Cali Girl Cakes specializes in sweet treats
BOLINGRBOOK, Ill. (WLS) -- The impetus behind Cali Girl Cakes is pretty straightforward: a California native now living in the Midwest, who knows how to make specialty cakes for any occasion. But when you're located in a town that doesn't have a lot of bakeries, you're going to have to come up with something besides cake to entice new customers.
Sure, there are cakes aplenty at Cali Girl Cakes, located in a Bolingbrook strip mall. You can customize pretty much anything here, and they'll faithfully reproduce it. It's what the shop's owner knows best.
"We do specialty cakes for all occasions, but we do have a case full of sweet treats," said Alicia Gozum, the owner of Cali Girl Cakes.
And it's those other sweet treats that catch your attention: bars of all shapes and sizes - from elongated carrot cake to short, squat lemon or key lime or chocolate chip; fruit tarts and cookies with a nod toward the sweet and salty combos. Speaking of which, one of their best sellers, the mini turtle cheesecake. Don't be fooled by their size, they pack a whollop.
"It's a graham cracker crust, vanilla cheesecake with a chocolate ganache in the middle and then we have our salted caramel that we make," Gozum said.
And that salted caramel is ladled over each one - pretty generously, I might add. Then comes a thin drizzle of melted chocolate in a crosshatch pattern, followed by an outer boundary of cream cheese frosting and finally, a light shower of crushed pecans to add a bit of texture. I say share it with a friend or two.
Light macarons are faithful to the French original and even the humble croissant is executed well; my preference would be the almond version, filled with a bit of rich almond paste for an extra flavor boost.
"Everything is made from scratch and with the finest ingredients," Gozum said.
Cali Girl Cakes
681 W. Boughton Rd., Bolingbrook
(630) 863-7935
