I hate birthday cakes. They taste like artificially flavored spongy sugar bombs to me. At our weekly meeting at work, we have a tradition of having a cake for the birthday person of the week. Our department tripled in size since the time when this tradition started, and so did the number of cakes. After having yet another supermarket cake, I thought it would be a fun challenge to find a cake that didn't taste like a sugar bomb. I had a feeling that Café Cakes in Belmont would have what I was looking for, so I volunteered to bring a cake for the next birthday.

Café Cakes is a French Japanese bakery that I found a year ago. I have tried all kinds of goodies there – croissants, tarts, éclairs – all of which have been wonderful. My favorite treat is their milk tea pudding. It's a creamy, earl gray flavored custard that comes in a little cup with whipped cream and chocolate shavings – pure heaven. Even though Café Cakes' specialty is cakes (as the name might suggest), this was my first time getting a cake there. As I was looking through the cake list, I noticed some tempting options like Milk Tea Chiffon and Raspberry Champagne, but the guys at work gave me strict orders: the cake had to be chocolate. I decided to play it safe, and asked for a basic chocolate cake with chocolate icing. "I am sorry, but we don't use icing," the Cakes lady told me. "We put chocolate whipped cream on our cakes. Is that ok?" "Sounds like my kind of cake," I said.

The cake turned out to be exquisite. It's the first time I've eaten a cake and honestly enjoyed it. The cake was moist and delicate without being spongy; the icing was airy whipped cream that tasted like bitter-sweet chocolate. As I took the first bite, I panicked – if I liked this cake so much, the other guys had to hate it. I am known at work for liking weird foods that most people think are disgusting – caviar, liver, jellyfish. But as I looked around the room I was happily surprised to see everyone in quiet chocolate meditation. The Quality Assurance manager looked at me and said "Wow! From now on, you are on cake duty."

Now I am not afraid to try cakes when I come to Café Cakes for coffee and dessert. I've tried most of the cakes available by the slice. Delice Chocolat, Chocolate Cake with Praline Walnuts, and Strawberry Shortcake were all excellent. But the one that left them all behind was the Milk Tea Chiffon Cake. It was only available as a whole cake, but was worth every penny and calorie (calories eaten on a birthday don't count, right?). This cake was very light and barely sweet, but had an intense flavor that came from earl gray tea leaves placed directly in the batter. It was covered in earl gray flavored whipped cream that was light and refreshing. This was the first time I had a cake for my birthday, but I am sure it won't be the last.

Café Cakes
105 Trapelo Road / Belmont, MA 02478 / 617-489-6957
Small cake (for 8): $17 - 19
Large cake (for 13): $22 - 29
Order cakes at least 24 hours in advance.
Store hours:
Monday 7:30am - 2:30pm
Tuesday-Saturday 7:30am - 4:00pm
Sunday Closed