Alliance Bakery

I dare you to walk past Alliance Bakery on Division Street and not stop to gawk at the cakes in the window.

From elaborate, towering wedding cakes to quirky novelty cakes (think 3D), they've got every type of cake decor covered. I've seen a giant chocolate-covered strawberry cake, a PG-13 bachelor party cake and even a rainbow tower of macaroons on display.

If you can pull yourself away from the window, step inside to the ordering area and continue your gawking at the cupcakes, cookies, freshly baked breads and pastries that await you. Prepare to drool, too. If you've got a sweet tooth, you've just entered Eden.

If you're there in the morning for a bit of breakfast before you hit the el, I recommend the almond croissant. They are melt-in-your mouth, and I can't think of a better way to start the day. My brother's girlfriend talks about Alliance's almond croissants in almost reverant tones. She also loves their spacious cafe next door to the ordering area (with free wifi!). She works from home and says it's a great place to work. I'm not buying it though—I think she just has a closet addiction to the croissants.

Last fall, I had my ultimate Alliance experience when I ordered my wedding cake there. Before our tasting, the chef sent us a list of all their cake and frosting flavors and we got to choose three of each. At the tasting, they bring out plain cupcakes in the requested flavors with giant schmears of frosting on a separate plate. It was, hands down, the best half hour of wedding planning we had.

We chose Hazelnut, Almond and Vanilla for our cake flavors and Chocolate and Vanilla Buttercream for our frostings. We also checked out the Dulce de Leche filling. We ended up choosing the Almond cake and Vanilla buttercream. The Almond lent just enough of a subtle flavor to make the cake different without being too exotic (we were serving 200 people).

So that was the easy part. Next up was the decorating. I had some very specific ideas about what I wanted and pictures to go with them! I asked the chef to recreate the details of my dress, including the subtle pink shade used as an accent color. My husband (fiance at the time) had to leave for this discussion (since he couldn't see the dress). Afterwards, he asked if I "scared" the chef with my ... um ... exuberance for cake. I think it would take a lot more than a cakezilla bride to scare the Alliance staff—they've pretty much done it all.

Here is a photo of the detail work from  our cake—it was stunning, and delicious to boot. So if you're in the neighborhood, or doing a cupcake crawl around the city (don't laugh until you've tried it), stop by Alliance and enjoy the view and the tastes.

One last note: Don't forget about Alliance if you need a loaf of homemade bread! The focaccia is fantastic. Pull it out of the bag and pass it off as your own the next time you have a dinner party.