This is Marie, contributing a very small chapter about some very small cakes.
As any reader of this blog knows, desserts are well-nigh irresistible attractions for me. Generally, therefore, I don’t work very hard to locate places that serve chocolates, sweets, cakes and pies because they tend to creep up on me and drag me in all on their own. That’s what happened with Dreamcakes.
On our recent eating trip to Birmingham, we arrived a little early to the first of the places we had on the agenda, a very tasty little place called Saw’s (written up in the previous chapter by Grant). As we generally do, to keep ourselves interested and amused we wandered around the neighborhood. It was quite a cute little collection of shops. Practically the first one we saw was Dreamcakes, not yet open but with some delectable things just visible through the Halloween displays.
So we wandered and window-shopped and frittered away time (thinking of sugar the whole time–or at least I was) and then had our early lunch. Followed nearly instantaneously by cupcakes for dessert!
Dreamcakes does a wide variety of regular flavors, and then also has some specials that according to the menu up on the board are supposed to appear on their appointed day. Grant got caramel sea salt mocha, our daughter got strawberry, and I got the amusingly named Dean Martin. Technically that was a Thursday-specific cupcake, but apparently such strictures are not allowed to interfere with entertainment. I can vouch that the cupcake was fresh, moist, and very clearly had not been waiting since the previous Thursday for its date with my palate. Grant likes caramels and sea salt so much that he completely forgot that he doesn’t actually like mocha, but he enjoyed his cake enough to finish every crumb.
The folks at Dreamcakes are really pleasant to talk to. They are patient with customers dallying over the selections, are happy to answer questions, and are clearly having a good time. Also, when our daughter accidentally deposited her cupcake on the floor by our table while we were sitting down to enjoy our treats, they were sweet enough to replace the spoiled cake. The price for the cupcakes is $3 apiece, about standard for these sorts of places from what I understand. And yes, we could have made a couple dozen cupcakes of our own for that price, but I doubt they would have melted in our mouths the way these did. The cake part was beautifully soft and flavorful, and the frosting, although extremely rich, had a pleasant texture and taste. The only suggestions I would have to the store is to offer some kind of beverage, preferably hot tea, to accompany the treats, and possibly to include some cushier seating. All in all it was a fun little aside on our otherwise meat-heavy journey.
Other blog posts about Dreamcakes:
Food Scoop (Apr. 2 2010)
Plain Chicken (Sep. 4 2010)
Marie, Let's Eat! 