Fine Cakes by Zehra

Good. Lord.
I love red velvet cake. I try to avoid hyperbole when possible but freakin’ mother of all that is holy, that was the best red velvet cake I have ever had the pleasure of eating. Now I will forever be ruined on all red velvet cakes thanks to Zehra. No joke. Greatest. Red Velvet. EVAR. I thought wedding cakes were supposed to be dry, and brick-​like, and horrible in every way, but apparently they can look AND taste amazing.
It’s not a bakery where you can just go in and order things off a menu. Obviously, because Fine Cakes by Zehra is only available for bespoke cakes, and desserts designed specifically for weddings and wedding-​related festivities.
Really, there is absolutely no doubt in my mind about quality (see drooling crazy person rave above) and craftsmanship (see her website). But she knows that. She knows she’s good, and you can tell as much when you meet her. She conveys confidence in her creative craft (alliteration for the win) and her interactions were (almost) intimidating for someone like me, who up until two months ago thought that all cakes were made by a lady named Betty Crocker.
The consultation (appointment required, you can’t just walk in to her studio) involved me, my fiancée, her sister, and my friend (who happened to be with us at the time) meeting with Zehra to discuss what we were wanting. And she managed to make me feel like a scared child while she threw out questions like a drill sergeant. Then it basically followed with what she envisioned for the cake to match our theme, and she was designing on the fly even as we were answering her questions (who am I kidding, I answered no questions). The samples she provided were amazing. I would have been happy continuing to think that wedding cakes are generally terrible tasting, but she’s taken that away from me, forever.
Then she gave us the price, and my heart skipped a beat. But like I said earlier, she knows she’s good. And really, that’s my only gripe (which is not really a gripe). She kind of gave off a vibe that said «This is how it is, and you can take it or leave it.» And justifiably so because from what I can tell, she’s sought after by a lot of people, and she’s not really hurting for our business. We still haven’t decided if we’re going with her yet, because even after cutting our servings down severely, we were still left with a price that was higher than we had budgeted. And by the time we decide, she may very well be booked by someone else. For people who aren’t limited by silly things like wedding cake budgets, knock yourselves out. She will give you crack cocaine in fancy cake form, and you will thank her for it.