A cake leaves our counter already assembled, in a box, with the top of the box cut open if the cake is tiered. Nothing is finished off at your end and nothing is packed in pieces. That means the whole job of getting it home safely comes down to about fifteen minutes of handling, and almost all of the damage we hear about happens in the first two of them.
What you are actually carrying
The box is the structure. Pick it up from the bottom with both hands, not by the sides and never by a lid, and keep it level from the moment it leaves the counter. A specialty layer cake in a 25cm box is heavier than people expect, and the weight sits high. Set it down before you open a car door rather than holding it with one arm while you do.
The car, and the day before
Heat is the real enemy, not the drive. Cool the car before the cake goes in it and keep it out of direct sun. The flattest surface in most cars is the footwell behind a front seat, not the boot, where a cake slides on every corner, and not a passenger's lap. If your event is tomorrow, collect today: cakes keep in a fridge in our packaging overnight with no change to taste or texture, and having it already in the house is worth more than any amount of morning planning. Take a layer cake out of the fridge one to two hours before serving so it comes back to temperature.
The cakes that were built for the trip
If the drive is long, the day is warm, or you are heading somewhere without a fridge, order from the tea cakes and loaves range. We call them travel cakes because that is the point of them: no delicate frosting to bruise, no refrigeration needed, and they look the same on arrival as they did on the bench. A 20cm loaf serves eight, a 25cm bundt serves sixteen. At the other extreme, the large desserts, including the Black & White Chocolate Mousse and the Romeo & Juliet cheesecake, want the shortest possible journey and a fridge at the end of it. Anything from the mini desserts range travels as single servings, which removes the problem entirely.
Bring a second pair of hands
The best transport advice we can give is to collect with someone. One person carries, one person drives, opens doors and moves the bags off the back seat, and nothing is ever balanced on a knee. It is a genuine two-person job with a Thunder Chocolate or a Dulce Caramel at 25cm, and it turns a chore into a small outing: there is parking across the road, behind the building and along the side, bike racks at the side entrance, and we sit one block south of the Bus Interchange, roughly a seven-minute walk. Come early enough to sit down for ten minutes first, and the patisserie does the rest.
Storing it, then cutting it
At home, keep the cake in its box at room temperature, away from sun and any heat source. Refrigerate a layer cake overnight, or at any point if the room is warm, and bring it back out ahead of serving. To cut it, dip the knife in hot water and dry it between every slice; the difference between a clean edge and a dragged one is entirely down to that. Then cut to the count rather than by eye. A 15cm layer cake serves twelve to fifteen, 20cm serves twenty to twenty-five, and 25cm serves thirty to thirty-five, so a 25cm cake wants thirty-plus portions marked out before the first cut. The dessert catering boxes page and the mini cakes and petit fours range cover the formats that need no cutting at all.
Lead times, collection and hours
Most things need two days' notice, some larger desserts need three and petit fours need seven; the checkout date picker only offers dates the kitchen can meet for what is in your cart. Everything is collected from our patisserie inside The Welder on Welles Street in the central city. We do not deliver or courier anything, weddings and corporate orders included; collection is deliberate rather than a limitation, and it is how a cake reaches you intact. We are open 10am to 6pm Tuesday to Friday and 10am to 3pm Saturday. There is more in our guides to ordering a cake, to choosing, storing and serving one and to dessert catering, and the frequently asked questions page has the rest.
