What’s your absolute favourite cake or treat

[Yummyscrummiuncious]

I’m planning cakes for market in a couple of weeks and am looking for some ideas of what to make. What would you buy?

Banana bread, not cake, bread

Parkin! However, I appreciate that it's quite niche outside of Lancashire and Yorkshire.

Classic favourites usually include Victoria sponges, scones and lemon drizzle cake. Salted caramel cakes seem to have become quite popular in recent years., and I like cinnamon swirls.

Lardy cake and I haven’t seen one for years (I might live in the wrong place)

I absolutely love a custard slice.

Refrigerator cake - we used to make it for school fairs, always sold out very quickly. Might have been the thick layer of Galaxy chocolate we put on top, it was lush

I run the refreshment stall at the village fete ever year (PTA Chair) & the popular cakes aren’t always what you imagine.
Most popular:
Biscoff Cake (bonus is its dairy free)
Coffee Cake
Chocolate Cake
Brownies

Will usually sell out eventually of:
Carrot Cake
Victoria Sponge
Lemon Drizzle

Popular with kids:
Doughnuts
Giant Cookies
Cupcakes

unpopular:
Banana Bread
Things marked clearly as vegan or Gluten Free - think some people felt they shouldn’t buy it in case a vegan/GF wanted it, or they thought it wouldn’t be nice
Fruit Cake
Coconut Jam cake

I love a coffee and walnut cake
My grandma used to make a fab dark chocolate mocha cake ,which was choclate cake with coffee butter cream filling
Use unsalted butter , not that baking fat fake stuff

Chocolate cake but it must be super fudgy with a rich filling like a gnashe.

Carrot, but really moist.

Love anything along based. Bakewell or just almond cake too.

Banana madeira cake from Asda. I buy one secretly every week and eat the whole thing myself…

Battenberg a clear winner
Chocolate eclair
Vanilla slice
Apple cake

Carrot cake
Lemon drizzle loaf

Not chocolate cake.

It does depend on your customers a bit - I have been involved in PTA and local bake sales.

Bestsellers are the classics: chocolate cake, victoria sandwich, most big layer cakes eg coffee and walnut where it's immediately clear what flavour it is. They are a bit harder to serve and look nice, though

millionnaire's shortbread - always disappears fast!

Also brownies and lemon drizzle cakes quite popular.

For kids, anything with something on it, eg school cake with smarties/marshmallows on, choc cupcakes with a mini egg / choc orange slice etc on it

Unpopular: ginger biscuits, any biscuits that aren't chocolate, flapjack, banana bread, plain scones kind of thing. Too plain and not enough of a treat (I'm guessing)

Apple Dorset cake
lemon drizzle
millionaire shortbread
French Fancies

Sorry forgot to say, my favourite is a layer cake eg coffee and walnut or lemon.

I would never buy a vegan or gluten free cake as I've never had a good one, unless it's something like a chocolate roulade that can be naturally gf. But I do make some (and they are well received) as the demand is there.

My favourite is probably coffee and walnut cake. Carrot cake would be nice if you have a good recipe, they can be tricky to get right. For a stall, it could be convenient to have some smaller versions of cakes too. Not those cupcakes with too much buttercream, but eg carrot cupcakes with cream cheese topping, really any mini version of a proper cake.

I'd go with

a good quality Brownie
Coffee and Nut, either traditional walnut or pecan
Orange polenta cake
Carrot with cream cheese frosting, my favourite
A topped tray bake that you can sell in individual squares
Bakewell Tart
Weekly alternating different options such as courgette or beetroot cake with or without chocolate, a light apple sponge or a rhubarb cake
Classic cake recipes - BBC Food

Consider people who need nut free/allergy safe, vegan etc if you are able to guarantee safely.

Millionaire's Shortbread.

Or any of the biscuity traybakes really.

I had a Biscoff Rocky Road at a cake sale last year and it was scrumptious.

It’s hard to beat a well made Victoria sponge, apple tart or apple cake. I prefer fruity, light cakes . Agree with pp about cupcakes, they look really pretty but most often taste mediocre.

only discovered since living in the north but I love a brownie with a layer of cornflakes tart on top. They sell them in selfridges and I’m obsessed

Coffee and walnut cake
Lemon drizzle cake
Scones- plain, raisin and cheese are always good.

Treacle tart would be good.

And for me (but possibly not as popular as other things) - Welsh cakes. I spent a small fortune on Welsh cakes (and travelled a fair distance between shops to get them) yesterday.

I always swerve carrot cake and fussy cupcakes. Fairy cakes over cupcakes any day. Maybe butterfly cakes?

Sounds so simple, but I really love manor house cake (Kipling)

I used to do a regular cake stall at our local craft fair and I always sold out of rock cakes really quickly! Coffee & walnut, lemon drizzle and chocolate vanilla marble cake were also popular. I used to do strawberry cupcakes with little strawberry jelly sweets on top and kids loved those.

Something lemony: lemon tart/ lemon drizzle cake

something chocolatey: chocolate fudge cake or brownies

Also raspberry tarts, carrot cake or custard slice

cinnamon rolls - I like the doughy type not puff pastry, pineapple tarts and tea loaf also a simple iced finger bun is yum when it's super fresh

Vanilla slice or Tiramisu ❤️