The Artistic Whisk – St. Petersburg, FL

 

Lance has left most of the wedding planning up to me since I’ve got more of an opinion about most of it – but one thing he was really excited to be part of was the cake tasting!

I went to a bridal show back in June and honestly, I wasn’t impressed by most of the cakes I tried.  I know fondant can make some really pretty designs, but I just don’t think it tastes good.  And surprisingly most of the cakes we sampled from the bridal show venders were pretty bland or dry. 

But luckily we stumbled upon Jovana’s booth for The Artistic Whisk while we were there.  The name sounded familiar because another engaged friend, Padma, had just done a tasting there a few weeks prior.  She had samples of her chocolate peanut butter cake and it was amazing!  (it’s actually not the cupcake pictured above…that was a competitor’s chocolate peanut butter that looked prettier than it tasted…) 

Jovana was just about to get married herself, so we arranged a cake tasting once she got back from her honeymoon to try her other flavors. 

Her bakery is in a warehouse strip in St. Pete – so luckily not too far from our venue.  She uses all natural flavors and has a pretty impressive background – graduating from Le Cordon Bleu and baking for Tampa’s Marriot Waterside, Clearwater’s Sandpearl Resort, the Ritz Carlton in Naples, and Innisbrook Golf and Spa Resort in Palm Harbor. 

My mom and dad joined Lance and me for the tasting.  She brought us all champagne while we walked through 21 different flavors and rated our favorites.  Luckily we can pick different flavors for each cake tier since it was really hard to narrow down which ones we liked best – they were ALL amazing.  And each had homemade fillings and different types of buttercreams to compliment the cake.   

My favorites were the orange creamsicle, almond raspberry, coconut with rum roasted pineapple, bananas foster, carrot cake, Bailey’s macadamia, Boston cream, chocolate chip cannoli, German chocolate, mint chocolate chip, mocha, and the chocolate peanut butter (I know, that’s a long list!) 

The four of us narrowed it down, and we decided on the coconut with rum roasted pineapple, chocolate peanut butter, and Bailey’s macadamia.  Plus she adds in a complimentary cake topper for us to enjoy on our 1 year anniversary, which will be the chocolate peanut butter.  We discussed designs and sketched up a plan based on the Pinterest ideas I’d sent her. 

I’m so excited that we found Jovana and I’d highly recommend her to any of you that need a cake for a special occasion.  Looking forward to the big day next April!

You can reach Jovana at theartisticwhisk@gmail.com or call her at (727) 560-5662 – her bakery is by appointment only.

Backfin Blue Cafe – Gulfport, FL

One of our Christmas presents this year from my parents was a stack of Creative Loafing deals to different local restaurants.  It was a really great gift idea because we’ve gotten a lot of free/cheap date nights out of them!  The only thing is you have to keep an eye on the expiration dates (usually you’ve got about a year until they expire, but some are only a few months…) 

Well last week we realized our Backfin Blue Cafe deal was set to expire, so we headed to Gulfport for dinner.  It’s a really laid-back town just west of St. Pete.  Usually when we go there, we’re by far the youngest people walking around (think most residents are retired…) 

The restaurant is in an old bungalow and the relaxed vibe makes it feel like you’re having dinner at somebody’s home.  Our table had reindeer salt and pepper shakers.  Being near the gulf, we decided to try out some seafood.  Lance ordered the Bacon Wrapped Basil Stuffed BBQ Shrimp and I had the Macadamia Nut Crusted Mahi. 

Each was served with a simple house salad – then Lance had the mashed potatoes and I had the edamame salad with my entrée.  The coating on my fish was pretty generous – I definitely got my share of macadamias.  The edamame salad was pretty hearty – with chickpeas, corn, beans.  I couldn’t tell all the ingredients, but it was really tasty.  Lance’s mashed potatoes tasted homemade with some chunks and potato skins mixed in.  The shrimp was good, but the sweet BBQ sauce was a bit overpowering.  Overall, it was a great meal. 

We took a walk around town afterwards along the shore – most shops close up early, so there weren’t any open to wander through.  But we watched people fish off the pier and enjoyed the water views.  It’s not far from Tampa, but with the small-town atmosphere, it’s a nice getaway.    

Backfin Blue Cafe is located at 2913 Beach Blvd S, Gulfport, FL 33707.  They are open 4pm – 10pm Mondays, Wednedays – Saturdays, 4pm – 9pm on Sundays, and closed on Tuesdays.