First cake is all - yes all - done by hand by a local bakery in Morocco for 300 dollars. 💵 It takes days of incredible work. I won’t even try to do the flavors justice.

Second cake is one I ordered years ago for a birthday. Again, all done by hands (the petals, the top of the stems, every bit is edible art) and the actual cake was 💣. Artisanal red velvet, no bs, incredible mouth feel, 20 servings, 40 dollars. 💵

The last one (the uninspiring one) is something I showed Publix bakery yesterday for a custom order. I wanted a road going up the cake. I got all the little extra small decorations from Amazon and though I would give them a job they can’t fail at. First reaction in person: « Oh holy Jesus!.. Let us call you tomorrow when our cake decorator is here. » They call me today and say « We can do that. And because we’re going to carve parts of the cake, that’s going to be 350 dollars as a base, please whatever the actual final decoration will cost. ». For a cut that takes less than four minutes.

Beyond the contrast in the pricing and quality, I find it endlessly inspiring how small, passion-driven businesses are ready to make anything happen. No rules, no heavy processes, no regard to what they were told is possible in training. This is our art, we will do it.

A reminder for me to vote for those businesses any chance that I get. To vote for a free, passion-driven world. 🧡