I like cake. For me, birthday’s are all about cake. In my family, we always celebrate with the store bought kind. Now mind you, there is nothing wrong with homemade. We just always had bakery style cakes. It’s a production. The birthday boy or girl gets to pick what kind of cake, it gets ordered to their liking, and then you go get it a few days later. Birthdays can come and go without a present but we must always eat cake!
We live just north of Indianapolis. This metropolitan area gives us a great deal of choice when it comes to birthday cakes. I’ve had a variety of them. Here are my choices for the best cakes.
Best Taste
Classic Cakes is a hands down winner here. I was recently introduced to them. They offer a variety of flavors and have them ready for free tasting in their shop. This is a big wedding cake outfit. I have tried to order a birthday cake early on in the week for the end of the week and have been told, sorry our quota for the week has been filled. Don’t get riled up, you can still go and buy a “ready to go” cake. Each day there are a variety of cakes put into the front case, available for purchase.
Indianapolis Magazine voted Classic Cakes number one for All Occasion Cakes. They offer custom wedding cakes, gourmet flavors and fillings, and ready to go cakes. You can also call for an appointment. My favorite is Almond Pound Cake with a Chocolate Gnash Filling. While they are my pick for the best tasting cake, they are also the priciest.
Classic Cakes of Carmel
1752 East 116th Street
Carmel, IN
317-844-6901
Best Price
The best deal for the money has got to be Costco. I know, you are thinking I am crazy. Well, they offer a filled cake, it’s giving the bakeries in the area a run for their money. It’s darn good cake. A half a sheet cake filled and iced for $15.99. My favorite is chocolate cake, chocolate mousse filling with white icing. However I have tried the all white version with cheesecake mousse filling and for someone who prefers chocolate over anything, I liked it! The down side is that you have to go in and order a specially made cake decorated to your liking, no phone orders. They do have a variety of pre-decorated cakes to choose from each day if you can’t make two trips.
There are two locations to choose from:
NW Indianapolis
9010 Michigan Road
Indianapolis, Indiana 46268
Castleton
6110 East 86th Street
Castleton, Indiana 46250
Best Tradition
My favorite memories of birthday’s past include cakes made by Taylor Bakery. Taylor’s is a true bakery, the kind you walk into and the smell overtakes you. There are small samples of scrumptious offerings to taste and the displays are filled with all kinds of sugary concoctions. Ordering a cake here, one never leaves empty handed. Cakes, coffee cakes, petifors (an art unto itself), doughnuts, cookies…I also have fond memories of that special white box at Christmas time filled with all kinds of specialty cookies placed in our dinning room where you could sneak a few, but I digress. I grew up with birthday cakes from Taylor’s so they are my sentimental favorite. They offer a white, yellow or chocolate cake. Icing varies between white, chocolate or caramel. They do have a marble cake but I have only sampled it in my own wedding cake, yes it too was ordered from Taylor’s. There are two locations to choose from:
6216 North Allisonville Road
Indianapolis, IN 46220
(317) 251-9575
8395 East 116th Street
Fishers, IN 46038
(317) 596-CAKE
Cake that’s not a Cake Dairy Queen. They call it cake but there isn’t a cake like substance anywhere to be found. It is ice cream, two layers with a crunchy mix in-between all topped with icing. Unless you have a large freezer with available space, arrange to pick this one up an hour or so before it is needed – they melt! This is a fun alternative to traditional cake. Their slogan is “Something Different”, it applies here!
