Two of the ten cakes in our layer cake range are built on coconut, and they taste almost nothing alike. One is bright, tropical and vanilla-based. The other is the Prestige Coconut Cake, which is dark, deep and closer to a chocolate cake that happens to have coconut in it. Knowing which of the two you are actually after is most of the decision.
What is inside the Prestige
Four layers, beginning with a velvety chocolate sponge that carries a genuinely intense cocoa base. Between the layers sits a creamy coconut milk caramel, made in house, which brings a smooth milky sweetness that stops the chocolate from becoming heavy. The whole cake is then encased in dark chocolate ganache and finished with Raffaello touches on top.
The result is a cake that goes dark first and sweet second. The coconut does not sit on the surface as a garnish; it runs through the middle as caramel, so it softens the ganache rather than competing with it. If you have ever thought a chocolate cake was one flat note of cocoa, this is the argument against that.
Prestige or Tropical
The Tropical Coconut Cake is the other coconut option, and it works the opposite way round. It starts from a delicate vanilla sponge, layers in a silky coconut filling, then crowns it with caramelised pineapple, so the fruit does the heavy lifting and the cake reads bright.
Put simply: Prestige for someone whose favourite dessert is chocolate, Tropical for someone who orders fruit. If the recipient sits between the two, the Dulce Caramel pairs chocolate sponge with dulce de leche, which is condensed milk cooked slowly down to caramel, and the Snow White goes the other direction entirely with vanilla and white chocolate.
Sizes, servings and the price
Every flavour in the specialty layer cake range shares one price ladder, starting at $95. A 15cm serves 12 to 15 people, a 20cm serves 20 to 25, and a 25cm serves 30 to 35. Choosing the Prestige over the Thunder Chocolate costs nothing extra.
Count heads rather than estimating. These cakes serve more than they look like they will, and ordering one size up out of caution is the most common mistake we see.
Taste a slice before you commit
The Prestige is one of the flavours we sell by the slice, so you can eat a slice before committing to a whole cake for somebody else's celebration.
Do it with the other person involved in the decision. Order the Prestige and one other slice between two of you, halve both, and swap. Twenty minutes at a table settles which cake the recipient will actually love, and the tasting costs less than the guessing. It is also a pleasant way to spend part of an afternoon, which is not a small thing when you are organising somebody else's milestone.
Coconut elsewhere in the range
Coconut runs through our travel cakes too, the sturdy bundt and loaf range built to be carried without delicate frosting. The Anthill Coconut Cake, known in Brazil as Bolo Formigueiro, is a coconut sponge folded through with chocolate sprinkles that melt slightly in the bake and give it its spotted look. The Pineapple Coconut Cake is a moist pineapple cake topped with tres leches and coconut. Both come as a 20cm loaf serving 8, or a 25cm bundt serving 16.
The Pineapple Coconut is also one of three cakes where a no added dairy preference can be selected at checkout, and because the standard cake is topped with tres leches that preference is a different build of the cake rather than the same one with a topping removed. Our kitchen is small and without exclusive production areas for all of our different recipes, so traces may occur, and nothing we make is guaranteed safe for severe coeliac disease.
Ordering and collecting
The Prestige is made to order on a two-day lead time. You choose the collection date and time at checkout, and the picker only shows dates the kitchen can genuinely meet for what is in your cart. Sizes, storage and allergen notes are on our frequently asked questions page, and the birthday cake page shows the range together.
Collection only, from our patisserie inside The Welder at 20-26 Welles Street, Christchurch Central. The cake is handed over assembled in its box, so picking it up the day before is the unhurried option: it keeps in a fridge overnight in our packaging with no change to taste or texture, and our guide to choosing, storing and serving covers the rest. We are open 10am to 6pm Tuesday to Friday and 10am to 3pm Saturday.
