Being able to design a unique cake and choosing the perfect size are some pros of ordering a bespoke cake. Many people order a tailor-made cake because they have a specific design and size in mind, and bespoke bakers can bring those ideas to life. Custom cakes can be expensive and fragile compared to a pre-made generic cakes, however. In fact, these extra expenses and concerns are deal breakers in some situations.
A bespoke cake is completely custom made, from the color and decorations to the flavor and thickness of the frosting. If a customer does not have a design in mind, the bespoke baker can usually show him or her pictures of previous designs. In most cases, the customer can pick and choose elements from several bespoke cakes and then put them all together to create a new design. For example, a person might like the color of one bespoke cake, the candy flowers on another, and the frosting patterns on a third cake. In addition to choosing the design, customers can choose the cake, filling, and frosting flavors.
Another advantage of ordering a custom-made cake is that the size is also completely up to the customer. Some cake sizes are meant for just three to five people, while others can feed a wedding or graduation party of hundreds. Sometimes the same cake is ordered in different sizes for the after party, honeymoon, or other occasion.
The expense of getting a bespoke cake is a potential downside. Many bakeries price a bespoke cake by its approximate amount of slices with the complexity of the design in mind. Certain flavors and frosting might cost more than others due to their popularity or difficulty creating. A cake that feeds more than 12 people often requires an initial deposit, which might be a flat amount or a percentage of the total cost. Some bakeries also charge for delivery and setup of the cake.
Another con of ordering a bespoke cake is its fragility due to sensitivity to temperature changes. If not properly refrigerated, the frosting of a tailor-made cake can bubble, collapse, or crack. In fact, frosting disasters can also happen during a long party if a cake is removed from a refrigerator and placed in a relatively warm room. For simplicity’s sake, many bakers create the cake on the day of the party and then deliver it themselves so that storage is not a problem for the customer.