​For the longer answer, we'll talk about a few of the design choices that influence the time taken - size, shape, and amount of decoration.

Many customers and visitors to our cake gallery say that our cakes are "works of art". 

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Our cakes and cupcakes are sculptures created from edible modelling paste, where the cake or cupcake is our canvas, or structure, that we build upon. 

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From as little as 30 minutes ....

A decoration can be as simple as a name, or a number, on a cup cake.  We can do that as a "while you wait" service in the cake gallery.  We normally ask you to wait around 30 minutes, during which you can browse the cake gallery or go around other shops in Ely. 

• Although the process is very straightforward, we still need to wash hands, get the right colour fondant out, roll it out to the right thickness, cut it into shape of a name or a number, put it onto the cupcake, and put it into a box for presentation ready for you to give it. 

• If you want 2 cupcakes, one with a name, and one with a number, it will only take a little longer to do both, depending upon colour choice.

• Of course in that case, the cupcake will already have been baked, so you just need to choose it from the display.  We do all our baking in small batches, so that they taste truly home made. 

• We bake in a dedicated cake kitchen in Ely ensuring good hygiene, and following our proven process for consistent quality.  This gets cost effective delicious cupcakes.

• In some cases we freeze the freshly baked cupcakes once they have cooled, locking in the freshness. 

• If you ask for a cupcake flavour that is not on display, we may be able to offer to defrost a cupcake for you.  Don't worry, defrosting a cupcake takes less than 30 minutes, giving you a cupcake as fresh as if it had just come out of the oven.  Ready to eat when you get home, and tasting great, because we bake in small batches.       

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..... to 30 - 80 hours or more for a large or detailed cake

Firstly, size and shape effects the time required:

• The bigger the cake, usually the more time it will take

  • because there's more cake to bake

  • and a larger area to be decorated, which usually means more decorations to create

• Is it more than 1 tier? 

  • The more tiers, the more architectural support is needed otherwise gravity will cause the cake to collapse.

  • Are the tiers directly on top of each other, or separated.  Each approach will affect the decorating time.

• Is it carved into a shape rather than round or square cake? 

  • Carved cakes can look spectacular, but they take time to carve before you can start the detailed decorating.​

  • The process of carving a cake into shape also means cake is often discarded in the creation process, therefore as well as more time for creating it, more cake tends to be needed to be baked, to serve a given number of portions.

  • There are pros and cons of carved cakes.​

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Mostly the amount of time is influenced by:

• the number of decorations

  • for example a round cake with one animal on it, would be 1 decoration​

  • whereas a person, playing with a dog, that is chasing a ball, would be 3 decorations

  • a cascade of flowers and foliage would be several decorations

• complexity of decorations

  • each decoration will have a different level of complexity​

  • a name or number will be fairly easy

  • a tennis ball will be fairly, easy, whereas a football or basketball may be more complex

  • an animal is more complex again, and the larger the animal model decoration, the more time will be required

  • a person is even more complex, especially if the design is for a representation of a real person (often the recipient) "in the style of" a film or TV character.  

  • We love doing all of the above, and the more photos you can give of us different angles of the subject, the better we can recreate it.

• complexity of the background "scenery"

  • We have done any number of "backgrounds", whether the cake is made to look like sky, grass, bricks, a general landscape ​

  • or relatively plain, with a pattern

  • each affects the time required​

• The surface type of a carved cake, such as an animal, vehicle or manufactured item?

  • All carved cakes are challenging, but impressive when done well

  • Carving a cake into the shape of a particular animal is challenging.  And then although there is usually a lot of hair or fur to create, the food news is that although time consuming, you can also use the process to get the shape of the animal "just right" and to give it character​

  • "Hard surface's", such as vehicles and manufactured products are very challenging.  Because although at first glance they may seem to be a very simple flat shape, a) very smooth flat surfaces are hard to do by hand, and b) there's often a lot more detail than first appears.  There may are often bolts, screws or rivets.  Or recessed or raised panels that either give strength, access to the internals, or other lines for good visual design and usability.

  • And glass.  So many options!

  • We love a challenge, so we're very happy to take on most ideas, if we can see ways for gravity to allow us.  (There's usually a way!).  But carved cakes do add complexity and therefore time.  If you're considering a carved cake, it's worth reading our "Should I have a carved cake? Pros and cons." page

• Delivery

  • Most cakes and cupcakes that we make are collected by our customers​

  • We do offer delivery of a cake or cupcakes in Ely and the surrounding areas, which is very cost effective for people ordering cupcakes remotely.  We charge a nominal fee for delivery within Ely, and beyond is based upon time and distance to deliver.

  • We can deliver and set up a cake at a venue for a customer.  Depending upon the complexity, this may be for 1 or 2 people to deliver.  We're very happy to do so, but we do need to charge for the time, as well as the mileage.

• The amount of design time
  • Our cake cost estimating tool estimates the cost assuming on average 2 iterations of design
  • i.e. you have a basic theme and person in mind, we come up with an initial design, you say ​what you like and dislike about the design, and on average the second version of the design is usually about right.  And you then just need to choose flavours, or discuss some final detail that we want to get right, but don't overall affect the complexity.
  • We say 2 iterations "on average", because often the first design is right (we may present more than 1 option, and the customer loves one of them).  And sometimes it takes 3 iterations to refine the right option.
  • Occasionally it takes several more iterations to get the design "just right".  
• Gravity!
  • some designs just take longer, just because cakes obey the laws of physics. 
  • Sometimes, on complex designs, it seems that cakes are out to get you!

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Having said all that, one of the hardest things to do is a plain smooth cake with hardly any decorations.  This is because every blemish will show.  Asking for a "plain" cake with no decorations with the thought that this is "quick and easy" tends to send a shiver down the spine of a cake decorator!

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Usually you want to know how long it will take to create a cake in order to help you answer the question of "how much does a cake cost?" we have created a cake cost estimating tool.  It can help you get an idea of the likely cost of a cake for the size and style you're thinking about, and to help you think of the answers that will help any cake decorator to quote you appropriately for your cake.  

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Cake cost estimating tool - get an initial estimate of a cake for an upcoming occasion

To help you get an idea of the likely cost of a cake for the size and style you're thinking about, our estimating tool makes some assumptions about the time taken to create a cake of a given size. This will help you to think of the answers that will help any cake decorator to quote you appropriately for your cake.    

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