Local bakeries provide cakes for every taste and occasion Local bakeries provide cakes for every taste and occasion (June 01, 2005)

By Jane Knoerle

Almanac Lifestyles Editor

June is a month of celebrations -- weddings, bridal showers, graduations, and Father's Day. And they all call for cake.

A beautifully decorated cake is usually the festive centerpiece for such occasions. And what would a birthday party be without it?

A few good cooks still take the time to make a homemade cake, but most of us order one from the bakery. Bakery cakes are predictable. They're never overdone or underdone. They look perfect -- no lopsided layers or grainy frosting.

Nobody but a pro could duplicate Woodside Bakery's genoise aux fruits, glistening with strawberries and raspberries, or Draeger's luscious lemon cake topped with a purple orchid and tied with pale green ribbons.
Woodside Bakery and Cafe

In the past 20 years, our local bakeries have become more sophisticated in their offerings. When Doug Basegio opened the Woodside Bakery in Woodside in 1981, few bakeries outside San Francisco offered European-style cakes and pastries.

Mr. Basegio learned his trade in Europe. He graduated from the Swiss National Baking School and worked at bakeries in Switzerland and France. He brought back the cake recipes still used at the bakery today.

Woodside Bakery and Cafe (opened in 1985) was sold to Philippe and Simone Tregon eight years ago. Mr. Basegio now teaches confectionery arts at the Culinary Institute in San Francisco.

Luscious European-style mousse cakes are the bakery's specialties. They consist of layers of sponge cake with a mousse filling, and are far lighter than American-style butter cakes, says bakery manager Norene LeMieux.

The principal cakes include lemon, strawberry, chocolate, double-chocolate and triple-chocolate mousse; tiramisu (two layers of espresso-soaked white sponge cake, mascarpone-rum cream filling, with chocolate shavings); strawberry Bavarian; Black Forest (chocolate sponge with chocolate mousse, brandy-soaked cherries, topped with Bavarian cream); and a gorgeous genoise aux fruits (white sponge cake, Bavarian cream, assorted fruits).

"If you want a plain white cake or chocolate cake, go to Safeway," advises Ms. LeMieux. She says she also has to turn down customers who want to order a German chocolate cake.

Pastry chef Jesus Mendoza does not write "Happy Birthday" on his delicate cakes. Instead, he inscribes the message on a marzipan scroll that he gently lays on top. Mr. Mendoza has worked at the bakery for 12 years and started out with Mr. Basegio.

Woodside Bakery and Cafe, 3052 Woodside Road, 851-7247.
Draeger's Bakery

Draeger's Bakery has it all, from passion mousse cake to a chocolate cupcake. The cakes are not only delicious, many are almost too beautiful to eat. But you can also order a vanilla cake that a 6-year-old would like for his birthday party.

The bakery's most popular cake is chocolate fudge cake with cream cheese frosting, according to bakery director Amy Whelan.

The Draeger's baking facility, located in South San Francisco since 2003, supplies the products for all three markets. Ms. Whelan has been with the company for 17 years, starting out as a retail clerk.

The company employs 23 bakers, including Jean-Marie Fayat, executive pastry chef.

The bakery produces 29 different cakes, including six different cheese cakes, three whipped-cream cakes, and six mousse cakes.

Then there are the seasonal specialties. This time of year, the strawberry cream cake is popular. The cake is filled with fresh strawberries and whipped cream, finished with whipped cream and decorated with fresh strawberries and toasted almonds.

The passion mousse cake is also in season. The Italian meringue base is layered with passion fruit and black current mousse. It is finished with a black currant glaze and adorned with an orchid.

Pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting is available only in October and November. Pumpkin and eggnog cheesecakes are available in November and December, and Christmas brings cranberry orange cheesecake and traditional fruit cake. Kona macadamia mousse cake is available through October and January.

Draeger's Bakery, 1010 University Drive, Menlo Park, 324-7751.
Gerry's Cakes

Gerry Stagi grew up in the bakery business. His father, John Stagi, owned the Pink Pastry Shoppe on Santa Cruz Avenue from 1957 to 1986. Gerry's Cakes opened at 1141 Chestnut St. 10 years ago.

Now Mr. Stagi keeps banker's hours instead of bakery hours. Two years ago he sold the business to two employees, Sharon Garza and Vicki Waters. He says Ms. Garza is the best cake decorator on the Peninsula. "Birthday cakes are our main thing," he says. The store has to stay open on Sundays because that's when customers pick up the cakes.

One wall is covered with photos of some of those cakes. They include a cake in the shape of a wine bottle in a crate that Ms. Garza made for her grandfather's 90th birthday. She hand-carried the cake 3,000 miles to his birthday party.

There are photos of cakes depicting the Lion King, a Barbie doll, Minnie Mouse's house, a space shuttle, and a bottle of Beck's Beer for a 50th birthday.

One cake showed a man going "over the hill" for a fellow's 40th birthday.

Where did Ms. Garza learn her skill? "From playing with my food," she says with a laugh. "My mom's not laughing at me now." Gerry's Cakes, 1141 Chestnut St., Menlo Park, 326-6282.
Martha's Pastries

Martha's Pastries in the Sharon Heights Shopping Center is more than a bakery. It's the center's gathering spot, where regulars drop in for coffee or a morning pastry.

Martha Merz opened the bakery 17 years ago, replacing the original Dutch Girl Bakery. All of her kids, four daughters and a son, have worked at the shop. Two of the girls, Margo Lytle and Debbie Merz, are still working there.

Although the shop is best known for its famous pecan-encrusted cinnamon bread, it also features a wide assortment of cakes.

Number one in popularity is its strawberry whipped cream white cake. "We sell them all year long, even at Christmas," says Ms. Merz. "You know, you now can get strawberries from as far away as New Zealand."

Other top sellers are the chocolate mousse cake (chocolate cake, chocolate mousse filling and frosting), and carrot cake. "We make our carrot cake with raisins, nuts, and crushed pineapple with a cream cheese frosting," says Ms. Merz.

Customers also like with lemon sponge cake with house-made lemon curd and whipped cream or buttercream frosting. The fresh apple cake is something you don't find in most bakeries. It is spiced with nutmeg and cinnamon and iced with cream cheese frosting.

Commenting on her years at the bakery, Ms. Merz says, "It will be 17 years in October. I never thought I'd be here this long. I must be having fun." Martha's Pastries, 325 Sharon Park Drive, Menlo Park, 854-6207.

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