. We started making both regular nd mini sizes of our eclairs, cream puffs and more. We added individually sized cakes: mousse cakes, cheesecakes, anything we could make in a smaller size. And now, dessert cups.

Orange Almond & Peach Trifle Cup

We wanted to start simple. Inspired by the English Trifle, we made small trifle cups with cake, fruit, custard and whipped cream. Today, we have two kinds: one for chocolate fans and one for Orange Almond fans. (Btw, if you haven’t tried our Orange Almond, it really is one-of-a-kind! The torte is mostly made from freshly ground almonds instead of flour to give it a real great almond flavor, perfectly paired with orange zest and orange icing.)

But that was maybe too simple. We threw together ingredients that we already had ready for other products. We needed a challenge and a spark of creativity.

Enter VERRINES. Verrines, just a fancy word for a multi-layer dessert served in a glass or cup, opened a door of endless possibilities! So don’t be surprised if you see multiple blog posts on verrine updates. Here are the combinations we have so far:

Chocolate and Espresso Mousse Verrines: a layer of espresso mousse, chocolate cake and Mascarpone cheese; topped with whipped cream and chocolate shavings

Chestnut and Chocolate Mousse Verrines: a layer of chocolate mousse, mocha ganache and chestnut mousse

And finally, I have saved the best for last. We had to get real creative with this one but we’re quite happy with the end result. This is the first dessert we’ve created using champagne, and I have a feeling that it won’t be the last.

We’ve always concentrated much more heavily on taste rather than appearance. That’s not to say that presentation isn’t important (because it certainly is!), but despite the presentation, the quality of a product will stand for itself (side note: our mousse are always made from scratch, with no preservatives, additives, powders, etc). We’re not going to ever strive for anything less than great in taste – it is still and will always be our main priority. But I think we’re taking a step in the right direction in terms of presentation now too. Hope you agree!

[EDIT: This free coffee promo has now ended. Stay up to date with our promos by subscribing to this blog!]

Hope everyone had a nice Valentine’s Day! With the holidays behind us, we wanted to start a few more promos. We already have a FREE COFFEE promo running at Fremont for a few weeks now. Stop by during breakfast (or brunch on the weekends) for hot breakfast and you’ll receive a complimentary cup of drip coffee! We serve breakfast daily – weekdays until 10:30am and weekends and holidays until 3pm. That reminds me, this Monday will be President’s Day and in honor of the holiday, Fremont and Rivermark locations will be serving brunch. Stop by for extended breakfast on Monday, February 21st.

In addition to free coffee at Fremont, we are now offering a new discount on cupcakes. Buy 6 for only $16.95! They’ll be placed in a specially-sized box so they won’t tip over or be damaged on your way to the office, party or home.

Our cupcakes are available in most of our American Cake flavors: Chocolate on Chocolate, Chocolate Mocha, Chocolate Rum, Orange Almond and Carrot Cake. If you can, please place your orders in advance – I can’t promise that we’ll have these on-hand everyday. Large orders are also very welcomed:

Please call our stores if you have any questions!

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!