Best of Toronto
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 »
Discussion
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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).
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 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.
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
http://www.cakeoperaco.com/
(No prizes for the website, though: http://www.desserttrends.ca/)
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!!!
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
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.
Timothy
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.
Her cakes are amazing! A cake artist and an up-and-comer. She should definitely be in the running.
I love the cake or death bit.
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.
www.cakerific.blogspot.com
www.cakerific.blogspot.com
www.cakerific.blogspot.com
they were kind, friendly, affordable, delicious and amazing artist!
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
http://eatmywords.org/
Winner.
End of argument.
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.
http://alittlesweet.ca
Some of the more elegant cupcakes we've seen in ages, and now we use them for all of our events.
the best!
Simply amazing.
http://www.patriciacakes.com
Luciano Galasso
it"s for a gag- so its the size not the materials that matters.
it's for a shoot next tuesday
thanks-
I have been shopping for a wedding cake recently and emailed a few different places for quotes and information, The Wedding Cake Shoppe was the first one to email me back and I have been in back and forth emails/phone calls with them for a while now. They are very quick to respond and highly organized. To my surprise I had more than 3 places not even return emails to me.. nevermind getting a response a week and a half later from one place. maybe you caught the girls at the wedding cake shoppe at a very busy time. I know now that they have the retail store they have some more staff. I have chosen to go with them for my wedding cake and can't wait to see and eat it this summer!
http://www.facebook.com/sweetenedbykagi
www.acheforcake.com
Wonderful designs, amazing flavours and they're prices are good as well!
Rachel
Zoe
www.acheforcake.com