Satura Cakes

So sad this place closed. I think they still have one in Los Altos. Such delicious cakes, coffee/​tea, and cookies. My favorite was these little chocolate cookies that weren’t too sweet and had salt on them. YUM.

Closed? Say what?
The cakes aren’t the best, but I didn’t see why it would close. I tried the chocolate cake, chestnut cake, classic cheesecake, flourless chocolate soufflé, tiramisu & another one that i forgot. The chocolate cake was good but too sweet, so i could have too much of it. Chestnut cake was alright, just like every other chestnut cake. Cheesecake… don’t know why my friends picked it, but they loved it. I was more ‘meh.’ The flourless chocolate soufflé was my favourite.
The cakes are decent, but it’s definitely not my favourite bakery. I wouldn’t necessarily come back.

Closed?!?
:(noooooooooo…

So SAD! I had to report to Unilocal that this place has been closed!
I came here with a few friends after all the raves, and came to find Satura Cakes has been closed for at least a week…=(
No bueno! We resorted to a yogurt place a block down that was NO GOOD!!!

Satura Cakes is one of my favorite places in the world. It remains as a favorite memory for me during my grad school days in northern California. It became the location of long and enjoyable conversations with dear friends, a refuge and a place of comfort on lonely evenings, and, many times, simply a place for a good cup of mocha and a strawberry shortcake.
Their mocha is some of the best I’ve had, and I loved that they served it in a real ceramic cup (sad that that’s no longer the norm). Their famous strawberry shortcake is also one of my favorite desserts — light, fluffy, and just the right amount of sweetness. I have to confess — I don’t think I’ve tried anything else there in the numerous times I’ve been.
I also enjoyed Satura as a place for people watching, especially on a Fri. or Sat. night (be sure to sit facing toward the windows/​doors). Located in downtown Palo Alto, it’s a perfect place to walk down to after dinner in the area.
Oh Satura, how I miss you! Please move down to L.A.

I wanntttt.
Get the Mount Blanc (chestnut paste mixed with whipped cream atop a custardy soft cake). IT WAS AMAZING. Better than Masse’s back in Berkeley.
We also tried the cheesecake soufflé with fresh raspberries and chocolate soufflé. Mm. The cheesecake was so soft and skillfully baked that the outside crust was not even dark, just slightly more yellowed. Everything minus the crumbly crust was perfection. For some reason the (I think) walnut (?) crust wasn’t thaaat good. Not bad, but not my choice of crust. the chocolate soufflé is so cute, decorated with two pieces of chocolate shaped into quadrilaterals that mimic doggie ears. So cute! Taste: Pretty good, but not the best. Then again, I seem to never enjoy my chocolate desserts (Maida Heatter where are you!).
Therefore I highly highly highly recommend the Mount Blanc and recommend the cheesecake. Enjoy!
Next: To actually visit the Satura Cakes establishment! Thanks for the treat Esther S. :)
Good to note: A fusion Japanese/​French style bakery — so I heard from ES.

I would have to agree with most of the reviews that the desserts here are unique and delicious but on the pricey side. However, it’s comparable to prices of desserts at restaurants, so skip dessert during dinner and come here instead!
I love the fact that they use organic, local, fresh, and high quality ingredients in their pastries. Because they’ve incorporated the Japanese style in their desserts, everything is quite light (not too sweet). The sponge cakes are so soft and fluffy too. The desserts come in a nice packaging and works well as gifts.
Choco-​Misu — $ 3.95
–Chocolatey but still has the taste of tiramisu.
Flourless Chocolate Soufflé — $ 3.95
–Chocolate cream or mousse on top has delicious chocolate taste but isn’t too sweet. It goes perfectly with the chocolate sponge cake on the bottom of it.
Satura Shortcake — $ 3.95
–My favorite! unlike any other strawberry shortcake I’ve ever tasted. The cake is so soft and light while the cream and strawberries complement the cake perfectly. Love this one!
Green Tea Cream Puff — $ 3
–My second favorite! The green tea cream inside the puff is amazing… not too sweet with a fresh green tea taste! The crunchy shell makes this even better!
For my next visit, I want to try the Red Velvet Cake and the Blueberry Yogurt Parfait!

Delicious but expensive cakes. But that’s the definition of «indulgence,» right?
This place is a great addition to the university ave shops! They do have free wifi although there’s not really enough space to work. More a place to sit and talk — I used to splurge and take my mom here pretty regularly last fall (it’s a pretty small slice of cake for $ 4+) but she didn’t remember until her best friend threw a dinner party recently that featured one of their cakes. FAIL, mommy! but i still love you cause now she brings me back a slice of strawberry shortcake or blueberry cheesecake every time she passes by (which is becoming very frequent). :D awesome.
Not really a coffee fan so i can’t say, but I will comment that their peach soda is just okay — it’s soda water with canned peaches and torani (–style?) syrup, and oddly not enough of it the last time i went (not just not mixed well). still, a great find — I love sweets that aren’t sickly sweet and high end japanese desserts hit that spot! I like coming in here and feeling like i am ten times classier than i really am without having to have death-​by-​chocolate-​something every time.

Oh man. So I’ve past by this place before and looked at the cute little pastries but I finally tried it last night.
This place reminds me of a Japanese bakery, the way they individually wrap everything. So cute.
I had the Chestnut Mont Blanc and my friend tried the Choco-​misu. Both were amazing. I’m not a huge fan of the chestnut but my dad always gets chestnut cakes for his birthday so I tried it. It blew me away! It was creamy but not too sweet and the cake was good.
The Choco-​misu was good and creamy and had actual flavor!
I’d rather have one of these than a Sprinkle’s cupcake. That’s right! I said it!

*********Ist Impression Counts!**********
I’m taking off 1 star from previous review. Because I’m sure D. B’s impression wasn’t good of this place. Sorry D. B :(
The lady that helped us was clueless. I’m not much of a coffee drinker and don’t know much about it either. BUT I know hot drinks are supposed to be served piping hot! My white chocolate mocha wasn’t!
My Bread Pudding was also served in a paper plate and I have no idea why. We ate in! But bread pudding top crust was dry like the Campbell Branch and just not good that day. Company made the visit bearable.
Had company tried the biz and sad to say I shouldn’t have. I’m sure the disappointment set in right away when questions weren’t answered by the girl behind the counter.
Too bad.

I was surprised when I did not see any whole cakes (not by the slice), and was unimpressed by the selection. It was a Saturday night, and there was a good flow of customers… maybe they had a great day and the pickings became slim?
My boyfriend picked out the chocolate/​caramel cake. It is very thick, rich, has some sort of nuts in it and made my teeth hurt because it was super duper sweet. The whipped cream on top of the slice made each bite more manageable for me. It was slightly sweet and fluffy. It went nicely with the rich cake.
I opted not to get a cake, and saw their cute marshmallows! They say it has tropical flavors infused into the marshmallows. Pink, white, yellow… after tasting each color I am guessing pink=strawberry, white=mango, and yellow=passion fruit. They are packed with flavor, but watch out. Each one is covered in flour/​powdered sugar or something, and can get onto your clothes.
The service was nice, and they have water on the side, which really helps when eating cakes/​desserts. I would definitely come here again to try the other desserts.

Upon entering, you just feel the warmth with the orange color theme and pretty little desserts in the display case. I came late in the evening and it was evident that most of their items were either gone or almost gone.
–Satura shortcake ($ 3.95): One of their signature items, so I HAD to give it a try. Sponge cake layered with cream and pieces of fresh strawberries. The cake was really moist, which I liked (nothing too special).
— Red velvet cake ($ 4.50): Red velvet sponge cake filled w/​raspberries, blueberries, and cream cheese frosting. I really don’t remember any blueberries, but I loved their addition of raspberries in the center. The cream cheese frosting was on the edge of sour (is that possible?), I would have liked it to be sweeter. Cake was dense, but overall alright.
— Berry blue parfait ($ 3.95): Low fat yogurt mousse w/​a blueberry compote, soft sponge cake, and fresh blueberries. This dessert tasted light and delicious! The perfect mixture of something tart and sweet. *Favorite*
They also sell whole cakes, pies, cookies, and serve tea/​coffee. Pricy for the portion size, but worth it to satisfy your sweet tooth without going overboard. Ample seating and clean restrooms. Great pit stop for dessert after eating at one of the nearby restaurants or quick dessert on your way to a nearby bar/​or lounge.
P. S. Go early for a wider selection of items.

Satura Cakes — really a 4.5 star establishment but here is the deal:
I couldn’t believe my eyes when I walked in this place. Cakes and Pies galore. If I am to die for my sins, it would definitely be for gluttony, because I felt I could have eaten everything this place had to offer.
From blueberry pies to their signature strawberry shortcake to fruity marshmallows, this place pretty much has it all for the sweet tooth in you.
Beware, the prices can be a little high for a piece of cake ($ 4-​$ 5). But you’ll realize why because the quality is oh-​so-​good.
We ordered the red velvet and strawberry shortcake slices and a small coffee to wash it down with. I would have gladly ordered more, but my stomach was already protruding out of my shirt to the point where I looked like a 6-​month pregnant woman.
The strawberry shortcake was phenomenal. Don’t expect extra sweet goodness. The sweetness was subtle, but it was the cake itself that impressed me the most. Moist, soft — almost melting in your mouth like.
The red velvet was good too. I was most impressed by the cream cheese. It wasn’t heavy, in fact, it tasted almost like fresh whipped cream. It was definitely made in the bakery and wasn’t rich in flavor, which is a good thing.
We were lucky to find a table. The place is small and filled with Stanford kids studying. Its best to take your cake to go if you can, or you can try sitting outside in the cold.
Satura cakes is definitely worth checking out, but remember, you will have lots options to choose from, so choose wisely young grasshopper!

4 Stars
+ Great selection of cakes
+ Comfy Seats
— Service was meh…
I’m a huge sucker for sweet treats X3 Every time I see a pastry shop, I have to go in a look! Wayne and I happened to pass by Satura Cakes after lunch the other day and I was drawn by the beautiful window display of cakes in the front! I knew I had to go in!
Everything here looked so pretty! There were cakes, pies, tarts, pastries, cookies, marshmallow puffs and so much more! I wish I could take all of them home! X3 I ended up happily taking a Red Velvet, and a Berry Blue Parfait to go.
Can’t wait to come back here again! :3

THE WINNER on my wedding cake quest* (this is the one and only time I made a spreadsheet, which is avail to any bride or groom-​to-​be).
Light + pretty cakes. Cream frosting, not too sweet. My favorites: strawberry shortcake, choco mousse, and classic chocolate.
In regards to wedding cake pricing, their tiered cakes (in fresh/​butter cream) begin at $ 6/​serving, fondant-​covered cakes begin at $ 9/​serving.
*quest consisted of 22 bakeries and cupcakeries in the Greater Bay Area conducted from January — March 2009. Yes, I’m the only bride who gained weight for her wedding.

It breaks my heart to not give this place five stars. It really is beautiful, and the idea is great. They have these glass cases filled with little desserts in cups. They’re kind of like cupcakes, but there’s more to it than that.
I got the blueberry cup. It had a little spongecake and blueberry glaze, and fresh blueberries, and some kind of whipped cream. Yes, I liked it, and I ate the whole thing. But the big letdown was that it didn’t taste that fresh. I could taste that bit of «fridge» taste. :(I so wanted to love this place!
I would definitely come back just because it’s so cute, but I hope the food is fresher!

My fiancé and I came here for a cake tasting and I LOVED it. Ann, their specialist, was super great and made the whole experience wonderful.
So we were a little early, but as soon as I mentioned that we had an appointment, the staff had us take a seat and offered us drinks, ON THE HOUSE. Wonderful! So my fiancé and I each got an iced mocha [it was like 90+ degrees outside]… they show us two books with pictures of cakes that they’ve done in the past… and Ann came out within 2 minutes.
So Ann brings out a plate full of YUMMY cakes… she even arranged them from lightest to heaviest [so that none of the tastes would overwhelm]… What I loved best about Ann is that she didn’t try to push any flavors on us… in fact, she watched our facial expressions as we sampled each cake and, when we were discussing the flavors, she would mention «well, you seemed to really love this cake, even more than that one»… etc, etc.
The cakes were wonderful and Ann came up with different ideas to make the cake more cost effective. And she was honest to a fault [mentioning that we would probably only need to order 200 servings for a group of 250 because a bunch of ppl don’t eat cake and the catering departments tend to slice smaller than what they suggest]…
And when we left, she gave us extra slices of our favorites! I love Satura cakes and Ann was wonderful :) I’d definitely want to use them for our wedding cake.

Expensive tiny cakes with way too much whipped cream. «French Toast» seemed a bit overcooked.
Their cakes are adorable and what I would consider to be correct portion sizes for human beings. Coffee is reportedly decent. Not really worth going out of your way unless you’re with a group of people who love cute things, though, in my opinion.

WARNING!
The «cupcakes» are really little cups filled with cake!
This is a bummeroni for two reasons:
1. The cup is ¹⁄₃ filled with cake and ²⁄₃ filled with cream
2. All the garbage created by the little cups and the spoons needed to eat this literal cupcake makes me sad.

Can we say, THIS IS DAMM GOOD ALTOGETHER? I checked out this place based on the strawberry shortcake pictures and headed 20 miles north to Palo Alto with my food buddy. He and I had chosen the New York cheesecake Satura cupcake and strawberry shortcake cupcake. What’s interesting is that I never saw any Satura Cupcakes on the pictures and was shocked to see these really impressive looking cupcakes in the display case. The shop had many varieties which my friend and I got to try later on because it was that addicting! At $ 3.95 a cupcake, it is pretty pricy but check out the pictures, don’t the cupcakes look so good? The cheesecake was small but with toppings of fresh fruit and my strawberry shortcake was to die for! We tried other cupcakes but these 2 had to be our favorite at Satura cupcakes.
The other interesting thing about these little bites that they are not in your typical cupcake wax paper cup but in an actual real cup! A Satura cup of course which was fun to eat out of and I so wanted to keep the cup but I didn’t want to look like a dork keeping the cups. Whoever came up with the idea to put the cake inside these cups was a genius! I would rather serve these than plain slices of cake at parties. Very great service and quick and the place is very clean. There is a pitcher of water to clean your palette afterwards to get some more!