Bread Basket Cake Co.

“Awesome.” “Out of this world.” “Simply amazing.” “Phenomenal.” These are the words that come up again and again when former clients are asked to describe the Bread Basket’s creations. This is no accident; celebrating over two decades in business, owners Gilbert and Paul Delagnes and the other pastry chefs at Ventura County’s most popular cake shop are meticulous about the quality of their ingredients, and they have a talent for dazzling decoration.

The Bread Basket uses only the finest products, including pure Belgian chocolate and 100 percent real whipped cream. And they get all of their fruit from neighboring farms; it doesn’t get any fresher than that. Appropriately enough, this cozy bakery specializes in fruit-filled desserts. One of their most popular selections is the “fruit basket” cake, which combines raspberries, blackberries, strawberries and blueberries in a French whipped cream filling.

If you don’t fancy a fruit-filled confection, there are plenty of other options, and the Bread Basket will customize your cake design to suit you. “They have jumped hurdles for some of my clients,” recalls an event planner. “They even gladly accommodated a bride who wanted them to use a relative’s red velvet cake recipe!”

Most couples, however, will be more than happy to select one of the bakery’s proven formulas. In fact, a cake tasting here could very well be the most enjoyable part of planning your wedding. “They brought out these huge slices of cake and let me try many different fillings…and even the typical flavors were exceptionally different than anything I had ever tasted. Everything was so good that once I started eating I just couldn’t stop!” gushes one bride. “Not the best thing for trying to fit into a tight wedding dress, but it was worth it!”

The Bread Basket’s pastry chefs work closely with clients to find the colors and design that will perfectly complement their wedding theme, and their cakes are as stunning as they are scrumptious. The decorators achieve this effect by using rolled fondant, a sugar-dough icing, to create intricate designs. One bride was so enamored with her cake’s beauty that she ordered a large framed print of it to hang in her kitchen. The bakery’s phenomenal work has been featured in Modern Bride, The Knot Best of Weddings, Inside Weddings, Los Angeles Weddings, and Bon Appétit, as well as on TV shows like The Wedding Story and Queer Eye for the Straight Girl. They’ve also created pastries for Williams-Sonoma and Wolfgang Puck’s American Food and Wine Festival.

Brides and grooms know the true meaning of the expression “Parting is such sweet sorrow” when they savor the last crumb of their wedding cake, but they still have a treat to look forward to: a freshly made first anniversary cake from the Bread Basket. It’s this dedication to customer satisfaction, and the way they give back to communities that have been supportive over the years, that has won the Bread Basket hordes of devoted clients—including sweet-toothed celebrities.