Birthday Cake Fun in the Burbs

There's almost nothing better than a birthday party. To me, the only thing that beats celebrating a new year of life is eating yummy, delicious, melt-in-your-mouth birthday cake. And so in this vein, here are a few of my thoughts on where to go for birthday cake fun in the burbs:

• Party Favors, Brookline, MA - this was my first introduction to birthday cake fun in the burbs (pictured right). When I first moved to Weston, I learned about Party Favors, and once I sampled the icing, I was a convert. I would venture to Coolidge Corner - a 20-25 minute drive from Weston - to pick up the cakes and not give it a second's thought.  But now as life gets more and more busy with each passing minute, I tend to order cakes a bit more locally.
• Ben & Jerry's, Natick, MA - ice cream cakes are always a great way to celebrate a birthday, and we all know the fabulous taste and quality of Ben & Jerry's. Choose from such favorites as "Groovy Tie-Dye," "Sweet Cream and Cookies," and "Chocolate Fudge Brownie" or design your own custom cake.
• The Cheescake Factory, Natick and Chestnut Hill, MA. My favorite cake is carrot cake, and The Cheesecake Factory has the best carrot cake ever (pictured right). Once my mom was visiting from Baltimore, and ordered a Cheesecake Factory Carrot Cake for my birthday. I was ecstatic until I saw that the calorie count for one piece was more than 1,500 calories - I think that's almost a full day's worth of calories?! Ouch. Now I try to eat this carrot cake a bit more sparingly.
• The Icing on the Cake, Newton, MA - the decorations and graphics on these cakes are over the top. I have never seen such creative designs, which can be as custom as you'd like.  You may remember that we ordered a ginger bread house from Icing on the Cake over the holidays. The kids decorated it with icing, candy and little cookies which came with the house, and they had so much fun. This will definitely be a tradition for us from now on.
• Quebrada Baking Company, Wellesley, MA - conveniently located off Route 9 in Wellesley Hills, the cakes here are always delicious and worth the stop. Cake options vary from Layer Cakes and Tortes to Boston Cream Pies and Fresh Strawberry Cakes.
• Susu Bakery, Wellesley, MA - There are several kinds of cakes from which to choose—Chocolate, Buttermilk, Carrot and Coconut—as well as many offerings for fillings and icings, including raspberry buttercream, lemon curd, cream cheese and mocha. A few years ago, a friend's daughter and her fiance designed their own engagement cake at Susu's. How special...

Then there are many supermarkets in the area that offer delicious cakes, which can often be less expensive.  Some of the supermarkets that I frequent in the area for yummy cakes are Omni Foods Supermarkets in Weston, Roche Brothers in Wellesley, Whole Foods in Wellesley and Shaw's in Newton. And there is always Costco in Waltham, which has adorable, large sheet cakes that are perfect for big parties.

But maybe the best birthday cakes of all are the ones that Elaine, Susan and Betsy of Pinnacle Residential Properties make for us on our birthdays. In fact, the irony of this is that in recently googling, "birthday cakes, wellesley ma," guess what was in the #1 spot? Believe it or not, it was Pinnacle Residential Properties. The coconut and chocolate cakes—not to mention the accompanying flavors of ice cream—that our fearless leader (Elaine) and talented colleagues (Susan and Betsy) make are second to none.  We all feel very lucky to be part of the Pinnacle family, especially on our birthdays.

But these are just my thoughts, and I am curious to get yours. Where do you go for birthday cake fun  in the burbs? I can't wait to hear.

For more information on this topic or other real estate-related matters, please contact me at 781-267-2844 or www.homesalesbylisa.com.