The Best Custom (and Wedding) Cakes in Toronto
Cake! It's a word best happily shouted, with a fork raised triumphantly in your fist. Second only to the person being celebrated, custom cakes, quite rightly, are often scene-stealers. Whether it's a classic three-tiered cake for a wedding or a whimsical birthday cake, Toronto has no shortage of options when it comes to purveyors of all things sweet and frosted.
Some bakeries on this list go the extra mile and offer vegan and organic creations like LPK's Culinary Groove or a dizzying array of buttercream options like The Wedding Cake Shoppe. All designers have their own unique style and skill set, be it astoundingly lifelike sugar paste flowers or cakes that look like things such as big pink pigs, vintage cars or a Scrabble board.
Here's a list of Toronto's top 12 purveyors of custom cakes:
Writing and photos by Erin Jackson
It’s the Icing on the Cake
Need something really off the wall? Icing on the Cake is the place to go. Owner Lynda Paul makes all manner of unique cakes including giant hot dogs and hamburgers, pianos, cans of beer, and even bowls of cereal. The philosophy here is that cakes should be fun, unique and celebrate the person they’re designed for. Cake flavours include options like orange, mango, and coconut. Custom cupcakes and wedding cakes are also available. Got a nut allergy? Have no fear - the bakery is completely nut free. Cakes start at $45 for a basic 8” round. Custom cakes are priced individually depending on size, time, and labour. More...
Bonnie Gordon Cakes
Bonnie Gordon’s school turns out some of the city’s finest cake designers, all of who learn baking, decorating and designing skills from Bonnie herself, a bona fide cake artist. Custom cakes are available for order from five different designers who are former students. Each designer operates independently, but all believe strongly in the fact that good cake starts with the finest ingredients and that it should taste as good as it looks. More...
CreARTive Cakes
CreARTive Cakes specializes in custom wedding cakes and is a great spot to go for classic designs that radiate with elegance as well as modern and artistic cakes that are bold and playful. Owner Ji Youn Sung is a master artist when it comes to sugar work and creates stunning decorations like hand-painted sugar or porcelain paste flowers that look just like the real thing. For a unique birthday cake, the sculpted Barbies, bears and hot rods are amazingly detailed and lifelike. Cakes start at $15 for mini cakes (3” cube). 3-tier custom wedding cakes start at $3.75 per serving. If you want to forgo a traditional cake for custom cupcakes, they’re $3 each and up. More...
Half Baked Ideas
Half Baked Ideas is all about unusual, sculpted birthday cakes. From telephone booths to guitars, to vintage cars, the bakery can create just about anything. Owner Glenn Peaslee says the dense and fudgey chocolate cake is the most popular option and stands behind his buttercream which is 100% pure - all thrilla, no filla. Cakes are made using all natural ingredients on site, and the entire bakery is nut free. One of the unique options here is the “pull-apart” cakes - strategically placed cupcakes that are frosted with a solid icing layer that is then decorated to match any theme. No knives are needed - just grab a cupcake and pull. Sculpted cakes start at $75. Custom cakes are $5 per person and up. More...
Flour Fancies
No cookie cutter cakes here! Owner Samantha Lee creates edible art, taking inspiration from the bride’s wedding dress, decor, or the bouquet they’ll be carrying on their march to matrimony. All cakes are baked fresh to order (never frozen) and made with top shelf ingredients like Lindt chocolate and Nielsen-Massey vanilla. The 100% butter buttercream icing is available in three types of chocolate, plus a host of fruity flavours like raspberry, strawberry, and mango passion fruit. Cakes start at $6.50 per person. More...
Yummy Stuff
When it comes to custom cakes, Yummy Stuff is really on to something. Instead of gobs of icing, the bakery tops their signature custom cakes with something infinitely more delicious - iced sugar cookies. These cute and colourful cakes can be customized for any occasion, including birthdays and showers. The bakery is a popular choice for kids’ themed birthday cakes, like the three-tiered jungle cake which comes decked out with frosted giraffe, elephant and snake cookies. Sweet and simple wedding cakes are also available and can be made to match any theme, decor, or colour. Cakes come in seven different flavours, including unique options like raspberry, coconut, and red velvet. Cost starts at $4 a serving. More...
Flaky Tart
I dare you to look at a Flaky Tart cake for more than 5 seconds without smiling. Whether they’re topped with a cheeky monkey or a little yellow chick, the cute creations can’t help but inspire a grin. Best of all - the figurines can be dried out and displayed as a keepsake. Cake is available in a variety of flavours that go way beyond plain old vanilla, like chocolate banana, pumpkin spice and lemon chiffon and can be finished with fondant or a deceptively light all-butter buttercream icing. Another great feature of this bakery is their pre-made decorations like cake-topper figures and fondant hearts, stars, and balloons on wires that can dress up even the most humble homemade cake. Cakes start at $39 for a 7”. Figurines start at $12. Wire decorations are 3 for $5. More...
LPK’s Culinary Groove
LPK’s cakes are works of art - literally. Whether they’re topped with a blown sugar bowl or the colouring is applied with a paintbrush, Lasia Kohut’s bold and modern creations push the boundaries of traditional custom cakes into that dangerous “too incredible to eat” category…when in reality the cake underneath all of that buttercream and moulding chocolate is the best part. LPK’s creations are made using certified organic, locally-sourced, fair trade ingredients, and many options are vegan and gluten free. Don’t let all of that granola talk fool you though. With flavours like almond torte with mocha buttercream or coconut lime with lime scented frosting, there’s no compromise when it comes to flavour. Cakes start at $60. More...
The Wedding Cake Shoppe
The Wedding Cake Shoppe specializes in fresh interpretations of the classic wedding cake. Though still traditional in shape, the cakes here have modern, fashion-forward decorations, like bold polka dots or dramatic damask and are done-up with impressive sugar work decorations like sparkling sugar balls. Big points go to the Coelho sisters for offering a staggering amount of options in the buttercream department (over two dozen)! With flavours like toasted coconut, chai latte, and dulche de leche, it’s a good thing you can mix and match. The Wedding Cake Shoppe is also a good option if you’re doing up your nuptials with a small group and don’t need a massive 100+ serving cake. There is no minimum size, unlike a lot of other bakeries. Cakes start at about $4 per serving, which gets you a plain, frosted base. More...
I Do Wedding Cakes
This trend-setting cake shop is known for their workmanship and originality. Using hand made decorations like sugar crystals to give cakes sequin-like glitter, these romantic and feminine cakes are pretty as a picture. Cakes are made with a sponge cake base, then filled with custom-flavoured buttercream. No-fail flavours like vanilla bean and chocolate truffle are perennial favourites, but the shop has also created more unique options like guava and roasted chestnut. There are two lines of cakes - the I Do Wedding Cake collection, which are traditionally styled and start at $4/serving, and the Signature collection, which are more elaborate and start at $7/serving. More...
Sweet Things
It’s difficult not to immediately call the cakes at Sweet Things cute, and though that’s true, a more accurate description would be somewhat along the lines of “amazingly lifelike” and “straight-up scene stealers”. Owner Juanita Koo loves the challenge of creating distinctive cakes that make a special occasion even more memorable and has created everything from cars to Scrabble boards to a replication of Central Park to help people celebrate a special occasion. Sweet Things is also a great destination for elegant and understated wedding cakes decorated with ribbons and flowers. Custom cakes range from $5 per serving and up. More...
Sweet Me Up
Sweet Me Up specializes in custom-made creations that reflect the customer’s personality and are bursting with so much TLC it’s a surprise the frosting doesn’t blow right off. Cakes can be made for any occasion, whether it’s a birthday, shower, or any day that would be spiced up with a little sugar and buttercream. Wedding cakes are also available for 50-70 people, and custom cupcakes are also popular. There are plenty of options for flavours including pumpkin, white chocolate, and red velvet. Chocolate is available in several variations like orange, raspberry, and mint chocolate. Custom cakes range from $75-200+. Cupcakes are typically $2.50 each. More...
Comments (56)
It's the Icing on the Cake is horrible. The staff/owner are extremely rude and unhelpful. The cake/cupcakes taste like a loblaws made batch.
I would recommend NOT going here. Take a walk a few blocks east to Sweet Bliss if you want friendly staff and good bakery goods. Just get there early, unlike icing on the cake, they DO sell out by early afternoon (I think that says a lot).
Wow, I just looked at their website and was thoroughly unimpressed.
While their designs are certainly non-traditional, none of it is something that someone else hasn't done before and to top it off, the work looks really quite messy (relatively speaking).
If that is what they take photos of and use as examples of their best work, I'd hate to see the stuff that didn't make the cut.
I don't know why It’s the Icing on the Cake made the #1 spot.
I had a look too and it all seemed a bit amature. Kind of what you'd expect out of a home baker whose taken a Wilton cake decorating class.
here's some additional notes re: the photos
from left to right: Chet the monkey from Flaky Tart, vintage baby birds cake from The Wedding Cake Shoppe, close-up of Half Baked Ideas' signature cake.
p.s. this list of top custom cake places was based on BlogTO reader votes, FYI
For all of these polls, how about posting some statistics about the votes, e.g., number of votes received? Are these the opinions of 30 random jokers or 100,000 votes, or 80 million votes posted by a script kiddie? How far behind #2 is #1, or #3 behind #2? What have you done to ensure that the results aren't skewed by multiple voting or someone running a script?
I thought they were cool at first until I saw their attempt at a Nintendo Wii. My 5 year old newphew could have made a better version than what they had in the window. Everytime I have been in there I feel like I'm putting them out for even asking what kind of cake is behind the display. I'll take Sweet Bliss anyday - their cakes are incredible and their fresh baked goods are amazing... and the people are extremely friendly and you always like going there.
We try our best to make sure there is no funny stuff with the voting. We use a third party polling tool which prevents users from voting more than once (at least from the same browser). Ultimately, though, try not to get too worked up about the order as the comment threads are an ample forum for everyone to add their 2 cents.
I don't think this is a competition for the best web site. Some of these places have invested in a good designer and excellent photographer for their cakes. Others....not so much.
My mom once ordered a birthday cake from It's the Icing on the Cake ... it cost $30, and tasted and *looked* like a generic one from Loblaws. Never went back. My mom got turned off from custom orders ever since, which is really too bad.
My mom once ordered a birthday cake from It's the Icing on the Cake ... it cost $30, and tasted and *looked* like a generic one from Loblaws. Never went back. My mom got turned off from custom orders ever since, which is really too bad.
How can you not have Dessert Trends on the list? The chef, Don, won the Gold Prize at the 2004 Culinary Olympics. Plus, the food at DT Bistro is pretty good, too!
(No prizes for the website, though: http://www.desserttrends.ca/)
The Best Custom (and Wedding) Cakes in Toronto
This title is a farce!!!!!!!!!
Where are your city's prize winning cake artists?
Try researching your criteria instead of relying on fools to supply you with names. Very bad journalism in my opinion.
Yes where is Cake Opera, Flour Confections and AM Cakes?
This is a joke! You clearly have no clue what you are doing. You can't classify home baker wanna be's with bonefide legal businesses.
One of these isn't even a bakery any more they are a school and a one trick pony at that!
Shame on your BLOG!!!
RE:CreARTive Cakes
You have to take 3rd place rank a little more serious. The details on the cakes are 100% sugar and it is truly amazing and innovative work. check out the cakes with lights, sugar flowers, the OCAD cakes..UNBELIEVABLE
My guess is that all these folks are working hard at trying to make an honest living. Let's treat them with respect and keep our comments temperate, even if we've had a less-than-wonderful experience.
I second Dessert Trends. After I bought my first Birthday cake there (for my daughter's first Birthday), I haven't bought another cake anywhere else. That was long before the bistro existed. When we found them they were in a little shop on Dundas West, only open to the public by appointment (I don't think they could keep up with the orders, if they had to deal with walk in customers). This is where you go if you actually care about what the cake will taste like (they look pretty too). Highly recommend the lemon/white chocolate/raspberry (and I don't usually even like white chocolate).
cake opera, mamalade cake company, flour confections, kake kreations, patricia cake creations, she takes the cake? where are these ones?
I really like these best of sections. I haven't been in the city for years and years, so it's great fun to be handed new ideas for restaurants, shops, hideaways; all sorts of stuff.
And the comments are good too, because it gives people a chance to point out places that may have been missed for one reason or another, and offers additional perspective on the voted places.
What I really dislike seeing are the repetitive bitchy comments about what shoddy research/journalism/attempt at life these polls are.
Just shut the fuck up about it. Seriously. I'm not sure there is enough coffee in the world to prepare me to deal with your wankery.
These wedding cakes are very cute. I really enjoyed the second cake from the left in the top column (birds/branches) very creative and pretty. There seems to be a good mix of classic design and funny/whimsical designs.
Timothy
I also second Dessert Trends ... it's weird that such oversight could have been made. They're cakes are definitely the best tasting in the city ... any one who has tasted a cake from there would surely agree. My family has had at least 10 cakes from them in recent years and each one has been a tremendous hit for the party. The designs have each been unique ... one for my daughter's birthday and the Chef did an amazing replica of a swimming pool with my daughter and her friends swimming in it. The cakes are reasonably priced too ... and Toronto Life agrees that they're the best tasting in the city! Thansk Dessert Trends!!
I can't BELIEVE you guys haven't yet heard about CAKESTAR! They make the most amazing cakes in the city, well above standard and have technically been in the business for over 20 years (working under Bona Via of course) They also offer the BEST customer service around...working within ones budget and creating the most spectacular pieces of 3D art in the city...not to mention their array of XXX naughty cakes too!
My friend's wife owns/runs http://savourycakes.com/. She has done some really impressive work.
We had our wedding cake made by the lovely Coelho sisters and couldn't have been happier. Looked PERFECT and TASTED OFFFF THE CHARTS!
I like cakes that look like, you know... cake. A lot of these cake designs look incredibly unappealing to me, but that's just my dated, curmudgeonly opinion.
I also looked up Cake Opera, the company that that rabid commenter was frothing about, and their cakes also look strange, inedible and sorta gothic. If my nose wasn't turned up so high over their ridiculous 'artistic' designs I'm sure I'd realize that they maybe taste good.
What about Cake or Death? (http://www.cakeordeath.ca)
Her cakes are amazing! A cake artist and an up-and-comer. She should definitely be in the running.
Yummy Stuff is my favourite. Had an amazing carrot cake for a 40th birthday party from them last week. Best ever!
I have no idea what her cake are like, but that name is *awesome*
I love the cake or death bit.
I think the problem with this particular 'best of' is that few people are going to have first hand experience with getting a wedding cake from any of these shops (let alone more than one).
It's likely the results were influenced by the shops sale of other items, such as cupcakes. Perhaps 'It’s the Icing on the Cake' sells a lot of cupcakes and as a result people vote for them due to lack of knowledge of the other wedding cake shops. Unfortunately the quality of cupcakes != quality of wedding/custom cakes.
One voting idea would be to require voters to rank the nominated places from best to worst(I can't actually remember how it works, so if this is the case, ignore this). First gets 10 points, second gets 9, 10th gets one, etc. This would encourage people to look at all the choices so they know whether to rank choice A over choice F or vice versa. Perhaps it could stop people simply from voting for the only recognizable name on the list.
I guess one problem with this is when people just guess when they can't make an informed decision based on the info at hand.
A comprimise would be keeping it to the top 5 or 3 or something. Many people will have enough experience to judge 3 or 5 different places and if they don't maybe they shouldn't be voting in the first place. I mean, it's not exactly fair when someone picks their favourite from a list when they've only been to that one place.
one more comment: that clever "cheese cake" in the Bonnie Gordon piece is actually a Roxycake. It was in the display at the Bonnie Gordon School. Not sure why it was there, but there you have it!
It's The Icing On The Cake is my favourite specialty cake store in Toronto. Lynda has gone out of her way (and on short notice) to make cakes that have everyone at the party wanting to pose with them. She has never let me down and done an amazing job - creating everything from a LIFE magazine cover for my sweetie's 60th to a bridge card hand for my mom's 90th, not to mention a Boller camping van cake too. I've given her a photgraph and an idea and I get back a faboo cake. What more is there to say but that there are two sides to every coin.
www.cakerific.blogspot.com
www.cakerific.blogspot.com
www.cakerific.blogspot.com
www.cakerific.blogspot.com
they were kind, friendly, affordable, delicious and amazing artist!
I submit to you the cake done for my wedding.
http://www.luxography.ca/gallery/brookeshawn/3/.images/3-001.jpg
Was made by 'too nice to slice' and she even managed to include our dog on the cake
http://www.luxography.ca/gallery/brookeshawn/3/.images/3-002.jpg
Beware of those cake artists selling cakes out of their own kitchens! they may be lacking the necessary municipal licenses for running a "bake shop". http://www.toronto.ca/licensing/bto_licensing.htm#stationary
I have to recommend Eat My Words. Their cakes and cupcakes are delicious. My husband had a miniature version of our wedding cake made for our anniversary and they did a wonderful job.
http://eatmywords.org/
I agree that the voting is off. I couldn't disagree more with #1. Honestly, take a second look. People are obviously just voting for the one place they know about. There are so many talented people who are not on this list.
As for home kitchens who really cares? I used to work at a very reputable bakery when I was in high school, I won't name names, and the place was filthy! I cringe when I think about it. Mouse crap, insects, you don't even want to know.
I would be willing to bet that a home baker would keep their kitchen clean just because they live there too.
We order ours from an independently owned cupcakery called "A Little Sweet" - check out their "almost baked" site.
http://alittlesweet.ca
Some of the more elegant cupcakes we've seen in ages, and now we use them for all of our events.
My Bridal Shower cake was amazing!!! It was a two-tiered cake with layers of vanilla and chocolate cake, and strawberry buttercream filling. It tasted as great as it looked! I was truly floored by the intricate work that Samantha did on the cake and it was a definite hit!!! So glad I chose her to do my Bridal Shower cake and even more so excited that she is doing my Wedding cake!!! Delish!!!
I'm shocked by this. This incredible designer www.patriciacakes.com is not mentioned and her work is beyond delicious and so gorgeous. Seriously some of the people on your top list don't measure up at all!
I got my wedding cake from For the Love of Cake - http://fortheloveofcake.ca and it was truly a work of art. The best part was that the cake tasted as great as the cake looked. This cake artist studied under Bonnie Gordon and it shows. Very impressive!
Oddly enough, I love baking (I guess that comes from my Italian background) but I would never be able to do anything as existent as these cakes. I love watching Ace Of Cakes and Charm City Cakes on the Food Network. All their cakes are unreal. I always wonder if they taste as good as they look!
Luciano Galasso
Although places like Ace of Cakes turn out outstanding visual creations they don't use the best of ingredients for their cakes and fillings. There are some bakers that use mixes, shortening, and fake fillings and then there are some who use fresh ingredients and do everything from scratch like at http://fortheloveofcake.ca and just about anyone who studied under Bonnie Gordon.
I live at College and Ossington and I'm so happy that The Wedding Cake Shoppe has moved into the neighborhood. Their cupcakes are like heaven and the cakes in the store look too beautiful to eat.
Does anyone know who can make me a giant novelty cake?
it"s for a gag- so its the size not the materials that matters.
it's for a shoot next tuesday
thanks-
I discovered Heavenly Delights (www.heavenlydelights.ca) last year, located in Vaughan, and I have been ordering my cakes from there since then. They make absolutely delicious cakes and cupcakes and the presentation is so professional!! Highly recommend it!
Having actually sat through cake tastings and chef/owner interviews while searching for a wedding cake, my vote and my money go to The Wedding Cake Shoppe. Not only are the sisters great decorators (you can watch them on an episode of Food Network Challenge), but the cake itself tastes fantastic! That's what tipped the balance for us, we ended up getting a very simple design just so we could afford to share a great tasting wedding cake with our guests. We actually ran out, because our guests couldn't get enough. What good is a cake that no one wants to eat?
I've used wedding cake shoppe before and her customer service skills are not where they should be. She didn't return calls or emails and I've spoken to alot of people with similar experiences. AS we all heard raving reviews about their cakes. I was literally panicking before the wedding trying to figure out if I was even going to have my cake. It tastes good and design is good, but the service level is awful. I'm a huge stickler for service, I just need reassurance and I was so not a bridezilla. So there was no excuse for the lack in communication!
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