i’ve had many cakes from cakelove over the years, as a dc resident and former classmate of warren brown’s. and i’ve enjoyed most of them. so i wasn’t worried when i ordered the raz-ma-tazz (”my downfall” with raspberry buttercream between the layers) for a colleague’s birthday.

first, the good things: the buttercream is raspberry-iffic, a perfect medley of sweet and tart. the chocolate ganache melts in your mouth. the cake itself, still whole, was a pretty little thing (i ordered the 6″, serves 4-8): gentle swirls of ganache and a trio of fresh raspberries in a cluster near the edge.

we cut the cake, room-temperature (as recommended by cakelove), and served it with ice cream. and it was a good thing we did: the actual cake was heavy, dense… and dry. it also isn’t very chocolatey. in fact, when i had a small slice, solo, the next day, it was downright disappointing.

if i had my druthers, i’d probably soak the layers with a simple syrup before assembling the cake. it would improve both the texture and the flavor, as well as adding a little to the shelf life (not that it needs it - as it was, there was almost nothing left of the cake in 24 hours).

overall quality of cake: B-
quality for price: C