There is a point where a cake stops being the right answer. Once a room passes about thirty people, cutting and plating becomes a job someone has to do while the event is happening, and the cake ends up served late, unevenly and to about half the guests.
Dessert catering solves this by removing the serving step entirely. Everything is already portioned; people take what they want.
The formats, from smallest up
Petit fours are one perfect bite — passionfruit pavlova, blueberry panna cotta, a miniature tiramisu, a Snickers, a mocha. They come at $60 a tray of fifteen pieces, and they need seven days' preparation. The entire range is made with no added gluten, which for a mixed guest list removes a whole conversation. This is the format for a wedding or a formal function.
Mini desserts are a proper individual dessert per guest — Romeo & Juliet cheesecake, lemon tart, pudim caramel flan. More substantial, and no less presentable.
Mini cakes are one serving each, in trays of six or twelve — the easiest grazing-table anchor there is, because you get several flavours across a table rather than one large cake nobody can choose against.
Dessert catering boxes are the volume option, built to arrive ready.
How much to order
For petit fours we suggest three to five pieces per guest. That is more than most people budget for, and it is the number that stops a table looking picked over halfway through the evening — people take one, decide it was good, and come back. If dessert follows a full meal you can go lighter; if it is a stand-up function with drinks, go heavier.
If you are pricing a whole cake against portioned formats, the numbers help: a 25cm layer cake cuts 30 to 35 slices, a 20cm cuts 20 to 25, and a 25cm bundt gives 16. Mixing formats works better than volume in one format — a few miniatures for events, a couple of larger cakes for height, and something small and repeatable like brigadeiro or brownie bites to fill gaps.
Do not forget the savoury half
A table of only sweet things gets heavy quickly. Our artisan savouries are all made with no added gluten — the three quiches, sfiha and sausage scrolls — and they can be supplied fresh or frozen for heating on site, which most venues will thank you for. Warm Brazilian cheese scones disappear faster than anything sweet.
Lead times, seriously
Petit fours need seven days. Several of the larger desserts need three. Add a buffer for anything over a weekend or near a public holiday, and more again in December. Everything is collected from us rather than delivered, so factor in who is picking it up and when — the day before is usually the calm choice.
A note on wording: New Zealand labelling rules mean we say "no added gluten" rather than "gluten free". Our kitchen is small and without exclusive production areas for all of our different recipes, so traces may occur and nothing is guaranteed safe for severe coeliac disease.
Getting a quote
For corporate functions and larger events, start with our event catering page. For regular or trade volume, the wholesale page is the right entry point. Weddings have their own page, and there is more in our piece on wedding cakes and dessert tables.
Otherwise, tell us the headcount, the date and the room and we will tell you what we would put on the table.
