Understanding Cake Terms:

Before reaching out to order, it's essential to have a clear vision of what you want your custom cake to look like. Consider the theme, colors, design elements, and any personal touches you would like to incorporate and understanding cake terminology.

Here are a few useful terms to help you communicate clearly with your bakery

1. Tier

A tier is a full, stacked level of a cake. Multi-tier cakes have multiple tiers placed on top of each other, and each tier can be a different size or flavor.

(At The Duchess Bakery, our custom cakes are limited to two tiers— we do not offer larger tiered cakes.)

2. Layer

A layer refers to the individual cakes within a tier. Most tiers are made with two layers of cake and filling in between—this is standard in the cake industry.

3. Semi-Naked Cake

A semi-naked cake has a light layer of icing that allows some of the cake layers to show through, giving it a rustic, modern look.

4. Naked Cake

A naked cake has very minimal or no frosting on the outside—just enough to hold the layers together. Popular for rustic or boho themes.

5. Drip Cake

A drip cake features a drip effect where chocolate ganache or colored icing is poured along the top edge and flows down the sides for a decorative, trendy look.

6. Piping

Piping refers to decorative icing applied using a piping bag and tips. This includes borders, rosettes, swirls, writing, and detailed designs.

7. Rosette Design

A rosette design uses piped buttercream arranged in rose-shaped swirls. This can cover the entire cake or be used as accents.

8. Filling

Filling refers to what is placed between cake layers—such as buttercream, fruit preserves, pastry cream, etc.

Great! Now that you’re familiar with the essentials, let’s take a look at some of the most common questions we will ask you when filling out your order form.

Let our talented cake artists take your inspiration and guide you through getting everything in place for your special treat.

The final price of your cake depends on three key factors: size, flavor selection, and decorative elements.

Beyond choosing your base cake and frosting flavors, we'll guide you through a simple consultation process to ensure your order is perfect. We'll ask essential questions such as your guest count and serving requirements, allowing us to recommend the ideal cake size from our available options.

The specialty cakes listed have their own size, layer, and flavor specifications, if there are any questions about those, please just ask!

Please note that we require minimum 48 hours request time and that it does not guarantee your order until you have received a confirmation email or phone call to confirm as we check our current stock of scheduled orders.

Duchess Flavors:

Cake Flavors: Vanilla (Yellow Cake), Chocolate, Marble, Funfetti, Strawberry, Lemon, and Red Velvet.

Frostings: Vanilla Buttercream, Chocolate Buttercream, Strawberry Buttercream, Lemon Buttercream, Cream Cheese, and Whipped Vanilla Frosting

Fillings (if requested): Strawberry, Blackberry, Blueberry, Raspberry, Apple, Cherry, Lemon, and Bavarian Cream.

Specialty cakes:  

Coconut Cake (8 inch 2 layer yellow cake with vanilla buttercream and coconut flakes)

Boston Cream Cake (8 inch 3 layer yellow cake, complete naked style with just a border of vanilla buttercream holding in a layer of bavarian cream in between each layer, and chocolate or fruit filling on the very top)

German Chocolate Cake (8 inch 2 layer chocolate cake with traditional german chocolate pecan and coconut frosting)

Chocolate Surprise Cake (8 inch 4 layer thin chocolate cake layers frosted in a whipped vanilla frosting with a chocolate fudge ganache poured over the cake