Five More Days...

Ho-lee-cow.  What's a girl gotta do to get a cake around here?  I'm... just... flabbergasted.  This is what I'd like: 

Nothing too fancy.  Our main cakes are going to be two full sheet cakes.  We're getting them from Meijers, of all places and no one has given me any attitude.  (Plus their cakes are really yummy!)  But when I saw this Big Top cake on Oriental Trading Company, I thought it would be a cute addition.  I also figured that a bakery could easily duplicate it.  It's just a basic layer cake with a top, right?  I'll supply the lollipops.

So this morning I called the bakery in the nearby town of Shawnee and asked if there was time for me to order a cake for this Saturday.  "Sure, fine, what kind of cake would you like?".  I began to explain that I would like a small cake shaped like a circus tent and that I had a photo that I could show the baker at his earliest convenience and that it's not as elaborate as it sounds but I didn't get any further than "circus tent" when the lady interrupted me with "Ma'am, they can't do that.".

Now, when you read those words you've got to hear them in your head in the most dismissive tone possible.

"Ma'am, they can't do that.".

Not, "I'm sorry, ma'am, but with such short notice our bakers can only do sheet cakes."

Not, "I'm sorry, ma'am, there's plenty of time for us to make you a cake but our bakers are not capable of making anything other than sheet cakes."

I have no idea what she meant because I was too stunned to process anything.  I just sat at my desk and stared at the photo of this simple two layer cake and wondered how this lady knew the bakers could not make it, even though they were not being given the chance to decide that for themselves.  After all, she interrupted me before I could offer to bring down the photo.

So I just paused for a long moment and said, "They can't?".

And she said, "No."

I almost laughed at how surreal this conversation was.  Seriously?  She was not going to clarify?

Then I said, "Ohhhkaayy, thank you." and we hung up.

Alrighty then.  Scratch that bakery off of my list forever.  I've got one more possibility.  I thought it was way out of my reach.  Cake Nouveau is in Ann Arbor.  They usually do elaborate cakes along the lines of this:

That is so beyond darling that I could just die from cuteness!  Just that lower level is the most adorable thing I've ever seen in cake form.  As you can imagine, that sort of artistry is worth top dollar.  But now they are offering Dessert Cakes along these lines (and for less dollars):

That's not too much different in shape than the Big Top cake, right?  Just add a top and different icing colors and there ya go!  I'm going to go out tomorrow and see if I can have any luck.  I think I'll bring the birthday boy along and hope that his charm influences the nice ladies at Cake Nouveau.