I Dream of Cake

Sad to hear of the closing. I ordered my cake on short notice and the staff went out of their way to help. I was able to chose a design, style, flavor and it was made for me with no problems. the whole experience with I dream of Cake helped make my wedding special. One year latter on our anniversary, the top of the cake was every bit as delicious as the it was on our wedding day.

This review is for the store front showcase. After having coffee at Café Trieste, noticed the sign that said cake (I’m so there).
Cakes on display were amazing (see pics!) Place was closed, however the sign said to buzz, be patient and service would come. Interior looked like a jewelry shop with recessed mood lighting illuminating gorgeous looking cakes. I wonder if they taste as scrumptious as they look?
If ever I had a pretty penny, I might be tempted to spend it here. Cakes meant to impress.

I made a phone call for cake tasting a lil over a month ago. they did have alot to choose from and very creative combinations. for brides coming here to purchase a cake, this is a great choice if you have the budget and an eye for all the wonderful art they have here
the cake i liked came out to be about $ 25 – 30 a slice per person. that is way too much for my budget however i do recommend coming here to try their cakes as they do try to work within your budget for the style you’d like. i have not had bad customer service and they have been pretty good: D

I am still amazed by pictures of our wedding cake. It was just as Shinmin had described and designed… and it looked maginificent in person. Guests were in awe of the cake all night… and then we finally ate a slice and were sent to another level altogether. Lemon with berries and toasted almond… OUT OF THIS WORLD!!! I Dream of Cake is no pipe dream, you will get what you tasted during the tasting, and you will receive a tremendously gorgeous cake just as promised. Shinmin had direction and design and really made our cake special. She custom made the flower piece topper to match my reception headpiece. BRAVO!!!
Thank you to Shinmin and the I Dream of Cake team!!! You have a lifelong fan!

I am always weary of wedding cakes made of a fondant wonderland. Usually the cake has been prepped a month in advance and coated with inedible sugar plaster to keep it «fresh». Wedding cakes either looks good or tastes good.
However, I Dream of Cake does not believe in that mutually exclusive relationship. The wedding cake was beautiful and tasted amazing. This little piggy had two slices. Oink.

My mom, who is the best ever, surprised me me in 2005 with a purse cake from Shinmin. Not only was the design flawless, and captivating and just plain perfect (pink Chanel purse), it was the most delicious cake I have ever put into my mouth. Shinmin was also extraordinarily nice. She delivered the cake herself and was just the sweetest thing.
A couple of years later, I was part of the bridal party for my best friend, and knew exactly what kind of cake she needed for her bridal shower. Of course, because my bff deserves the best to celebrate her big day, I went straight to Shinmin. She was amazing in the design process, and totally listened. I went to pick up the cake and was in awe of the shop. Sooooo nice! Since she had delivered my bday cake, this was the first time I had seen her store front. Again, she was nothing but nice. The only thing was, the cake was a cruise ship, and one of the fondant banners on the ship was cracked. Which, imo, should have been replaced before I came to pick up the cake. I mean, I don’t mind paying $$$ for a cake, and I understand that things happen. But… that seems (to someone that does NOT know about this stuff) to be an easy fix.
Anyhow, my best friend was surprised with the cake and looooooved it, as did all the guests. They thought it was phenomenally designed and completely and utterly enjoyed the cake.
White cake with caramel… The best ever!
I will definitely go back for other big events. I just know that with her craftmanship and abilities, she is in demand, and I should book as far out as possible. Don’t be presumptuous and assume that she will be able to pop out something for you just because you waited until the last minute to plan.

OK last June I had the honor of attending my friend’s private wedding ceremony at the Ritz Carlton in SF.
You can read about the private room dinner writeup at the Dining Room, with the Iron Chef of San Francisco at the helm.
By the way, the original SF Bay Area Iron Chef is and will always be Ron Siegel. While David Kinch was Iron Chef winner of Iron Chef USA show recently (the pseudo pspinoff series of the Japanese original, that was almost ruined, thank god they got rid of Captain Kirk as head of Kitchen Stadium before the show flushed down the toilet) and while mad propz to him beating Iron Chef BoBBQ Flay on Battle Cabbage, still does not mean anything to me compared to Siegel destroying Iron Chef French Sakai in Battle Lobster.
One of the memorable culinary highlights of the evening, was not a Ritz Calrton Dining Room creation, but a wedding cake so wonderfully crafted and design picked by my friend’s sister.
And that wedding cake, came from this location, I Dream Of Cake.
Look at the Unilocal listing pictures! The designs are INCREDIBLE. Sexay, Delish, true works of art!
I didn’t take pictures of the cake, but it looked like this (use your imagination)
A wooden treasure chest that was slightly open. It looked like a golden cloth was covering the contents, but on top of that cloth were random GOLD COINS and a beautiful gold colored pearl necklace. A few coins were lying near the base of the treasure chest, and nearby were some Chinese gold crowns.
The inside was a deep rich but not very heavy chocolate cake. Basically the cake looked so beautiful that it made everyone guilty to eat it. It was a wonderful attack on the sensories but definitely a major feast on the eyes.
Absolutely one of the best western wedding cakes I’ve had in my life.

«I’ll bet those Golden Tickets make the chocolate taste terrible.»
This has been my general outlook on baked goods since starting work as a Birthday Party Faciliator at the Discovery Museum a year and a half ago. As someone who encounters an average of six cakes a week, I consider myself a bit of a connoisseur (read: pig) at this point. If it’s pretty, it’s probably not that impressive, since most of the work went into the presentation. And if the frosting is gloppy, the cake a little oily, the picture of Elmo a bad dollar-​store knockoff… then you don’t want to pass it up. Grab yourself a plate and dig in.
However, I Dream Of Cake is the ONLY cake able to pull off the double-​whammy — beautiful and DELICIOUS. For our princess party on Saturday, the family brought in a cake that we all had trouble believing was a cake and not an ornate treasure chest until we sunk a knife into it. And once we did, we were in heaven. I try not to dream of cakes, but I can’t help it if I see this one again in my dreams.

I reserve I Dream of Cake for my über special clients that I want to blow away. We have succeeded every time.
I love to watch my clients faces when they see it, «I can’t believe that is a cake!!!» Pick their most favorite object and have Shinmin run with the idea. She’ll put something together that will surpass their every expectation. Priceless! Memories for a lifetime… that’s what they pay for… Worth every penny.
Can’t wait to work with you again! Thank you for putting your special touch on every cake that you have done for me. Your artistry is greatly admired and appreciated.
Psssst!: for my bday, I want one of your «slipper cakes» I’ll be saving my pennies to afford one of your beautiful masterpieces!

well you’ve heard about the tempermental artist? Shinmin is very very very talented, but as with all of US… we have our good days and we have our bad days… Hey…if you catch her on a good day, where she is feeling the vibe and the creative juices are flowing. great…but if it is NOT… YUCK.
I understand that. We are all human. It is a tough job to be the one person artiste. and business entrepreneur.
Just do not order a super expensive cake for your once in a decade wedding reception here. She is not that kind of artiste.
Hey…maybe get your «I just got divorced and am ready for some new hot buffed MEN in my erotic life» party… Hummm maybe Cake Gallery on ninth street is where one gets that kind of cake.
But the flavor of the cake if you supervise and micromanage it will be great from Shinmin… Like bananas dipped in chocolate sliced with organic whipped cream and organic berry filling with cream and light sponge cake…
I respect her artistry… it is her artistic temperment that might be delicate.

The cake was definitely delicious (a plus when you are really going for looks) and it was exactly as I had asked it to be. Looked great and tasted great. I will say that while I was in the planning stages, Shinmin was more than available — contacting me all the time, answering emails and phone calls immediately. Once I had confirmed my order, it would take days to hear back from her, a bit annoying when I was paying $$$$$ for a CAKE!
Also, my initial consult was to be with Shinmin and she ended up not being there. I was never alerted that she was not going to be there, she was just un-​available. Her assistant was fabulous, don’t get me wrong. I enjoyed meeting her and felt all my questions were answered. It is just that the customer service is severely lacking when I think for the money you are paying, you should feel taken care of and then some.
:)

YUM!
Shinmin created my wedding cake this past August and it was absolutely delicious!
Let’s just say… I know wedding cake. And Shinmin is one of the heavy hitters in the wedding world. Her designs are jaw dropping and her flavors are clean and light.
Everyone loved the cake, and let’s be honest, who raves about wedding cake these days? Well, my guests did!
My faves of hers are her Toasted Almond and her Banana Walnut. Divine.
Love me some cake.

Shinmin is an awesome person to work with!!! I needed a special cake for my boyfriend’s 30^th birthday, and I needed one fast. Called IDC on July 9^th to have a cake done by July 25^th. I told Shinmin exactly what I wanted… a cake of my boyfriend’s Facebook profile (he’s a Facebook fanatic) with customized details. She thought it was a fun idea and said it wouldn’t be a problem at all. When I picked up the cake and opened the box, I was in awe. I stared at the cake and took numerous pictures of it (like it had its own photo shoot). The cake definitely stole the show at the party… it even tasted as good as it looked (chocolate cake w/​cream cheese filing)!!! Would definitely love to have another cake done by IDC!
P. S. You can see a pic of the cake (before it was devoured) in my profile pics.

ok, so i’ve never even EATEN this cake before. and i know that this place is pretty much RI-​DONK-​ULOUS, as far as pricing goes.
but have you SEEN the cakes? i was walking around north beach and was literally stopped. in. my. tracks. they are gorgeous. i started wondering how much it would cost to FLY one of these fab cakes to arizona for my wedding (uhm yeah, so did i mention i’m not engaged yet???)
beautiful. if i can’t afford to eat them, at least i can afford to walk by and drool over their detailed, sugary beauty. over. and over. and over.

5stars: Shinmin is creative, talented and tasteful. She is professional and open to feedback. I know because she offered to redo our design when the initial creation was not satisfactory. The revised look was 5 stars. Her vanilla caramel cake is moist and delightful. I have had her do two events and she made the cakes consistently tasty!
2 stars: Design did not meet expectations. Her gallery and website shows stellar work. That’s the price you pay. However for stellar workmanship, I felt our cakes did not meet our design vision.

Both projects were overall design disappointments and I will take partial blame because perhaps I was not as hands-​on to check the process of the final designs. However the owner takes pride in her work and will listen openly to feedback. Our redo was again 5 stars.
Overall 3 stars. I would rebook I Dream of Cake but note to be involved with the design process to ensure that execution of my overall vision meets expectations. She does superb work but you may want to be more hands-​on to ensure overall design expectations/​attention is clear.

I’m helping my sister-​in-​law with her wedding, and so set up a bunch of cake tasting appointments. I had heard good things about I Dream of Cake over the past few years, so they were the high-​end stop of the day.
So here’s the thing. The cakes are A+ in taste (particularly the coconut, the chocolate, and the vanilla caramel) but they’re also A+ in aesthetics. And I don’t even like cake very much!
Gorgeous designs, with a wide range of styles, and as many people have mentioned, a lot of flexibility about working with your ideas/​style/​theme.
The catch? They’re very expensive. (You can cut some of that cost by having half the servings for your event done in a decorated cake, and the other half in a sheet cake.)
My impression of Shinmin is that she’s very passionate about what she does, and enjoys the creative exercise of designing beautiful cakes. We had a very pleasant meeting with her.
If you have the budget, I can’t think of a better place to get a special occasion cake.

These cakes are not only beautiful to look at, but delicious (based on the one I tried last night at a holiday party, and also knowing how popular they were at my friend’s xmas bash last year).
I also happened to meet the cake designer today in a social setting, and she is totally cool, and I imagine she’d be extremely fun and easy to work with. She mentioned that her website will soon be updated with photos of her latest and greatest creations (apparently the ones currently shown are from 2+ years ago).
If you’re in need of a very special cake for a very special occasion, you might want to check this out!

I went over to Northbeach today for lunch and after I just let the breeze blow me where it wanted me to fly… and I landed at this amazing place…
I have no need for a wedding cake at the moment, but when I walked up to this shop I stopped and felt a stab in my soul to go in and check out this amazing place that creates elegant artistic cake .
The owner is a Culinery school graduate and the artists are Acadamy of Art graduates.
They have cakes shaped as your favorite Manolo Blahnik shoe if you want or a Gucci handbag. Thay have a way of creating the most amazing looking cakes I’ve ever seen.
If I ever were to recieve a petite cake in the shape of something romantic or cute from this place as a gift and a invitation for dinner I think I may say yes… to a date… That’s elegant and that’s hot.

Unfortunately, this was the one vendor we weren’t happy with. Went there initially and tasted all the cake flavors (which were yummy!) and picked the design we wanted. I must say the designs were all very beautiful. Easy enough.
Fast forward three months later… WEDDING DAY. Um, after spending hours at the tasting, they delivered us the wrong cake! The cake was actually the ugliest thing I’d ever seen. Luckily, everything else about our wedding was so perfect, I didn’t really allow it to bother me. On the plus side, they didn’t end up charging us for it.

So I have mixed feelings about this place. We met Shinmin for a wedding cake consultation and she was nice enough. Without a doubt her work is amazing: cakes in the shape of shoes, handbags, pirates treasure chests and mannequin’s wearing ballgowns. If you think it, and can afford it, then she can make it. Congratulations on your amazing talent.
Here’s our dilemma: we’ve been to too many weddings where the cake wasn’t tasty. And we wanted a cake that tasted good. Now you can argue whether that’s a good thing or not («Drunk guests won’t care! Save money, give them Safeways!»), but this is our choice. Shinmin’s cake tastes okay, but not great. And we had tasted great cake a week earlier (for cheaper).
I just got this vibe that she really wasn’t interested in us: maybe our budget was too meagre? And that’s fine, to be expected and completely reasonable. You pay good money for good work, and since we can’t afford a yacht, I doubt we will be eating Shinmin’s cakes anytime soon (unless I get chummy with a VC).
Normally I wouldn’t write a mediocre review of a vendor just because I can’t afford the goods they were offering: «Ferrari dealership: I didn’t like the salesmens attitude when I said I couldn’t afford the downpayment. Zero stars!». But the kicker is we never got the quote she said she would send. Not a peep.
After a week we assumed that we weren’t her customer and spent the rest of our time booking Torino Baking in Berkeley instead. 4 weeks later, and one week before our wedding, she did email us a form email: [paraphrasing to get the tone] «Hey, it’s August. Your wedding soon. Didn’t hear from you. Our production line is fully booked. Best of luck.» That pissed me and the wife-​to-​be off, so her highness called her on it. Shinmin did apologise and mused that she should have called us to follow up. Yes, you should have.
Two stars.