So, you may know that last Saturday was Reid’s first birthday. What you may not know: when it came to organizing his party, I was one hot mess. Dealing with the massive cleanup from my Reno-cation, tending to Ryder after he took his tumble, whipping up a small party for Ryder’s 3rd birthday, plus handling a backlog of blogging… and I was literally scrambling to throw together a celebration worthy of such a sweet little boy.
One of the most important items on my list – that, through sheer disorganization, I left to the last minute – was the birthday cake. Yes, I know. Hot mess, remember?
But not only did I need a cake (and fast!), I needed it on a budget. Because as much as I believed Reid deserved the best, I needed the best at a very specific price point. Thankfully, a fabulous friend wholeheartedly recommended Custom Cakes by Jenz.
Meet Jenz:
“Hi! I’m Jenz. I’m happily married to a wonderful husband and father. Together we have 3 beautiful children. Not much has changed from my childhood days of baking in my easy bake oven. Only now I have paired my skills of baking with my background of graphic design and multimedia, creating one of a kind cake for my clients. I understand the importance of having that perfect cake to top your event.”
Meet her cakes by viewing her gallery online.
By now, I’m sure you’re wondering just exactly what she came up with for Reid’s birthday. Well, as we’ve always referred to Reid as our “little alien”, we of course had an alien-themed party. I forwarded the party invitation to Jenz so that she could draw inspiration from the colours and pictures.
Here’s the invitation:
And here’s the cake!!!
Isn’t the cake simply smashing? We LOVED its fun playfulness – perfect for a first birthday party. The top tier was Almond Espresso Cake, and the bottom tier – chocolate, of course.
Now this feature wouldn’t be complete without a taste test, but since I can’t exactly feed cake through your monitor, allow me to paint a picture…
After the guests had left, we still had quite a large chunk of leftover cake. Having enjoyed a slice of the espresso cake at the party, I cut a small sliver of the chocolate – just for a taste. It’s well known that I’m not a chocolate cake enthusiast and would rather sink my teeth into vanilla-based treats any day.
But THIS chocolate cake… it nearly made me swoon. Hands down, it was the most chocolatey, moist and delicious cake I’ve ever had. I quickly cut myself a larger piece and sprawled out on the couch, in tastebud heaven. Later, I enjoyed another piece after dinner… and when everyone was asleep, I crept downstairs and had a fourth slice (technically third, the first slice was tiny, k?) while hovering over the sink.
On Sunday, I gave away the remaining small chunk, before my hips hated me forever.
Now if THAT isn’t a testimonial, I don’t know what is!
If you live in the GTA and are looking for a special occasion cake, I do recommend giving Jenz a call. All of her cakes are made from scratch using natural ingredients, and buttercreams are made with pure butter. And beyond being absolutely gorgeous (your guests will ooh! and aah!), they’re incredibly yummy, too!
You make a great point! Sometimes cakes look cute but the ingredients are crap and they taste like fluff. If you're going to eat cake it has to be worth it! So glad to hear Jenz is on top of that :-)Looks like a wonderful birthday for the little guy.
@Fiona – you said it. I've been to many events where the cake looked amazing, but inside, was nothing to write home about it. Cause really, when it comes down to it, the appearance is important for the hostess, but the guests are more concerned with how it tastes. I can honestly say that Jenz' chocolate cake is BEYOND delicious.
That is the best looking cake ever!I just love making my girls' cakes each year, but I have to admit – it's the most stressful part of the day. I'd love LOVE to get one of these. Not an overly huge fan on fondant, most taste terrible. But you can find ones that are good, and they do look so great!Great post, Lena!!
@Tammi – Cake = stress? Tell me about it! I baked Ryder's cake for his third birthday, and while I wans't necessarily pulling out my hair, I could have really used that hour or two to do something else. I didn't each much of the fondant on Jenz' cake either, but the icing layered inside was DIVINE!
Looks so awesome Lena! I just spent the last 10 minutes on her website. All I can say is wow. Thank u for introducing her to me, I will call her next occasion for sure.
That cake looks fabulous!
That cake looks awesome. I've checked out her site before :) she makes cute cakes
Love the cake, she did an amazing job incorporating the invite details! I'll have to keep her in mind for my little Super Mario fanatic!
Jen has done cakes for both my wedding and my baby shower, and what gets me everytime is that her cakes taste even better than what they look like, and that is saying A LOT!!! I wish Jen lived in the east end!! She is amazing :) Reem
@Stacey E. – you are so welcome!@DeeDee & Krystal – her cakes are totally cute!@Shauna – oh, I think your little Super Mario fanatic would LOVE a cake by Jenz!@The Shopping Enthusiast – thanks so much for the feedback! So happy to hear from more of Jenz' happy customers :)
Lena now you see why I recommended her lol!Jen never disappoints and on top of it all shes a total sweetheart and one of my closest friends :)She will be creating my wedding cake maybe ill make a tier chocolate just for you missy hehe.
@Farah – that would be stupendous! xo