Posts by steelfox15

Check your inbox, Nathan Barnes79!

Anthony Nguyen85, my math for dessert usually lands at four treats per person if we’re out at a place like Cheesecake Factory, but maybe just two per head if I'm hosting at my place—I haven't really crunched the numbers on how much that actually costs in USD or whatever, but look, this is a company that’s been churning out pastries for decades, so I’m putting my faith in their professional estimate. Even if there's a little extra left over, people will eat it, and if we run short? Honestly, I'm not losing sleep over it.

I mean, I’m a sucker for a Black Forest cake, personally—but honestly, chocolate works too. I just kind of let him call the shots and went with whatever he wanted.🙂

He had his little demands about the flavor—he was dead set on chocolate,🙂 so we basically agreed that every single tier should be identical just to avoid any drama among the guests over who got what slice. I picked out the design myself, and honestly, he ended up loving it too. We managed to hash everything out pretty quickly.🙂

Go check out my post about those candies—if you're feeling it, shoot me a DM and let's chat.🙂

And what exactly are you overthinking here? Is it the price point, the flavor profiles, or just the overall quality? Honestly, if I were in your shoes, I’d just grab three different kinds of candy from one shop and three from another, then hand them off to someone else to do a blind taste test and let them make the call for you.🙂

Chris Sanchez11 said:Kate knows because I told her myself. 😂
The woman got a little bummed out, and honestly... I didn't mean for you to take it personally. 🙂I totally get the whole budgeting thing. For me, it feels stupid to throw around tiny amounts for photographers or flowers and all that stuff. And I don't need a ton of extra cake either—just a few pounds so the cake doesn't end up being way too much. 🙂

God, now I’m gonna feel so guilty that I’ll probably end up going out and buying her something just because she's upset.😢
Regarding everything else, I'm with you—I think it makes more sense to put more money toward, say, the ring, since that's something you'll actually wear on your finger for the rest of your life (okay, okay, this is getting super off-topic).
So, where are you planning on grabbing the sweets?

I just wanted to drive home that point about the numbers. Honestly, I highly doubt Kate even knows this forum exists, let alone what we talk about here :P
I mean, who knows? If I had the money to just throw around without thinking twice, I’d probably just grab whatever from the first bakery that looks halfway decent just to save myself the headache. But now that I actually see the breakdown of all those costs—and realize what a single cake *actually* costs—I refuse to get ripped off (if you know what I mean). I'm always down for homemade treats, but nowadays everyone is obsessed with reading ingredient labels and nutrition facts, so that's out the window. If it weren't for that, everyone would be getting their cakes baked at my place🙂

Chris Sanchez11 said:Just wanted to drop a few quick details about the sweets from Katica. 🥳
The price per pound $23 plus a wedding cake (Black Forest style) for 150 guests, 4 tiers - $167. ☕
My wife was honestly shocked when I told her how people on this forum keep claiming she's overpriced and listing all those crazy numbers.
Based on what she showed me, her prices are actually pretty reasonable and the pastries are delicious. 🤷

Bottom line: Katica (who, by the way, isn't even an actual Katica 😉) is just a cool, down-to-earth woman with great, affordable treats. 😛 😁

To wrap it up: 150 guests and an $500 cake ends up costing $3.25 per slice/person—which just proves my point that I was right about it being too much money if I had 250 guests$833😉
For me, the cake works out to $450, 5 tiers for 250 people
$4780 for both the cake and pastries for 250 people
I still think Katica is too expensive, and honestly, even if the price wasn't an issue, she'd have a hard time deciding because the pastries aren't quite good enough for me. They're nice, sure, but when I know there are better options out there... what can I say?

velvetraven12 said:Hey... does anyone know the name of that bakery in Columbus??? I have a friend living there, and she mentioned stopping by to check it out before her wedding... please, please let me know!

It’s actually not just a little bakery—it’s a whole company based over in unknown (that's a spot just outside Indianapolis, if anyone's familiar with the area). It's called DELICIJA LLC, owned by Josip Kalabek.

See, I look at it totally differently—I’m all about those decent, classic pastries. So, if I’m in one of those moods where I just want to go absolutely ham on everything and there's a specific kind I'm craving more than the rest, I'll just grab a knife and start slicing up pieces. Usually, I've got some people around for a little tasting session anyway, so nothing stays untouched... and heaven forbid anyone actually leaves a mess behind :P

You can grab those containers at the Metropolitan or Walmart (if you’re talking about those clear plastic ones). Check their aisles first to see where they're hiding. I’m not one to split the cookies, but my baker told me they usually pack eight per box—though that really depends on what kind of treats you're working with. I’ll be doing standard-sized cookies, properly sliced, not those tiny little crumbs like some toddler would eat. Honestly, I think it all comes down to the type and size of the cookie; 15 ounces could mean ten rolls or just three decadent chocolate bars—it's hard to say for sure.

Well, greetings from Des Moines! I finally finished sorting out all the desserts and the cake, and now I’m ready to give you guys the full rundown!

The total bill for 240 guests comes out to $1593 (this covers all the pastries, the treats for my place, the main cake, the boxes used to transport everything to the restaurant, and delivery is free)
They charge per piece $0.93, with the plan being 4 pieces per person for the restaurant spread and 2 pieces per person for the snacks at my house.
The cake itself is a five-tier masterpiece—rectangular layers stacked in a cool zig-zag pattern, each tier featuring a different buttercream border, edible flowers on top, and a big bow wrapped around the bottom tier $450.
When I showed up, they put seven different varieties on a plate for me to sample (even though I’ve eaten their sweets before, I seriously overdid it again today🙂)
We actually put everything in writing with a formal contract, covering every single detail from the cake's design to the exact delivery time and the specific day we need to swing by to pay.
I was the one who suggested the deposit amount $167; they told me $200 or $300 was fine, since they don't really have a set rule for it.
Everything is fully documented with ingredient labels, and they are officially registered for commercial baking.
The final guest count—since we estimated about 240 people, I have to give them the final number by June 10th, which is ten days before the wedding—is the only thing that can change in our contract, and obviously, the final price shifts based on the actual number of pieces ordered.
They actually let you bring your own supplies to lower the cost; basically, if you want to provide your own margarine, sugar, walnuts, baking powder, etc., they'll deduct that from the bill.
Hopefully, that was enough detail for everyone🙂
I'll shoot you the contact info via DM🙂

Mickey Mouse, seriously, Katica is way out of my league! I’m hanging out at home in a suburb outside of Chicago right now and I actually checked her prices first—but man, those numbers are just brutal, so I had to bail. I’m looking at a guest list of 240 people, and they told me $3.25 per slice for the cake... that’s $2,500 just for the dessert! Meanwhile, the crew over in Naperville where I'm heading today offers $21 pounds of sweets, and the priciest cake they ever did was $433 for a crowd of 250—and get this, they’ll even toss in free delivery out to the outskirts of Schaumburg. I’m meeting with them later today to hash out the details, so I'll hit you guys up tonight with the full scoop.

I haven't pulled the trigger yet, but I’m heading out this Saturday to hammer out the details. There’s this group of small business owners out in a little town near Des Moines—I'll type up everything I find out and what we settle on once I'm done.
Honestly, I only started hunting them down because I basically lived on their pastries at my godmother's wedding a few years back. They were dangerously good.

I'll let you know when I hear back, but honestly, I’m crossing my fingers they have at least a pound of something tasty to sample—knowing them, there’s no way a weekend goes by in their house without some serious dessert on the table. It sounds pretty legit to me, though; the guy mentioned they're looking to draw up a contract for that date and send over a formal proposal with all the numbers and stuff. Even if we didn't end up signing anything, I’d still hire them in a heartbeat because I have seriously never geeked out over pastries as much as I do when I'm eating their🙂

Hey girl, morning!
I thought of you immediately—and honestly, it made me think about those tastings we did. I really need to bug my wife and see if she’s got anything good for us to try. She told me this was her first weekend in forever without being swamped with dessert orders. I’m gonna give her another shout later today to see if she actually has some goodies available for us to grab.

Thanks🙂
I just remembered—the desserts at my godmother’s wedding a few years back were absolutely killer. Those guys have actually gone out and started their own catering business since then, and they’ve got all the official certifications and paperwork squared away to satisfy any health inspector you throw at them. I’m heading out this weekend to sit down and hammer out the details with them. According to what the guy told me over the phone, a pound of pastries is going to be $21. The breakdown is basically 70% cream-based, 25% semi-moist, and 5% dry stuff. I also asked about cakes, and he mentioned the priciest one they’ve ever done was $433, which can feed anywhere from 200 to 250 people—which is perfect for me because that's exactly the guest count I'm looking at. Plus, they offer free delivery from Des Moines straight to this small town in rural Midwest where my venue is located. Honestly, I'm stoked because they're easily the most affordable option I've found, and I know firsthand how insane those desserts were. I'll head over there this weekend to finalize everything and let you guys know how it goes🙂

I’m probably about to ask a total rookie question here, but does anyone know where Kašnar is located? Also, for those who have been to Taj & Ana—how do they actually handle cake orders? Like, what’s their logic there? Is it just something like $4.00 per slice multiplied by the number of people, or do they do things differently?

Look, the reason I’m even asking is because you already mentioned you nailed that ratio last time. Just do a quick rough estimate and let me know—I'm guessing we're looking at maybe 6 to 9 ounces plus a slice of cake on top of that?