Pastry House — Local services in Harlingen

I have to say, the cake was delicious. Well, what was left of it. I ordered a two level cake, $155 on Sunday for pick up on Thursday at noon. Norma was super helpful, asked a few questions and I felt confident everything would be great. I did tell her specifically I would be driving the cake to Port Isabel. She said it would be fine. I arrived about a half hour early and she was not quite done with it so we went out for a walk. Came back to a beautiful cake, but could tell it was just freshly frosted. Norma told me to drive very carefully and we did. It was set in the bottom of a box. She even put it in the car for me, on a flat surface in the back of my SUV, in a box which I surrounded with boxes so it could not move. We drove slowly and carefully. When we got back to the house, the top of the cake had slid right off. First - the frosting was so fresh it was slippery. Had it been refrigerated for at least a couple hours, it may have held the top on a bit better. Second - there was nothing holding the cakes together. Usually there is a plastic rod between the two cakes to hold the top to the bottom when you tell a baker the cake would be traveling. There was not. Strangely there were 5 in the lower part of the cake, assuming to hold the two bottom layers of the chocolate cake together, but nothing to hold the top level to the bottom. Sadly when it fell off it hit partially inside the box and ruined one side of the lower cake as well. Needless to say, I could not use that cake at all. $155 down the drain plus I had to spend money on a new cake that was not nearly as pretty and not decorated in the tradition of my daughter in laws nationality. I sent a message to Norma and did not hear back. All I can say is that if if Norma did not have enough time to do it right because she was so busy, she should have turned down my order. But yes, the cake was tasty and was beautifully decorated...

I went with the Pastry House because of the 5 star reviews but should have walked out as soon as I walked in to inquire about prices. The tiny restaurant/ bakery was extremely hot; the thermostat was reading 82 degrees. I thought maybe it was because they had just opened. Anyway, Norma & her husband painted everything really pretty for me & gave me a good price, so I ordered the cake. Big mistake on my part! The day I picked it up, it was sitting on one of the tables in the same extremely hot restaurant. Who would leave a freshly frosted cake, with cream cheese frosting mind you, sitting on a table at that temperature? Why was it not put it in the fridge until I got there. Needless to say, it melted in several places & looked very messy, there was no time for her to fix it, I had to get home to get ready for the party. I will not be back nor will I recommend the Pastry...

Maybe it’s because I lived in Austin, so I’ve tried AMAZING desserts, but the cake I ordered from this business was lackluster at best. It wasn’t moist, flavorful, or memorable. And check out the pics. Why did I get less than a centimeter of buttercream for ALL that boring, flavorless cake? Keep in mind, this cost $105. There was also an HEB bakery cake at the party—probably $15–and the quality was exactly the same as this $105 cake. Even Cracker Barrel’s chocolate Coca Cola cake is FAR more delicious than what I got at Pastry House. While the owner was very nice, she’s just not qualified to charge $105 for a cake like this. 0/10 would...