Less Sweet Birthday Cakes

Need a place in Chicago proper, preferably nearer city center, that makes birthday cakes but not super sweet. Most places use frosting and fillings that are so cloyingly sweet my teeth hurt just looking at them. Don't need sugar-free, just need a place that is lighter on the sugar. Called Vanille but they no longer make custom cakes. Any recommendations?

Any of the bakeries in Chinatown will suffice, methinks. You may want to head down to, say, Chiu Quon and try a slice out first just to make sure--they have single slices of various kinds in the cases out front. I've had cakes from there and St. Anna's, with very light, not-too-sweet frosting, airy cake, and fresh fruit, as opposed to awful canned filling.

Chiu Quon
2242 S Wentworth Ave
Chicago, IL 60616
(312) 225-6608

St. Anna's Bakery
2158 S Archer Ave
Chicago, IL 60616
(312) 225-3168

I would call Delightful Pastries. Not city-center but they have a stand at the French Market at Northwestern Station.

Here's a thread about it. Very nice folks.

viewtopic.php?f=16&t=12820&hilit=delightful+pastries

website:

http://www.delightfulpastries.com/cakes

I'm not a big sweets eater and always enjoyed the cakes my sister obtained for my birthday from Swedish Bakery (of the fresh fruit/whipped cream frosting variety). It's been awhile, not sure if they still do that, but worth a try.

Swedish Bakery
5348 N. Clark St
Chicago, IL 60640
773-561-8919
http://www.swedishbakery.com/

In addition to St. Anna, a whipped cream frosted cake from any of these would fit your needs:

Oak Mill - European Bakery
2204 W North Ave, Chicago - (773) 252-4400 (see website for additional locations)

Bombon Cafe - Mexican Bakery
38 S Ashland Ave, Chicago - (312) 733-8717 (see website for additional locations, including Ogilvie)

Lutz Continental Cafe & Pastry Shop - European Bakery
2458 W Montrose Ave Chicago, IL 60618-1648 - (773) 478-7785

Thanks for the recs. I should have qualified that I wasn't looking for an Asian/Hong Kong style cake (I think kids are tired of fruit cocktail in their cake) but a European style cake. The pastries and sweets I had in France, Switzerland, and Italy were so much more delicate and had a nice balance of sweetness. Any place in Chicago make pastries with a lighter, more delicate hand?

Admittedly, I'm not a big cake-eater, but I will throw in a "second" for Lutz. I purchased a fresh strawberry cake with vanilla whipped cream frosting there about 6 months ago. Definitely made with a lighter hand on sugar. Cake was moist and the frosting was not cloying at all. It was very well received at the event I took it to.

Bittersweet on Belmont. Especially the banana bread cake. Not sweet. But very good. It's our long time go to cake spot.

I'm sure others have very definite opinions on this place, but I had my first Sweet Mandy B's cupcake the other day and was struck by how it was not overly sweet. I believe they do regular cakes as well. Might be worth checking out.

I've had some great cakes from Austrian Bakery on Clark street. Michael makes some wonderful not too sweet cakes like opera, dobos and sacher torte.

Austrian Bakery
2523 N. CLark Street
Chicago, IL 60614
773-244-9922

In case you haven't already seen it, just a few short threads down from this one is Mike G's "My season of cakes begins [pics]".... He mentions Bombon and addresses the less sweet aspect perfectly.