FINAL Bakery Ranks!
Well, it’s the last week of gathering data!
This is probably the most fun week for everything because this is the week where we get to see which bakery makes the best cake for the best price and quality!
This week was also the most fun for me because I got to taste the cakes 😛
Luckily, all of the stores were open when I went, so that was awesome! I was able to buy a cupcake (I wasn’t going to buy a whole cake!) for testing. First of all, I should say I gathered some of the missing data from the cake stores so I will now assign proper points before proceeding to the analysis for this week.
To understand what’s going on, read the following posts:
Bakery A:
They finally got back to me regarding delivery options! Apparently, they deliver “all over the metro area” and it normally costs between $40 – $60. They couldn’t give me any more solid information unless I gave them a bunch of information I don’t have (see my post about the trouble of eating cake), so I give them 2 points all around. This bumps Bakery A’s score down from 42 to 40. 🙁
Bakery B:
Their in-store customer service was nice, they seemed happy to help me and the employees were nice and made conversation easily. However, I felt ignored just a little bit. Maybe it’s because I wasn’t even sure there was anyone at the store until they came out from the back because the door sounded off a bell when I came in (2 points). It was pretty clean except some dirt on the floor (3 points), but it was like walking through a wedding cake wonderland so it was pretty inviting! (4 points). This actually doesn’t change Bakery B’s overall score!
STANDINGS SO FAR:
Here are last week’s standings!
- Bakery D – 61 points
- Bakery B – 52 points
- Bakery C – 49 points
- Bakery E – 45 points
- Bakery A – 40 points
Let’s see who wins this week, and more importantly, who wins overall!
Tasting of the Cake!
Tasting cake is always fun, except now I don’t feel like eating any more cupcakes for a long time! I still have half of a cupcake in the fridge….but my brother came home and ate it so I’m good now! 😛
Anyway, here are the breakdowns of the different bakeries’ cakes!
NOTE* I ranked them based on how they stacked up against the other 4 bakeries. The best tasting cake got 5 points, the next best got 4, etc… The same goes for all the categories.
AND….here is my spreadsheet for this week:
Bakery A:
Their cake had a super strong flavor (4 points). The texture of their cake was pretty moist, but it could be better (2 points). You know? I think their cake was the only one I where I ate the whole cupcake! The frosting was packed full of flavor as well, but it felt like it melted away before I could really taste it (2 points). It was also really thick and it melted in your mouth, which was really nice (4 points). The appearance of the cake is nice if you like simple….their cakes are very pretty, but small and simple (2 points).
Total points for Bakery A this week: 14
Bakery B:
Bakery B sold me a frozen cupcake… huh. I mean, the guy at least told me it was frozen, so I didn’t buy it and then find out. I think they do that to keep them fresh? I think I heard somewhere that if you freeze your cake it makes it more moist. Hmm.
Anyway, the cake was pretty good, but not good enough to win (1 point), but the texture seemed a little dry (1 point). The frosting was good too, but not the best in the world (1 point). I mean, it was really good, but then I got kinda sick of it. The texture of the frosting was very creamy, but super light (3 points).
Their cakes are the most beautiful cakes EVER! I loved looking at them! There were soooo many to see at the store! (5 points).
Total points for Bakery B this week: 11
Bakery C:
I got chocolate cake at Bakery C (well, a chocolate cupcake), and the flavor was VERY impressive (5 points)! Texture-wise, it was almost as impressive with 3 points 🙂 The frosting was AMAZING, but it overwhelms the flavor of the cake. Nevertheless, 5 points. The texture was not so great. I believe it’s BECAUSE it was super thick and smooth that it overwhelmed the cake (2 points).
Presentation is something that Bakery C does VERY WELL, but not so much for wedding cakes (unless you like extravagant). (3 points).
Total points for Bakery C this week: 18
Bakery D:
I have a disclaimer for Bakery D. The only cake I tasted of theirs was a free sample (I’m cheap), so it wasn’t the best tasting. HOWEVER, I have tasted Bakery D’s cake in the past I know their cake is better than the free samples they left out. So they got a few extra points, but I didn’t make it first place in most categories to be fair.
Their cake (speaking from experience) is very good with lots of flavor (3 points), and the texture is pretty good as well (3 points). I remember their frosting being very good, but the samples I had (granted they were a different flavor) weren’t anything special (3 points). The texture of their frosting, however, was extremely good (5 points)!
Their cakes are so pretty and amazing to look at (4 points)!
AH! I want to give Bakery D so many more points because I remember their cake being SO good! But that’s what I get for not eating more than just a free sample…
Total score for Bakery D this week: 18
Bakery E:
Their cake is so good, but the other cakes were good too so I gave it 2 points. As for texture, their cake was the most moist of the five – 5 points! Their frosting was good! Not too sweet and not too bland – 4 points. The texture of their frosting was very creamy and smooth! But unfortunately someone has to lose…..(1 point). Ugh. I hate this week of judging the most.
Their cakes are super cute, but it’s not very elegant or pretty. It looks delicious, but it doesn’t have a traditional wedding cake look (1 point).
Total points for Bakery E this week: 13
Summary:
This was the hardest week of judging for me! All of the cakes were delicious in their own ways! Honestly, they all taste so good.
Okay, so let’s get the less important stuff out of the way. Here’s who won for this week:
- Bakery C & D – 18 points
- Bakery A – 14 points
- Bakery E – 13 points
- Bakery B – 11 points
Honestly, I didn’t think much of Bakery C during week one, but they seem to know what they’re doing in the other categories!
AND NOW – the TOTAL results! This is what we’ve been waiting for – who won?
If I was super mean, I would wait until next week to tell you, but I’m not known for that so, here are the results (LWP stands for Last Week’s Position)!
- Bakery D – 79 points FIRST PLACE (LWP – 1st)
- Bakery C – 67 points SECOND PLACE (LWP – 3rd)
- Bakery B – 63 points THIRD PLACE (LWP – 2nd)
- Bakery E – 58 points FOURTH PLACE (LWP – 4th)
- Bakery A – 54 points FIFTH PLACE (LWP – 5th)
And just for fun, here’s how each bakery placed throughout the three weeks:
- Bakery A went from place 4 to 5 to 5…not super impressive.
- Bakery B went from place 2 to 2 to 3…just barely lost it at the end.
- Bakery C went from place 5 to 3 to 2…talk about a comeback!
- Bakery D went from place 1 to 1 to 1…nice steady lead 🙂
- Bakery E went from place 3 to 4 to 4…kind of average.
In the end, I think the three bakeries that placed in the top three deserved to be there. I am happy with the results!
Next week, I will show you lots of pretty awesome graphs so keep watching!
Until next time,
Hope Frances
