HOME > Chowhound > Southeast >


cakes from Cecilia V. in Athens GA

  • 6

OK, so these are supposed to be the greatest cakes in the world. Or at least in Georgia, but I just don't get it. And I have tasted about a dozen different flavors and from different locations (restaurants, weddings, the shop itself) just to see if I'm missing out.

The cake itself is usually so dense and dry that it takes away all of whatever flavor it is supposed to have, and both the buttercream & wispier (7-minute?) icings don't taste like what I expect them to either.

What am I missing?

  1. Click to Upload a photo (10 MB limit)
  1. I've eaten a lot of their cakes. I catered, long ago, for a company that served her wares, and it seemed for a long time that every restaurant in town served them.

    Cecilia and her family are good people, I think, and some of her cakes taste very good, but they are not very healthy, even by the standards of cakes and pastries. They're full of HFCS, and they sit on the belly like quicksand. But they do good business.

    We had our wedding cake made for us by a wonderful woman at a place called Take the Cake, out in Winterville. Best cake we ever had. Just amazing, and pretty as well.

    2 Replies
    1. re: uptown jimmy

      I have never seen a cake recipe w/ corn syrup in it. Interesting.

      1. re: danna

        That's what gives them that unnatural moistness. They're literally wet, especially the chocolate cake.

    2. in athens, a little gladhanding gets you miles further than a load of talent. Take our music scene, for instance. The most popular bands are the ones with members who are in 10 other bands, and who are down in it with the little indie kingdom ruled by mercer west. It's like that with cecilia's cakes. She knows lots of people, and because she knows lots of people, athenians figure that her cakes must be good, so they buy them.

      we serve them at the restaurant I work at, and they are just ok.

      1 Reply
      1. re: batdown

        Pound for pound, I think the Grit makes better cakes.

      2. I am not sure what you are missing but I have enjoyed Cecilia's cakes for many years and love both frostings. Yes, the cakes are dense but they are also very moist. Yes, they are made with corn syrup-but they are not to be eaten every day.

        When I read the posts about people buying them only because they were popular I had to laugh. I have baked for my family and friends all my life and believe me, I would not purchase anyone's cake because they were popular! I go for taste, and Cecilia's are delicious! Obviously those replying here don't agree-but I had a slice of chocolate today and enjoyed every bite!