Adult celebration cakes in Cambridge?

[NameChange30]

Hi, I'd like to order a cake for an adult birthday party. We need about 25-30 servings. I'd like chocolate and maybe a bit of decoration, but nothing fancy. I'd like something good value, not bog standard shop-bought cake, but not expensive fancy cake either. Has anyone ordered personalised celebration cakes from Waitrose? What were they like? And does anyone have recommendations for other suppliers of good value but tasty celebration cakes in Cambridge?

We love Tom's Cakes but they're in St Ives / Somersham, so not very convenient for collection. (They do have a stall at Cambridge market on Sundays, but we need the cake on a Saturday, and don't fancy driving all that way to collect.)

Thanks in advance!

Anyone?

A friend of mine swears by Cakes2Party4 based in Cambridge but obviously more expensive than a shop bought cake. HTH

www.gourmandises.co.uk

Beautiful stuff - we buy at the Shelford farmers' market but she takes orders.

We used tom's cakes for my son's christening in 2012 and it was fab, but like you thought collection was a pain. My younger son was christened last week and this time we got a cake from Dorrington's Bakers in Arbury Court (also have a shop in Cherry Hinton) and it was good cake and about the same price-wise as tom's.

Thanks everyone! Lizard Dorrington's looks great, they have loads of cake designs on their website AND they're close to us. So I will ask them for a quote

Patisserie Valerie in Cambridge.

We got the most beautiful and delicious chocolate cake from there for DS christening with his name iced on the top.

They did it at very short notice too when I'd missed the deadlines for everywhere else. It was so lovely that it looked like I had carefully chosen rather than panic bought at the last minute.

I used Cake2party4 as well, you pick up from her house in Arbury/ Kings Hedges. The cake was lovely

I've had a lot of poor experiences with cake makers in Cambridge. The cakes are just blah. Patisserie Valerie's cakes look nice but are often a few days old and are not particularly tasty. I had to buy one in desperation in July and was really embarrassed to serve it.
IMO, the best cakes in Cambridge are made by caffe Sicilia. Their torta Sicilia is a grown-up chocolate and pistachio, and easily one of the best cakes I've had (and I've had some pretty great cakes). They're flexible and will cater to any size requests and may change the decor for you. I had one for my birthday last month and everyone went wild.

Thanks jacklyn. I agree re Patisserie Valerie. I was partial to their chocolate muffins but gave up buying them after a couple were really stale. Must have been a day or two old. Such a rip off! And the service in there is usually terrible.

Any other cake makers to avoid?

And is it bad that the name "cake2party" REALLY puts me off?! I'm sorry but I'm having trouble getting past it

Fitzbillies? It's been a while since I had a cake from there, but it is an independent. They do a sachertorte, which would be a classic chocolate cake. Could go in for cake and coffee to check it out before ordering a whole cake.

Another independent, Afternoon Tease on King Street, also sell whole cakes, and supply various other places in Cambridge. afternoontease.co.uk/my-cakes/

Me too. It sounds like where I would order a certain kind of cake for a hen party

Afternoon tease do have some good cakes and the service is really good

Well, Dorrington's have quoted £73 for a 25cm square cake (the size they recommend for 25-30 people) and I'm not spending that much - I'd prefer to spend it on drinks at the party!

I ordered a few cakes from Fitzbillies a few years ago but they've changed owners since then. Might be worth a try but I think they'd be expensive. I wouldn't mind for a smaller cake (eg for a birthday meal with family or friends) but don't want to spend a fortune on a big cake for a party, when people are drinking so the quality of the cake doesn't matter quite so much!

I did get a cake for DH's birthday from Afternoon Tease. I didn't think they did decorating for birthday/novelty cakes but maybe they do? Might ask.

www.facebook.com/Sharons-Celebration-Cakes-212189800310/

She will do less fancy if you want.
She does need booking swiftly though as popular.

We have used Chapter 2 although they have changed their name now - not sure if they have changed owners too. They did a great gluten free cake for my Dad's 80th.
However - I have just googled them to find out the new name - Newhills Cafe. And they score 1 on the hygiene rating scale ("needs major improvement") - so maybe not so good now!