Wasn't this basically a franchise store of the guy who used to be on TFN? If so, I imagine his offerings while quite nice, are pretty overlooked in favor of that other TFN cake impresario, Duff.

Still, it always a shame to hear about any bakery closing because there are so few of them now.

I bought a couple of cupcakes on their opening day a few years ago. They looked wonderful, but really were nothing special overall. I never went back, and it appears that others shared my lack of enthusiasm.

I echo daa2202's commets. I went the day after it opened and the cupcakes were dry and even if not, overpriced. Never even thought about going back.

I'm a little uncomfortable sharing this, as I owned (and maybe soon, again) an artisan bakery, but after my one and only experience at CakeLove, I'm surprised it lasted as long as it did.

I tried CakeLove with a friend, an off-duty (thank goodness for Cakelove) Sun reporter, apparently after inadvertently activating our cloaking devices, for we were completely ignored. With the tiny place devoid of any other customers, we maintained an absurd silent standoff for about ten minutes until we finally piped up, only to find none of the three staffers thought we were there to buy cupcakes. Huh???

Anyway, we got two cupcakes, took them to the car, only to discover them stale by two days and topped with artificially-coloured oil slicks. They were inedible. I'm not a snob - a chocolate Hostess cupcake can be exotic under the right circumstances. At three dollars apiece, un-decorated, I felt insulted and sort of like the butt of a joke (yes, I know, a great straight line - have at it).

Their problems certainly weren't related to the location. Cheasapeake Wine Company, comparably upscale, offers quality products in an attitude-free atmosphere. So does Starbucks. I am sorry CakeLove is gone, as the proximity of upscale businesses to each other only helps them all.

The all-knowing captcha proclaims: less food.

My understanding is that all of the cupcakes were made at a central commissary in Laurel and then frozen. The staff at CL always warned you not to eat them right away... because they were frozen. The icing was that ghastly lard-like substance.

wv: gaelic butt

I went to CakeLove when owner Warren Brown was being interviewed on the Rodricks radio show, so the staff was in a good mood as they listened to the interview. Even so, I had no problem getting their attention. The cupcakes, however, let much to be desired -- I found the cake part to be devoid of flavor, and the icing did little to improve the cupcakes' flavor.

Could the Can Company location be a kiss of death, given the businesses (Atlantic/Hudson St, Bakery, Ray Lewis' Full Moon BBQ, etc.) that have preceded CakeLove in opening and closing there? Or does the closing of CakeLove mean that the cupcake craze has finally jumped the shark?

I tried some of the $3 cupcakes when they first opened because they looked delicious. However, like other commenters mentioned above, they were totally lame. Really, I can buy an entire package of Bergers cookies for less than the cost of two of their cupcakes and they are far far superior as a guilty pleasure. Cakelove was all about image as opposed to quality and value of their baked goods. What a shame. But it seems that's what Warren Brown wanted. That business model might have worked pre-recession but certainly not in Baltimore nowadays. Cakes from scratch? How about Cakes from an industrial kitchen somewhere out of town?

I also wonder if anyone reading this post ever tried their cakes. Seems like all of us so far only tried the cupcakes.

I tried the cupcakes and the brownies there. They were good, but not so great that I would drive into Canton to get them.

CakeLove certainly had the benefit of tons of publicity, not just local but also national with the Am Ex campaign.

HA HA. Wonder if AMEX is gettin stiffed for an outstanding balance. Bet they don't do a commercial about that.

I think the recession is a good thing. Gets rid of BS business plans for selling cupcakes. Get real folks.

tried both the cake and cupcakes and wish i had just stuck with safeway: less expensive; better quality. now, i'm not a dessert person, but the rest of the office agreed that it wasn't worth the hype. also, they didn't open until noon. never heard of a bakery that wasn't rolling at the crack of dawn.

ironic captcha: unbiased few. few, at most...

Atlantic had very good food. We went there after getting married at the courthouse 10 years and change ago. They were a little ahead of the neighborhood pricewise, though. They probably would have done much better today.

Why would you have the cupcakes there when you can go to Baltimore Cupcake Co. on Fort Ave for the MOST HEAVENLY Key Lime Cupcakes EVER! mmmmm...

I've been to the CakeLove on U Street several times and loved it, fresh, good cupcakes in a crowded little space on a pedestrian-friendly urban street.

On the other hand, my two visits to the Canton location I found the cupcakes to be unimpressive and the location didn't work the way U Street does, where there's lots of walk-in traffic and lots of other good restaurants where folks can eat and then come to CakeLove for desert.

That stretch of Boston Street is really though. Parking is hard to come by, foot traffic is diverted (their door was sort of o the back side). And lots of competition.

I am really sorry to hear this news. I thought they were kind of cool. Although, I wasn't a customer. I thought that location was just a retail front for greater things. Like Poupon.

"My understanding is that all of the cupcakes were made at a central commissary in Laurel and then frozen. The staff at CL always warned you not to eat them right away... because they were frozen. The icing was that ghastly lard-like substance."

I concur with Pigtown's comments. I went there once and was also told not to eat them right away. They didn't appear to be fresh, they didn't taste well, and the icing was horrible.

I'm not sure if it's a problem with the location of the Can Company. Ray Lewis' BBQ was horrible, and so was Cakelove. Neither of those businesses would have succeeded no matter where they were located.

Don't forget Atlantic, Kiss Cafe, Donna's and probably others I'm forgetting. EL

I walk by there frequently, and never made it inside. It didn't smell like a bakery should.

I went in there once and was not impressed. The cupcakes were pricey, small, and without character. Other food vendors do quite well there like outback, austin grill, and pasticcia. The key to survival is to do something well and make people feel welcome.

I think it all boils down to the fact that the cupcakes weren't that good. They always tasted dry and stale. And once it got out that the place didn't have an oven (my friend worked at the Starbucks there and one of the CakeLove people dished to her) they were doomed, because why would someone get a cupcake there when they could get a better one at a local place that was actually baking their stuff?

The CakeLove on U Street in the District is usually pretty good. I always seem to get a birthday cupcake from there, and DC has some pretty good cupcake competitors - Hello Cupcake and Red Velvet come to mind. The CakeLove in Shirlington wasn't bad, and the suburban/urban gateway concept there makes for lots of foot traffic. The CakeLove in Canton would have done a lot better had the products been fresher and the store located on the Square. More foot-traffic, and the bar scene would have led to more spontaneous purchases.

Just to join the chorus, I tried both the cupcakes and slices of a couple of kinds of cake there and - like everyone else here - found them dry and bland. I have a friend who said she actually spit the cake out when she tried it, she thought it was so bad. Safeway right across the parking lot has a layered chocolate cake by the slice that is moister, richer, and cheaper.

I read in the City Paper not too long ago that a new location is opening in Arundel Mills Mall. It was an advertisement for now hiring at that location.

Went with a friend when she picked up cupcakes for her daughter's sweet 16 birthday party. Custom order. They were cute. But I remember thinking to myself that it didn't smell like anything was actually baked there. From then on, the place never appealed to me. I get better cravings for baked goods walking into the local Subway sub shop...

I have always been happy with my CakeLove purchases from the U Street Location, especially the cakes, a favorite of my family for special occasions. (The Peanut Butter Downfall is to die for.) But the cupcakes and sole cake I tried from the Canton location were, as others have said, never fresh and just not worth the price. I'm not surprised this location is closing, and I won't be surprised if the location in Tyson's Corner closes too--it seems to suffer from the same problem.

An excellent casual Italian place (with the best pizza town!) called Franco Zeppi's also didn't make it in the Can Company. Man I miss that place

Two words: dry cupcakes.

Captcha: chemicals prophecy....

I only went there once when they first opened, to buy cupcakes for my mom. I wasn't jazzed by the "waxy" frosting and I was a little surprised by the price.

More recently, a friend of mine inquired about ordering a gluten free cake from them (because they said they made them) for my birthday, she was told they needed at least five days in advance to arrange for the cake. So, another local business, Sweet Sin Bakery, got her money instead.

I will ditto what others have said... dry cupcakes, no flavor...just not very good!

I never had their cupcakes, but did sample their cake shortly after they opened. Once.

Although my cake was good -- not fantastic, but good in the way that any and all cake is good -- it was insanely overpriced. My husband and I paid $20 for two slices of cake. We never felt the need to go back.

wow, so glad to hear these comments as I thought I was crazy! got a batch of cupcakes there the week they opened and they were TERRIBLE- I am a cake fiend and believe me, not all that picky but I couldn't even finish one. They were dry, crumbly and the icing was waxy and flavorless. That place in Locust Point has awesome cupcakes that are much bigger for a lower price... can't think of the name but they are very good.

I think the cupcake thing has indeed jumped the shark, hmpstd. To get back to your earlier comment.

Now there are 3 shows about cake (Ace of Cakes, Cake Boss, and Amazing Wedding Cakes) plus all the cake competitions. People seem to be all about the whole cake again which makes me glad because I love cake!

Unlike most here I've had some very good experiences with the cupcakes at Cakelove. The buttercream was made in house but like yall said the cakes were shipped.

I always waited a good hour before eating them and I found them to be delicious. If you didn't wait the cake was too dense and cold, and the icing was as people said waxy. With time though the cake softened and the icing became fluffier.

I also got a german chocolate cake from there once and it was great.

Overall, even with my more positive review, the price was not a match for the product. Even when they lowered it to 2.50 a cupcake. It's a shame, the people who worked there were very friendly.

And exactly why should anyone pay 2.50 for a dry cupcake that wasn't baked on premise? Furthermore, why after dropping two fifty on that dry cupcake should I have to wait "a good hour" just to eat it?

I'm sorry but I am not the least bit surprised that it didn't survive. If you want a delicious HOMEMADE cupcake, go on up to Hampden to the New System Bakery on Chestnut and fork out $.95 on a homemade cupcake with incredible homemade buttercream. Or head over to Balto Cupcake Company on Fort.

You shouldn't have to do anything you don't want to do, and I never said otherwise. They're out of business because of the reasons you mentioned and that's the way the world works. It was located close to where I live so I stopped by occasionally and wanted to share my opinions about the quality of the product post-wait.

Thanks for the tip on New Systems Bakery, I haven't been there yet but I'll give it a try.

"I read in the City Paper not too long ago that a new location is opening in Arundel Mills Mall. It was an advertisement for now hiring at that location."

I saw the same ad...it also stated that interested parties could pick up employment apps from the location in Canton...I believe the inquiry just ran in last weeks City Paper.

I believe this trend will unfortunately continue for CakeLove. I tried the one on U Street a couple of times 5 or so years ago and was big time disappointed. The guy has a nice story, but that's about it. You can't sustain a business on that.

I love cupcakes. For my 40th b'day party that I threw myself, I had our local Bel Air Bakery make cupcakes - decorated to look like ponies. They were adorable and good. Maybe not Magnolia Bakery good (I remember when Magnolia first opened on Bleeker...) but very, very well priced, great design, good cake and icing.

CakeLove caught my eye and I was very excited to try them. I bought my cupcakes - yes, I, too, found the staff to be disinterested at best - and was quite perplexed at why I wasn't supposed to, well, eat them (I eat Magnolia's the minute I get them). But I waited...and was very disappointed.

Dry, mealy cake. Icing that not only wasn't good, it wasn't consistently not good - one bit would be too sweet, another bit oily, another gelatinous.

The cupcakes actually made me angry! I felt, well, ripped off. I always think cupcakes should make you smile, and these certainly didn't.

I think product quality and service just killed this place, nothing else.

Re: My previous post where I recommended the New System cupcakes --

Unfortunately, I heard today that New System Bakery, in Hampden, is closing because of the recession. Sad news indeed.

When I want REAL baked goods I always go to Cafe Latte'da on Aliceanna Street http://www.cafelatteda.net/ Jess and Nicole really do make all their baked goods from scratch and they taste marvelous. The sandwiches are also delish.

Sorry that the business falled, but if you live in the area Cafe Latte da is fantastic and the Jessica backs from Scratch. Wonderful custom cakes!!

Heard Latte da is open today!
Great coffee and homemade cakes, Jessica is a wonderful baker. Visit Latte da on 1704 Aliceanna Street.

Hmmm -- is this a shill flood on this Latte place?

Sounds like it to me, hmpstd. Which is a shame. I used to drop by there after kayaking and pick up a mediocre cup of coffee now and then.

Ok, there might be some shilling going on here, but I think it's the kind of shilling that comes from friends and family. I tend to be a lot more forgiving of this kind of shilling than the shilling that comes from professional or semi-professional PR types.

Professional PR shilling is unforgivable. But, with so many other places I can get a cup of joe in Fells' Point, why would I patronize a place that is shilled?

These Friends Of Lattedoh have hijacked a thread. That's inappropriate and not nice. I'm not going to go there anymore. Parking was worse there than the former Daily Grind, now Fells Grind--anybody been there since the change? Still 90% permanently installed users of desk space, pierced 20 y.o. baristas and Hershey's syrup for the mocha? Can't beat the outside tables view when the street guys feel like giving them up.

Getting back to bakeries, Graul's still turns out a very nice sheet cake for special occasions. There was a party at work recently and as soon as I took one bite of the cake, I knew it came from Graul's. Not too sweet, unlike most sheet cakes. I haven't tried any of their other baked goods.

A bakery is usually the weakest link in a supermarket. You can find good meats at places like Superfresh or good produce at the H Mart, but I've never found good bread.

The best birthday cakes are from Food Lion. I don't even know if they make them in store or not, but I love their vanilla cake with white butter cream icing. I could eat a whole quarter of a sheet cake probably myself!

I'd put their sheet cakes up against Grauls anytime!

Dahlink - Graul's cakes are wonderful. They use a "bettercream" whipping frosting.
Their donuts and other treats are also tasty.

I meant to write a "bettercream" whipped frosting.
captcha - explanations incenses

My favorite sheet cake when I was a kid was the one served at a McDonald's birthday party. They were great. The cake, the icing, the candy Ronald McDonald, everything was great.

When I was growing up out on the Left Coast we often had ice cream cakes for birthday celebrations. There was a family story about how sick my Uncle Fred got one time after he pigged out on very cold ice cream cake.

Not to change the subject again...But as an employee of Latte Da I can tell you that someone just posted the link to this article today on our owner's facebook cause she (and the rest of us who work there) had no idea people were writing about the cafe. Jessica operates her business ethically and has worked VERY hard to earn her business, she wouldn't be "shilling" nor would she encourage any of her friends/family or staff to do so...

they would have done better in a dense and walkable location with short blocks, more like their location on Ust in DC. The Canton location is a commuter diving corridor with a very confusing parking arrangement.

If they had put it in Fells Point for example, or on Canton Square, it would have done REALLY well.

Cakelove was told exactly that and their arrogance trumped local advice.

Location didn't keep me from trying CakeLove once, but the mediocrity of their products sure kept me from going back.

i drove down to cake love.. found out they were closed just tried sweet sin bakery in charles village .. 2.50 a cup cake much larger than any cupcakes out there in the market, in baltimore.. tasted awesome and they were glutenfree ..
didnt think gluten free would taste so good..

i drove down to cake love.. found out they were closed just tried sweet sin bakery in charles village .. 2.50 a cup cake much larger than any cupcakes out there in the market, in baltimore.. tasted awesome and they were glutenfree ..
didnt think gluten free would taste so good..

Cake is generally overrated. Used to be a place on Balto St. run by a French couple that rocked cakes, but you know what? Cake kind of sucks, as a dessert. And the cupcake thing sucks worse. Look, I want a floury batch of half-sweet sponginess topped by some friggin' butter/sugar, I'll make cinnamon toast. This cake thing is totally out of hand, and quite frankly if you enjoy ganache, you probably like milk chocolate too (not that there's anything wrong with that!)

clairehatescake, you rock.

"My understanding is that all of the cupcakes were made at a central commissary in Laurel and then frozen. The staff at CL always warned you not to eat them right away... because they were frozen. The icing was that ghastly lard-like substance."

The staff doesn't tell you not to eat the cake right away because they're frozen. It's because the frosting is an Italian meringue buttercream that has to be stored in the refrigerator. And eating cake straight out of the fridge, especially when it's frosted with pretty much straight butter and sugar, would be really gross.

I've never been to the Canton location, but I have eaten at a few other Cake Love locations. I love the layered cakes, but I'm not a big fan of the cupcakes.