CAKE!

That's the name of the bakery that we ended up booking: simply CAKE. We went to a tasting appointment with them over the weekend and were impressed by how the execute the basics of quality cake so flawlessly. We tried four of their most requested flavor combinations -- an almond cake with berries and vanilla cream, an excellently done vanilla and strawberry combo, a decadent chocolate with chocolate mousse and truffle filling, and one of their most popular, the banana truffle.

Their system is that they have several types of cake and several types of fillings that you can mix and match. The cake options include apple and pear spice, cheesecake, espresso, banana, poppyseed, excellent chocolates and vanillas, and more. The filling options include a wide variety of chocolate mousses and truffle, mocha, hazelnut, custards, and fruit fillings. Between all the options, you could create exactly what you want.

We'll probably do some combo of decadent chocolate and a sweet, simple vanilla and fruit (they don't charge any extra to do different flavors on the different tiers!). The banana truffle was delicious, but I'm not sure it compliments our menu.

Design-wise, you know my distaste for fondant, both in taste and appearance. CAKE does amazing buttercream designs. Again, simple, but expertly executed. Ours will feature a clean, art deco-style dot pattern like on this cake:

It will also include some natural elements from our florist as well as our awesome cake topper.