Cakework

Thank you, Cecil! Our wedding cake was absolutely amazing. Beautiful and the best cake I’ve ever had. Everyone at our wedding raved about the cake.
Cecil is straight forward and has a very artistic style. We asked her to «tone down» her style to make a more traditional cake. She listened to us and delivered! I can’t wait to eat the rest of the cake!

Our wedding invitations were WORD of MOUTH! I only had 3 weeks to plan my wedding in SF (vacation home rental, venue, transportation, wedding cake, dress, etc). My husband and I live in San Clemente, CA and recently got married at the SF City Hall on Tuesday, Sept 4, 2012. We wanted to be part of history of where Marilyn Monroe & Joe DiMaggio got married. It was initially suppose to be just me and my husband getting married. After some thoughts, we decided to invite just family & close friends (total 18 guests).
We narrowed our wedding reception to the Bistro Boudin at the Wharf. Thank goodness, the private dining room was available on Tuesday, 9÷4÷12. Valerie, the Special Event Manager, was so nice about booking it for us. I also asked her if she could recommend a Cake Chef and without hesitation gave Cecile high remarks. I’ve never met Cecile and we just communicated by phone and emails only. I did some of my research before and based on her
reviews and her website, I was convinced that she would do a fantastic job on our wedding cake.
We decided on Tiffany Blue Gift boxes wedding cake with TODAY Cheesecake flavor. I also wanted calla lillies, instead of white roses to match my wedding bouquet. She just took care of everything for us– how to get the cake to the Bistro Boudin.
My guests, husband and I were so intrigued by the delicate calla lillies, silver leaves & pearls and white chocolate bows. The cake was just beautiful! We didn’t want to touch or eat it! It was just precious! We were very happy, everything turned out beyond our expectations.
Thank you Cecile for making our special day complete! You have made our wedding day very memorable!
I will definitely be looking you again… I can’t thank you enough for making our personalized wedding cake.

Cakework was recommended by a coworker of mine, and she had told me that their cakes tasted great and judging from the pictures on her website, it looks like they also looked «good enough» to check out (giving them the benefit of a doubt that maybe when I get there, I can see more pictures of real cakes they’ve done that would just wow me).
We were about 10 minutes early for our appointment and when we arrived, we were told to wait outside for a few minutes (probably 2 – 3) before being let inside the door (fair enough, it’s a small shop on the ground floor of what appears to be a residence). When we got in, instead of being greeted and led to a sit down area and being seated to taste the cakes (which is what I assume to be what normally happens, correct me if I am wrong), we were given a to go box with the samples, and were told to taste them by ourselves later.
It was as if she wanted us to shove us the samples and send us on our way!
I played nice and tried to learn more about what makes her cakes different/​special (she didn’t even bother trying to sell to me, I had to get it out of her with questions of my own). And in the end, found them to be nothing special. The cake book sample pictures were the same as the ones I saw online. There were no additional pictures to see and I am sure there were, but she just didn’t bother trying to show us.
One thing to note though is, she does not typically do sketches of the cakes, and that was definitely not acceptable since I want to see at least some decent rendering of at least 2 options as to what it could look like. It just seemed very risky to not know the details (unless you don’t care for details and give her free reign).
I think how we were treated must have been due to the fact that we were a smaller wedding (50 – 60 people), so our cake, no matter how elaborate, couldn’t have cost more than $ 700-​$ 1000 to make, and perhaps she didn’t care for that business. But regardless, the size of a cake shouldn’t mean that we would be treated as second class customers like this.
To top it all off, we left, went to a nearby Pete’s coffee, and ate the samples hoping that somehow we’d be amazed and realize why she could be so rude to her customers and still get away with it, but to my disappointment and bewilderment, her cakes tasted like cardboard with butter cream! I think the only reason I could even swallow a bite of the cake samples were because the butter cream somewhat masks the staleness of the actual cakes.
I am surprised that other people say her cakes taste good… perhaps she gave us a week old stale sample (possible)? I’ve definitely eaten pre-​frozen cakes before… ex: Georgetown Cupcakes will ship their cupcakes overnight and freezes them to ship so they arrive frozen and you have to thaw them out, and they definitely tasted infinitely better than this!
Given all this, I cannot imagine ever wanting to order a cake from Cakework.

Cecile did the cake for our wedding and she was great! I was set on having marzipan in the cake, and she was very flexible and open to ideas. We ended up doing the almond raspberry cake with marzipan in it, and also the banana chocolate cake. Delicious! I also really like that she used white chocolate instead of fondant– it looks the same and tastes WAY WAY better.
The cake also turned out just beautiful– she made it based off a picture that I had pulled out of a mag, and it looked great!
Overall, great to work with!

We gave Cecile some ideas and then let her do the rest. We got a heavenly tasty cake. A lot of our guest had seconds, and maybe thirds. At the end of the night there were no leftovers except for the one piece the caterers had saved for us.

To another reviewers point that Cecile is abrasive, that is an understatement! We had a scheduled appointment with Cecile. Upon walking in, one of the employee’s acknowledged us to which I responded letting her know we were there for our 3:30 appointment. Cecile then whipped around and rudely said she’d be with us after she was done attending to a batter. I certainly appreciate that she gave such care to a batter, but was concerned with her lack of customer service skills.
We sat and waited for a few minutes while Cecile finished up and then «gathered her things.» When she finally approached us she apologized, not for the way she treated us when we arrived, but because her «assistant» forgot to have samples ready for us. Her solution was to either take samples out of the freezer and microwave them or have us come back later. Not even acknowledging the inconvenience for us to have to schlep across town for a second time.
At this point, I’m not only put off with the lack of service, but also with the lack of organization.
While I can’t attest for the quality of her cakes, I can attest that the experience was less than desirable. Consequently, we found another cake vendor. Which by the way, that cake was the absolute hit of our party. Futher, we used that cake vendor for two different events and our guests were beyond thrilled with both cakes.
i guess I’m grateful for having a lousy experience at Cakework otherwise we wouldn’t have found the other vendor.

We had Cecile do our daughter’s wedding cake. From the beginning, we felt so comfortable talking to her. She is so personable and listened to me and more importantly, listened to my daughter! It was such fun talking to her and sampling all her cakes. She got us from the beginning and came up with the most gorgeous and delicious cake around. Wish I had another occasion just so I could work with her again.

To start off Cecile’s cakes are really good, but we found her really abrasive.
A few months ago we contacted her to shop for a wedding cake; she was short and rude on the phone, but I thought maybe she was having a bad day.
When we arrived at her shop she was degrading and rude to her staff in front of us and acted like she really didn’t care if she had our business.
I honestly thought her cakes were delicious but she should work on being personable! After our interactions with her I quickly found another cake provider.

Holly mother, father this place is great… I don’t know what else to say about it. They making the most wonderful cake and cake design for your wedding and other stuff. Toooooooooo bad it not close to my place. :-(
Love it, love it mini love it. :-)

My Mom and I had such a great time working with Cecile on my wedding cake. I wanted something different and she gave us exactly what we wanted. I will post a picture when I have one. The cake was a wonderful mix of black and white, simple, feminine, yet with edge. But the best part is how delicious it tasted! We had cheesecake and red velvet for the cake flavors. Divine. I can’t wait for a year to pass and we get to eat the top layer.
Seriously, we tried out three or four cake places. They either were able to make a cake that looked how I wanted to but didn’t taste so great or looked alright but tasted marvelous. Cakework has the full enchilada. She can make any flavor you want to and is really open to exploring different looks for the cake. And Cecile has some lovely stands you can rent. Great experience!

I have worked with Cecile of Cakework during my many years of catering and event planning here at Haute Plate and her cakes are always stellar. They are incredibly beautiful and what’s even better, they are more delicious on the inside than they are beautiful on the outside.
Cecile does exquisite wedding cakes, birthday cakes, special event cakes and has a fantastic imagination so feel completely at ease leaving your unique cake design in her creative hands.
In my opinion you can’t find a better cake in the Bay Area than Cecile’s cakes at Cakework. I’ve served thousands of cakes over the years (I’ve been in the wedding business since I was 16) and hers simply can’t be beat.
If you’re looking for a special occasion cake call Cecile, make an appointment for a tasting and be prepared to be mind-​blown. She really is the very best.

We used Cakework for our wedding cakes (I surprised my husband with a cheesecake groomscake) and both cakes not only tasted phenomenal, but the detail to which Cecile put into the design really was really amazing.
The groomscake was a poker table of cards with my husband’s face on the «King» card. :)
Cecile was great to work with and she had delievered cakes to our venue many times, so she was familiar with their setup guidelines. She really made things easy for us.

I contacted Cecile at Cakework cold after seeing an add on-​line. We talked to many cake designers and bakers only to be told what couldn’t be done or what we should do. Cecile encouraged and sparked creativity from the beginning. After meeting and. Seeing some of her wonderful cakes, we knew we had found our cakes Creator! She loves originality and challenge! A true cake artist that given the opportunity would smash any competition found on the food network! Cake divas in so cal have nothing on Cakework! Of you are looking for a cake that will wow on the table and the tooth, this is the place where dreams meet icing… er… white chocolate!
Don’t let her prices scare you away! She by far isn’t the Highest, not the cheapest, but she cares about her work, and her clients. She goes above and beyond to accommodate your budget and dreams. Tell her your budget, and she will create something you wouldn’t believe you could afford, that will wow your guests, and be a beautiful art piece at your event!

Cecile did a cake for a small afternoon wedding for us. I have read some of the other reviews, and it is true she can be a little abrupt, but she did a great job of understanding what we wanted and executing it even though we made all of the arrangements on the phone from halfway across the country. And she arranged for a courier to deliver the cake to the restaurant when I was unable to pick it up. I was very pleased with the service.
Most importantly, the cake was delicious– tender and not too sweet– and absolutely gorgeous. Everyone raved about it!

I cannot believe it has taken me so long to review Cakework, my apologies!
First off, Cecile is not only an incredible baker but an artist, and so friendly. She captured my vision, after about 300 phone conversations and emails, and made, for my wedding, a cake that could have come straight from the dining suite of Marie Antoinette. Tres’ magnifique!
The cake was so so beautiful (please see photos I have uploaded), and so stinkin’ delicious, we barely had any left (how often does that happen at a wedding). I cannot even express how I felt when I walked into the reception and saw it there … no words. Just warm fuzziness.
The best part is that she really encouraged me to let my imagination run wild, which was so cool. Working with her to design my «dream cake» is one of the best memories I have, when it comes to planning my wedding.
If you are one of those brides who doesn’t want a run-​of-​the-​mill, «cookie cutter», been done a million times, cake and you are looking to book someone who is passionate not only about baking, but about the creating something truly breathtaking, please book Cakework for any event that requires a cake. :-)
Thank you Cecile, thank you Cakework crew! Again, I apologize for the late review…
Much much love,
xo
Colleen and Aleksey
P. S. Book early. I booked her close to a year in advance for my summer (August) wedding.

I recently got married in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco. I’m from the UK, and the groom is from San Francisco, so we were uniting two families, as well as many friends, from all over the US and UK for our special day.
The idea to get more than a bakery shelf cake was my mother’s, and she searched numerous sites, and called a number of bakeries. Cakework were the most friendly, helpful, and professional of all the places she spoke to. Cecile helped with details both with my mother in the UK, and with myself in Chicago.
Our wedding was on a Sunday, and usually Cakework isn’t open on a Sunday, but after it became clear that none of our hotel kitchens could accommodate our 30 mini-​cakes, Cecile offered to come in early on the Sunday morning so we could pick our cakes up on the big day. She was completely wonderful and went out of her way to help make the big day special!
The cakes themselves were out of this world! Delicious doesn’t even begin to describe them! We had chocolate cake with chocolate truffle wrapped in white chocolate. Mmmmmm! I’ve never tasted anything like it. They were the talk of the wedding! I won’t go anywhere else if I need cakes for any occasion in the San Francisco area.
Thanks, Cecile!

We had a fabulous experience with CAKEWORK. Recently they made extraordinary mini-​cakes for our special event. There wasn’t much lead time, but they really came through for us with delectable cakes perfectly decorated with the theme we wanted. In the past it’s been my experience that there can be impressive looking cakes and there can be great tasting cakes, but it is a rare thing for a baker to achieve both beauty and melt-​in-​your-​mouth deliciousness. Cakework did it! These indescribably beautiful cakes tasted divine.
Cakework had the cakes and stands ready and carefully boxed at the appointed time, and we really couldn’t have been more impressed. Well, actually it turned out that there was another thing that impressed us all very much. One member of our group is allergic to wheat, so they made one cake wheat-​free, and designated that one with a very slight color variation. So we all were able to enjoy the cake, and we enjoyed it very much. I will always return to Cakework whenever we need a special cake.

We had a great experience at Cakework. They came recommended and didn’t disappoint. The tasting was so much fun. I’m not sure that everyone eats every piece of cake like I did, but it was so worth the Weight Watchers points at the time.
I’m going back through our wedding album and the pictures of our cake are just amazing. Cecile and her crew made a very detailed cake for us, creating chocolate succulent plants, and hand-​cutting sugar pieces of papel picado (cut Mexican paper flags) to drape the cake, making sure to match our church décor. She did quite a bit of research to make it just right for our families and emailed me suggestions during the planning process. We had a wedding of 250 people, they were willing to work with us to create a cake that would look like the main event, while still bearing our budget in mind.
Our caterers kept the top of our cake for me and my hubby, thinking we’d want to keep it for our one-​year anniversary. We were glad to have it, but ate the entire top with our house-​sitters before leaving on our honeymoon the next day. It was beautiful in the moment, and tasty the next day!
We’ll be ordering from Cakework for all of our family milestones.

We had our wedding cake made at Cakework in August. The cake was fantastic! We had over 120 guests on a yacht in San Francisco bay and the cake went so fast I missed out on the banana cake layer! The chocolate layer was amazing though. Everyone loved the cake and we got rave reviews from family and friends. Cecile did a great job and I am planning on ordering a cake for our first anniversary. It was a beautiful and creative cake, one of a kind. The service was personable and we had a blast at the cake tasting. Cake tasting is fun. :)

I love Cakework’s cakes, but the service leaves a lot to be desired. I used to work in catering, and used them several times, as well as sent several people to them, and still Cecile has been nothing but hard to work with. I won’t use or recommend this bakery again.
Oh, and make sure you don’t use the term «sheet cake» or she’ll bite your head off!