Great experience AND a great cake. I wandered in here 2 weeks before my dad's marriage to his…read morepartner of 20 years with no idea how to go about buying a cake for their wedding. I wanted more of a groom's cake rather a traditional multilevel wedding cake. Ellen listened to my vague and lame ideas on cake shapes then steered me towards a wonderful design that incorporated aspects of the two grooms lives together. Two weeks later the cake was delivered and was a huge hit. PLUS it was delicious which is generally not something I expect in a wedding cake. Dark chocolate with vanilla butter cream and salted caramel = yum. A big thank you to Ellen!

I tasted a "Just Fabulous cakes" while at work one night, HOLY MOLEY! it was so good I cancled our…read moreprevious cake company (a overhyped, large & remarkably apathetic company in Danvers) and asked Ellen to make our Wedding cake! Even though she wasnt on our "approved vendor list" at Tupper Manor, we used her anyways..THATS HOW GOOD HER CAKES ARE! we had lemon curd with vanilla cake and buttercream. OMG! when a cake is made by someone who uses quality ingredients and spends time (and her own hands, not a Factory) to make you a AMAZING looking cake, it shows. We sadly just ate the last slice from the "top tier" we took home. If you are looking for a talented cake maker who loves what she does, Ellen is for you! Dont settle for a big company that doesnt care and turns out sub par product. Find someone like Ellen..she sent us 5 designs she drew herself before we even picked the winning one. My cake cutting picture with my husband, is my profile picture on facebook. THATS HOW AWESOME IT WAS! We went by her shop today to thank her and she made us two cupcakes on the spot! Talk about awesome!

Loved the cake she made for Valentine's Day . The cake was very pretty and tasted great…read more Very communicative and easy to work with

She does such a fine job with attention to detail and great customer service with a smile,…read moreBest cupcake I have ever had

GREAT! That sums it up. We got a couple of boxes of pastries from here for different occasions and…read morethey were always delicious and beautiful. Pictures you ask? Unfortunately, I was so overwhelmed by the alluring pastries I forgot and just dove in for sampling! Great Italian Bakery!

Awesome bakery! So much goodness everywhere ypu looked! This is what I call a typical bakery /…read moredeli in the Boston area, what I grew up with!. A place that you would order your birthday cakes, pastries, cookies, breads, deli sandwiches, and of course pan pizza. Alice of pan pizza is a popular breakfast or lunch option! In addition, there are quiches, calzones, these amazing looking loaf cakes, pies, cannoli, deli salads, and much more! Just being open on a Sunday was a huge plus. We need to pick up some sandwiches for an early lunch. We ordered large (only $1 more than small) and they are ginormous! Definitely shareable or enough for a second meal! We ordered a side red potato salad. And of course a pound of cookies / biscotti! Everything tasted great! I hope we have time for a second visit during our trip! It was very busy around 930am on a Sunday morning. Very organized and well staffed for the business. Most were picking up pre-orders (cake, etc.). Ordering sandwiches wasn't an issue that early and pans of pizza were out! Love the East Coast and surely miss it! Staff was incredibly friendly and helpful! Most of the customers seemed like local regulars! That says a lot too! Parking is very easy. Large lot shated with another business. Front and then a larger lot on the side. Nice as most parking in this area (including Marblehead and Salem) is street parking only, very few lots! There are plenty of tables for dining inside. Our next will.be hot sandwiches and/or pan pizza and calzones!

My sister and mom ordered a cake from Barbara for my bridal shower last weekend and it was amazing…read more The style and decorations (white with shimmery edible seashells) were so beautiful it could have been a wedding cake. I'll try to upload a picture later. I would especially recommend the lemon cake with raspberry filling, but the chocolate with mousse was great, too. I can't comment on pricing or anything like that, since I didn't work with Barbara directly, but the finished product was delicious!

Barbara baked my wedding cake on 6/6/2015. Barbara was a pleasure to work with, and her cake was…read morebeautiful and delicious. Our reception was on the water in Gloucester, and our cake had edible sea shells. Barbara even ordered a cake top for us with a bride and groom sitting in the water. It was very pretty and it tasted so good. thanks Barbara!

Great friendly service and AMAZING creative muffins. They also have really cute themed things for…read moreEaster. They are busy but so worth it, I would recommend parking across the street.

I have visited the Winchester store many times. Muffins are all very good. The issues isn't the…read moremuffins ... The staff there are always nasty and owner must not care. I mention every visit that they should put a name tag in front of each muffin to speed up the ordering... I must waste my time and more importantly their time answering my inquires... what is that one , what is that muffin ? Does that have raisins on it ? Nuts? Dog shit in it? or whatever ? Wtf Or why are out of certain muffins ? Any In the back on racks? Put a sign up displaying a simple check mark of available muffins? One visit the nasty one at Winchester told me they were out yet I saw the muffin on a rack not yet ready to put out front? So this was my first visit to this Wakefield location ... same issues and staff nasty here too but a bit better as more mature employee? I ordered 6 muffins and wanted 2 in a separate box as a gift to someone and the other 4 in a different box...she puts the two in a bag... A bag ruins the gift look, damages frosting in muffins... they will not put any less than muffins in a box? I'll pay for the dam extra box? Or maybe a smart owner would have a small 2 muffin box? Asked for Boston cream ... out of them .. same as last visit to Winchester location where they were out of many options... Maybe if popular statistically ... then you bake more of them based on POS sales data ? Maybe seasonality affects the daily production forecasts? Maybe offer July 4th red white blue muffins, Halloween frosting, Thanksgiving? Christmas ? Then generate greater sales, The owner should hire a better manager of both locations and stick a dam name tag in display case for each muffin, train all employees in hospitality and importance to retain repeat customers? Owner probably now just mailing it in or letting the off spring to take or already took over ? Maybe sell just sell it off to a interested owner looking to expand, or Improve offerings , add high end croissants, pastries, quality cookies ... coffee and better options? Whatever... 4 years telling every visit to just put a f'n name tag in front of each muffin-so I don't need to ask.. especially for gluten free, nut free allergies conscience people... how about an ingredients sign for each muffin ? I give up

Been coming here for at least 30 years and the quality has gone done as the prices rise. Now as…read moreanyone knows when bread keeps having giant holes in it is not being handled properly by the baker before hand. 4 Why does my bread keep doing this? : r/Breadit To prevent large, unwanted air holes (or tunnels) in bread, bakers focus on proper fermentation, firm shaping, and degassing the dough. Key techniques include avoiding under-proofing, degassing the dough thoroughly after the first rise, using adequate gluten development, and creating tension during shaping to ensure a tight crumb. Key Techniques to Prevent Large Holes: Proper Fermentation (Avoid Under-proofing): Large, single cavities are often caused by under-proofed dough, which allows gases to expand unevenly during baking. Ensure the dough is fully proofed. Degassing and "Knocking Back": Gently but thoroughly deflate the dough after its first rise (bulk fermentation) to pop large gas bubbles, preventing them from becoming huge pockets. Firm Shaping & Surface Tension: When shaping loaves, make sure to fold and roll the dough tightly to eliminate gaps. Pop any visible surface air bubbles with a toothpick before the final proof. Proper Scoring: Score the loaf deeply enough. If the crust forms too fast and gas cannot escape, it can lead to "flying roof" or tunnels. Avoid Excessive Dusting Flour: Too much extra flour during folding can create, rather than prevent, big holes in the crumb. Check Dough Handling: Perform 3-4 gentle "coil folds" during bulk fermentation, rather than over-working it, to strengthen the structure

I have been visiting Elm St Bakery since the early 1980's as a child. All of our family celebration…read morecakes came from here. We love all of their items!! It is a clean and friendly ambience with so much color in the baked goods. Fast service and smiles. This bakery is always a definite stop whenever we go home to visit.

My husband got me a surprise birthday cake! It was a marble cake with raspberry filling. Sweeten…read moreperfectly. ( not too sweet like regular store bought cakes) The cake was decorated beautifully! It was a big hit with the family!

My sister worked with Eleanor on a surprise gender reveal cake for us. She said Eleanor was…read morewonderful to work with in every way and made her vision come to life perfectly! We loved the cake- expertly done and it was really good tasting too. Thank you so much for a fantastic experience start to finish- we will use The Party Cake again!

I have ordered these several times and each time they just get better & better. So addicting. I…read morehave ordered these for all occasions. I ordered for our daughter's graduation party, our granddaughter's first birthday, and Christening. I also ordered them on holidays!!!! Michelle does an amazing job with what ever theme you are doing no matter what it is. She makes sure these will be a hit at every event. Trust me I know! She bakes to order and can pretty much make what ever flavor you desire! At our daughters senior graduation party I did an Oreo cookie bread pudding and it was a huge hit. My nephews keep asking me when I am ordering them again and if I do, I better get Oreo cookie, they are 15 and 17 years old. They go quick, I usually have to order at least 3 dozen. It was nice to have a change with regard to your average desserts. . No one expected bread pudding to be at any of our partys. They are elegant and yet fun. How ever you need Michelle to make your order, she comes through! Every single bread pudding is made by hand and what ever flavor you can think of, she will be sure you get it! AMAZING is all I can say. Don't believe me, try ordering these gems, I promise you won't be disappointed! She should retitle the name as I think it should be called "Not your average bread pudding" because it's not. SO SO GOOD! Kimberly Stoneham, MA