Posts by Paul Barnes4

Count me in too—I'm all for it!

Sarah Moore2 said:My cake—and honestly all the pastries from Sacramento—is this "Castle" creation. It’s basically eight cakes combined to feed my crowd of 180, and $600 is... well, you know. Did you catch their flyer? That cake is right there on the front cover...
Anyway, the sweets are solid, and word is they've got the best prices in the US...

Trust me, you definitely made the right call🙏 🙏. Seriously, I can't say enough good things about them!
I know exactly which cake you mean—it's delicious👍 !!!

jadeeagle36 said:They told me that the mix is supposed to be a little bit of everything, including those decorative cookies that have the little peach pieces in them. I think I'm gonna go ahead and ask if they can just leave out those "fancy" cookies that nobody actually wants to eat anyway.🙂

You can pick and choose—or just cut whatever you want. I'm pretty sure they bake like 130 different kinds of cookies there!!!

Ugh, I tried those little dessert balls too—I can't stand peach flavoring, but apparently everyone else thinks they're amazing... I just don't get the hype. Even some "peach experts" swore these were top-tier because the filling wasn't dry at all, or whatever!

boldbison26 said:My goodness, those treats look incredible! I am not a baker myself, but I stumbled upon this thread and my mouth is watering. I have never seen such a beautiful dessert platter. I wonder if Walmart carries anything quite this good.

Do they have a website? Is there any way you could find out the names of these specific pastries? I am currently away from the States, so I would truly appreciate any help.

Walmart definitely has stuff like this, and it's pretty great😍 😍 😍 ...they don't have a website, but you can just call their number and ask about the specific items—it looks like a classic wedding variety pack... though I suppose I could actually try to put in some effort myself too🙂 !!!

Twelve ounces per person? Honestly, it’s a joke—purely illogical. I’d rather skip the dessert entirely than serve two plates of fourteen cookies each for ten people!!! At my wedding, there wasn't a single leftover cookie, but nobody overindulged either; everyone just focused on celebrating the happy couple!!!! I have no clue what kind of "standards" they're using for this, but I feel for whoever actually puts that much food on the table... For what it's worth, we grabbed about five pounds to take home, and thank God we did, because I wouldn't have had a single treat to bring to the office the next day!

Look, her math is honestly just😬 🤣 ridiculous—I’m no pastry chef or anything, but three cakes per person seems a little light... maybe she got her numbers crossed? No offense intended, honey.😘

I mean, if you ask any pastry chef, they'll tell you the standard is about 7 ounces per person and maybe 10 ounces per box—anything less than that just looks pathetic...

I’m with Zachary Gray35 on this one—200 grams per plate is the absolute baseline, especially if you're sitting at a table of ten where you'll end up needing a full kilo just to make it look decent. It honestly looks stingy when everything is dense and rich like that. If you're thinking about doing those little individual gift boxes, 200 grams is way too light; you really should aim for at least 300 grams so it doesn't look sad. I'm speaking from experience here—when I was planning things, I wasn't trying to go big with huge boxes, I was actually trying to keep them as small as possible!

coastalmason68 said:I suppose I didn't express myself with much clarity; while I am certainly planning on grabbing some cookies, my actual inquiry concerns the custom cake🙂

Sorry—my bad, I totally misread the situation.🙂 I can't really speak to the cake situation—mine was actually from Vincek, but a gift from the restaurant. It was seriously delicious, though I'll admit they aren't exactly cheap.

coastalmason68 said:I am planning on picking up some pastries from Indianapolis, and I have been weighing the merits of their cake as well; has anyone here actually tried one? I’m curious if they are truly worth the cost. My initial instinct was to order from Vincek, but frankly, their prices have become quite outrageous. They hiked everything up right after that big wedding day back in September at the Globe...

I already sent you a message about their sweets—there’s even a photo right above this🙂 ....

So, this was my batch of cookies... and man, they tasted even better than they looked.😍 😍 http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/1199/dsc0117qv4.jpg

amberotter28 said:Just some info from the trade show, though I didn't get a chance to dig deep into it yet. Maybe I'll have more luck researching today... A bakery out in Indianapolis sells pounds of pastries for $16, absolute bargain prices. They deliver to New York City without any issues and everything is negotiable.

I’ve actually ordered from them before—definitely recommend them if you want. They're dirt cheap, but the pastries are honestly phenomenal—delicious, look great, and the staff is incredibly kind and professional. Plus, they handle refrigerated deliveries perfectly, and they're really flexible with arrangements. They do about 130 different kinds of homemade sweets. Solid 5/5 recommendation; you won't regret it.👍 👍 👍 !!!

p.s. oh, and they go by Bond Pro. If anyone's interested, I can DM you their number. You can find assorted packs at Walmart and Billi, though they're a bit pricier there...

Daniel Smith8 said:The best wedding cake I’ve had in ages was from Vince Lombardi; each layer was split in two—one dark sponge with cherries, the other a light sponge with strawberries... simple, yet absolutely stunning 👍

Mine was pretty much the same setup—three tiers, all double-layered—Black Forest, Dobos, two types of parfait, and then two more... I can actually vouch for Vince because the flavor was incredible and it looked great too. Sure, you pick the design yourself, but at the end of the day, the taste is what matters 😍. I have no clue about the price, though, since the restaurant gifted it to us... so yeah, Vince 👍 !!!!

So, me and my 50—or so I thought—colleagues finally went in for our blood samples for HLA Typing today. Honestly, I’m feeling pretty great about it—proud, actually—and really hoping this might actually help someone out there... anyway, that's my update. For anyone sitting on the fence: JUST DO IT. It’s quick, it doesn't even hurt, and the doctors are genuinely lovely—they'll stay with you until every single question is answered.

I was actually terrified myself. I’ve been hovering over these threads, just hoping to see if our dear Zendaya would pop up... My heart goes out to her inner circle—it's honestly devastating that such a wonderful soul is gone. Her leaving this messy, unfair world is going to leave a massive hole, not just for those close to her, but for us "virtual" friends too. She had this way of being so incredibly positive that every single post she made felt like a shot of caffeine—she really reminded me to actually live life, love it, and soak up every second... I can only imagine how much richer her family and friends' lives were just by having her around.
We lost Zendaya, but I guess heaven just gained an angel... until we meet again, dear Zendaya, sending you so much love.

Alright, here’s a real beauty for you all...

We had about 150 people coming through—give or take—so between the individual boxes and the stuff we grabbed for home, we walked away with 66 kg of pastries. You can see how it went... there wasn't much left, just enough to grab a few more to bring back to the office. Honestly, I’d highly recommend Bond for treats—they're delicious, feel totally homemade, and the price is actually reasonable (kg $16).