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| - I initially emailed Totally Baked about a month ago because I was planning a birthday surprise and wanted to get their ideas on what would work and know pricing in advance. Jennifer, the owner, was super awesome. We talked at length about how to accomplish what I was trying to do- long story short, I wanted to get treats for the birthday person and treats for their office, which is a lot of stuff, but I also had a budget to work with. We settled on 1 1/2 dozen each of the strawberry shortcake cake pops and marshmallow cake pops, as well as 1/2 dozen each of the margarita cake pops and spiced tequila dark chocolate truffles. If you only need a short synopsis, it all came out great, but I'll elaborate a bit more below for those who want more details.
The Shop: The store is tiny and is easy to drive by. Parking is in the back. Inside, the decor is vintage. It's a very fun and vibrant place. It's also meticulously clean and orderly.
Pricing: Totally Baked is priced competitively- I checked out just about every bakery in the area before I placed my order, but gourmet/ artisan baked goods are not cheap in general. For this reason, I won't be a regular, but I will seek them out for special occasions. I think the pricing is fair and the quality/ service meets the expectations set forth by the pricing.
Service: Jennifer went above and beyond. The store's AC was broken when I placed my order, so she was only taking phone orders and the shop was closed to walk-ins, but she worked out a time and day for me to pick up that worked for both of us. If I wasn't her only customer that morning, she did a good job of making me feel like I was. Super friendly, knowledgeable, and even helped me carry the items to my car. I cannot say enough good things about Jennifer and her kind/ energetic presence. And, for what it's worth, the AC was fixed by the time I picked up my order, though I think the shop was "closed" for about a week beforehand because of the heat.
Strawberry Shortcake Cake Pops: I'll preface this by saying I don't like white chocolate, and these have an ultra thick coating of it. Despite that, I thought they were good and were enjoyed by everyone who tried them.
Marshmallow Cake Pops: I think I died a little when I tried one of the marshmallow cake pops. They were huge and the perfect mix of sweet and salty. Again, everyone who tried them liked them too.
Margarita Cake Pops: I picked tequila-based treats because the birthday person likes tequila. I actually hate it. Can't even stand the scent of it. I did grab a bite of one of the margarita cake pops and thought she did a great job with them. The birthday person was beyond thrilled and devoured them.
Spiced Tequila Dark Chocolate Truffles: OMG OMG OMG These things need more credit. Neither the birthday person nor I could taste any tequila in them, so we're genuinely unsure if the flavors melded together so well that it was undetectable or if the baker forgot the tequila, but it really didn't matter. I am a chocolate snob. I mean, to the point where I turn my nose up at domestic chocolate and grocery store chocolate. Why bother? But these truffles were out of this world. They just melted away in my mouth. I didn't want to swallow and end it. lol I have never tasted anything like them and I would be hard-pressed to find someone who made them better, even if I searched my whole life.
Possible Improvements: I like to give comprehensive feedback, including areas for improvement. I'm certainly sold on Totally Baked and will be a customer for life, but if I had to note any negatives, I really only have two. First, would be "professional" presentation. They use all standard bakery supplies- from boxes to wraps and trays, so all that looks good, but the cake pops (only the shortcake and margarita ones) were a tad misshapen and the margarita ones had too many sprinkles for my liking. No, they don't look anything like the ones you might get at Starbucks, and they're way better, but I think they'd look better if they had that same nice perfectly round shape and the sprinkles were used more as a delicate garnish, rather than a coating. All that crunchy sugar coating made them taste drier and took away from the flavor. The marshmallows were like that with the salt- they looked more "artistic" and aesthetically pleasing. As a second note, the packaging really plays up that they serve alcohol-infused baked goods. That makes sense for the sake of branding- it's what the shop wants to be known for, but it locks them into that area. I was wary about taking the order into a place of business and giving them to employees because they had no way of knowing that the ones I took in were alcohol-free. Just having a second set of stickers for the virgin baked goods or for when they're being delivered to professional settings that explained what was in the box would have been good.
All in all, this place is awesome. I wish them all the success in the world! Thank you!!!
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