FAQ
What types of cakes do you offer?
We have two main classifications of cakes, custom cakes and signature cakes.
Signature cakes are beautifully decorated birthday cakes and celebration cakes that you can order online. These cakes are only offered in a buttercream finish with the cake decoration also done in buttercream. We often use French macarons, buttercream piping, edible printed images, molded chocolate pieces, candies, donuts, lollipops, and sprinkles to decorate our Signature cakes. These cakes are offered at a much lower price point than our custom cakes, are only available up to a 10” round size that serves 42, and are not customizable. The cake flavor and filling flavor choices for this cake level are not as broad as our custom cake selection.
What types of custom cakes do you offer?
We offer custom cakes for every occasion: birthday cakes, wedding cakes, baby shower cakes, bridal shower cakes, baptism cakes, christening cakes. LGBTQ wedding cakes, engagement cakes, groom’s cakes, cakes for men, sculpted cakes, gender reveal cakes, even divorce cakes!
Custom cakes can be created in a buttercream finish or a fondant finish. Most of our clients opt for buttercream cakes which are most often decorated with fondant artwork. Of course, we also create custom buttercream cakes with buttercream textures and designs. We recommend fondant cakes when the cake design calls for certain textures that are best achieved in fondant, like tree bark for example. We also recommend fondant cakes for heavily saturated colors because dark colored buttercreams stain guests’ lips. Summertime temperatures are another reason we recommend fondant cakes. Fondant cakes hold up better than buttercream cakes in the warmer, humid months. Our sculpted cakes, like sneaker cakes, for example, are only done in fondant.
How do I place an order for a custom cake?
The custom cake ordering process begins by filling out our custom cake request form. We will respond within 24-48 hours Monday through Wednesday. Thursday begins our prep for weekend orders because our custom orders usually start going out of our bakery on Friday. That being said, we try very hard to get back to our clients as soon as possible. If the pricing works with the clients budget, the next step is to finalize the design. This is mostly done by email but we can also schedule phone consultations and in-person consultations. After we have finalized the cake design it’s time to select cake choice and cake filling choices, then we are ready to write up the order and book it. Cakes are considered booked once the payment has been processed. This is an automated process, the payment must be processed for an order to be considered booked. If the payment has not been made the order will not hit our reports and the order will not be filled.
How far in advance do I need to order my custom cake?
Throughout the year we have varying lead times for ordering custom cakes but generally speaking, 2-4 weeks is a good guideline. Cake orders are always subject to availability. That being said, our busiest month of the year is June and we are usually booked up for the entire month of June by the beginning of May. Sometimes we can take a custom cake with 10 days notice, other times we are booked 6 weeks out.
Our signature cakes can usually be ordered with 7 days lead time and these cakes can be ordered online through our website. Occasionally we do have to cut cake ordering off 10-14 days in advance depending on our workload and staff availability.
What is your experience level with custom cakes?
We have quite a bit of experience in creating custom cakes, birthday cakes, bridal shower cakes, wedding cakes and everything in between as we have been making cakes for special occasions for over 13 years. Our pastry chefs have attended prestigious pastry schools and art schools such as Johnson & Wales, French Culinary Institute, and Culinary Institute of America.
Can you accommodate dietary restrictions or allergies?
We offer gluten-free cakes and cupcakes and our classic French macaron recipes are gluten-free. However, we bake our all-purpose flour and gluten-free desserts in the same oven. If there is a severe gluten allergy, we might not be the best choice for your gluten-free cake or dessert.
We are not a nut-free bakery and we do not follow nut-free protocols. There is always a chance of nut cross-contamination so we cannot in good conscience offer nut-free products.
We do not offer vegan or dairy-free bakery items at this time.
What information do I need to provide when ordering a custom cake?
To streamline the custom cake ordering process we have a custom cake quote request form that collects all of the information we need to provide a quote. We collect name, email, phone number, number of servings, design details, photo upload option, date of your event, and type of event. We do prefer this method of contact for a variety of reasons including:
- Clients can submit pictures through the form
- All of our staff has access to the email inbox if they need to verify information
- The owner, Karin, manages the inbox but she is also very busy making cakes, so often times she can only respond to cake inquiries after hours
How are your cakes priced?
Our custom cakes are priced depending on the cake design and cake size. The smallest size custom cake we can do is a 7” round which serves 15 guests and starts at $245 with a buttercream finish. However, our Signature cakes start at $59.95 in the same size. Cake flavors could also impact price. We offer many delicious cake flavors and filling flavors that are included in our pricing but we also have premium flavors which are available at an additional cost.
Can I see examples of previous custom cakes you’ve made?
We have hundreds of custom cakes in our cake portfolio ranging from birthday cakes, wedding cakes, sweet 16 cakes, bridal shower cakes, graduation cakes, baptism cakes, communion cakes, confirmation cakes, groom’s cakes, cakes for men, children’s cakes and divorce cakes. You can also view our most recent works on our social media pages, especially on instagram.
Do you deliver? If so, what is the delivery area and fee?
We deliver custom cakes and custom orders as well as corporate orders. We deliver to all of NJ, parts of Manhattan and NY, parts of PA, CT, and Delaware. The minimum delivery fee is $50 for local deliveries within Somerset County NJ.
We deliver our retail desserts through meal delivery services. We are on DoorDash, Grub Hub, and Uber Eats.
How should I store my cake before the event?
We recommend keeping your birthday cake or celebration cakes refrigerated (not frozen) until the event begins. Place your cake on display 15 minutes before you expect your first guest to arrive and don’t move your cake once it has come down to room temperature. The time it takes your cake to come down to room temperature will depend on the size of the cake, the smaller the cake the faster it will come to room temperature.
Can you replicate a cake design I found online or in a magazine?
Many clients google for images of cakes and send to us for inspiration and we don’t mind that. Our cake designs are also shared with other bakeries for recreation, and that's perfectly fine with us! Since decorating experience, tools, and supplies all vary from bakery to bakery, cakes are not going to be an exact replica and we reserve the right to create a cake in our own style. We also love when clients send in other forms of cake inspiration so we can get a feel for our clients' own personal style. Some great inspiration ideas are invitations, party decor, clothing like a baptism dress or wedding dress, and event pinboards.
What is your cancellation or change policy?
Due to the nature of custom cakes and the volume of cakes we create, our cancellation policy for custom cakes is 3 weeks. This is because we typically begin art pieces well in advance of the cake’s due date. This helps with organization and we don’t have to rush the week the cake is due - ensuring the best possible work.
Do you offer any other desserts or sweet treats?
We offer many other desserts for special order and in our retail specialty bakery storefront located at 9 Division Street in Somerville, NJ. You can also pre-order cupcakes, French macarons, brownies, and dessert bars online and pick up in the bake shop.
In our retail storefront you can walk in and purchase gourmet cupcakes, French macarons, brownies, stuffed brownies, cookies, stuffed cookies, homemade ice cream, ice cream cakes, grab-and-go cakes, raspberry crumble bars, magic bars, Italian rainbow cookie bars, mini bundt cakes, and more. We often do specialty character French macarons in jumbo sizes and other specially decorated desserts.
When it comes to special orders for events we offer all the aforementioned desserts as well as custom-decorated cookie favors, mini cupcakes, custom-decorated cupcakes, custom-decorated French macarons, mini-brownies, dessert shooters, catering orders, large-scale corporate orders, and more.
What payment methods do you accept?
We accept all major credit cards, cash, check, paypal, and shop pay payment plans (through affirm on our website)
How do you ensure the cake remains intact during transportation?
In short, transport the cake on a flat surface, not on someone’s lap, and out of direct heat.
We exercise extreme caution when assembling our cakes. Our tiered cakes are supported with wood or acrylic cake dowels to hold the above tier’s weight. We also drive a dowel through the center of the cake (from the top down) to ensure no horizontal movement. Cakes are adhered to the cake board with buttercream so we don’t recommend placing the cake on anyone’s lap - body heat will soften the buttercream and the cake can shift during transport. Transport the cake on a flat service, out of direct heat. The back of an SUV is perfect, or the floor of a vehicle. We don’t recommend transporting the cake on a vehicle’s seat because it’s not level and this could cause the cake to shift.
Do you have birthday cakes that I can walk in and purchase?
Yes! We have bakery cakes and ice cream cakes available for walk-in. The bakery cakes are available in the 5” size that serves 6 and the 7” size that serves 15. We also have ice cream cakes available for immediate pickup. They are available in the 6” size that serves 6 and the 8” size that serves 12.