F A Q

How much are your cakes?

We have a basic price for all of our cakes with the price increasing from there depending on how labour intensive any decorations are to make – from baking to icing and making all the decorations, please know that cake decorating can take a lot of time! To see a price guide visit our ordering pages by clicking here. Please note we cannot give any idea of price without any idea of what we are making! Feel free to send photos of anything you have seen that you like and we can give you an idea of time and cost.

How do I place an order?

You can email your requirements including cake designs, flavour, quantities and date required to info@gourmetcupcakes.co.uk and we will email you back with availability. Alternatively you can call our shop on 01245 283986 (note opening hours vary)

When should I order by?

All of our cakes are made fresh to order! Therefore, how much notice we need for your order depends on what else we have booked in for that day. Basically, early booking is advisable for your own peace of mind and to avoid disappointment nearer the time. You can reserve dates in advance by leaving a £95 deposit (orders less than £95 will be payable in fully at the time of ordering) or you can pay for your order in full if you prefer. Orders less than a month away are payable in full as the time of ordering as we will reserve the time for you and turn down other orders.

What is your minimum order quantity?

We have different minimum order quantities for our cakes depending on what you’re ordering. As everything is baked fresh to order, the smallest batch we can bake is 12 of a single flavour for cupcakes. Small orders with lots of different flavours are therefore not possible. Check the minimum order quantities on our ordering pages here.

What payment methods do you accept?

For customers coming into our shop we can take both cash and card payments which are over £10. If you are paying for your order in advance, we can also take any card over the phone (except American Express.)  Alternatively we can give you our bank details to make a bank transfer or email you a secure PayPal link to pay online. Courses can be booked using our online booking system which takes payments via paypal but please note you do not need a Paypal account to book a course, just choose the option to pay with any card instead. You can also book courses by emailing or calling us with your chosen date.

Where do you deliver?

For weddings and large orders we can deliver and set up your cakes personally around most counties in Southern England. We do this by sending a staff member to drive and set up your cakes, so bear in mind it is not feasible to drive 50 miles just to deliver a dozen cupcakes! However, depending on the type of cakes being ordered, we may be able to arrange an overnight national courier and some items can travel this way which is much more economical on cost than us driving to you. Please email with your event date and venue postcode to check all delivery availability and to enable us to give you a quote.

What size are your cupcakes?

Our cupcakes are quite a bit bigger than your old school ‘fairy’ cakes, measuring around 7cm across and about 7cm high when decorated.

How long do your cakes keep?

In the rare occurrence that your cakes are not gobbled up right away, you can keep cupcakes in their box for a few more days, or uncut ‘big cakes’ for at least a week. Cut cakes should be stored airtight to keep them soft.

How do I best store my cakes?

There is a tendency nowadays to want to put everything in the fridge… However, unless your cupcakes contain cream cheese icing, they are best enjoyed at room temperature; not too hot and not too cold. Be sure not to put fondant iced cakes in the fridge as this can make them go sticky with the condensation as they warm up again.

Do you hire out stands?

We have cupcake stands available for hire for weddings and large events and build these stands to the perfect size to fit your number of cupcakes. Our largest stand holds up to 100 cupcakes but venues are usually happy to store and set up extra cakes if your order size is larger than this. We are also happy to set up our cakes on your own stand. Please see our Stand Hire page for more details. We also have some cake pop stands and glass and china pedestal stands for hire as well as an assortment of vintage style apothecary jars and bottles ideal for dessert tables.

I like a particular cake but would like to change the decoration?

Our service is completely bespoke so feel free to change anything or send your own design for us to go by. Just ask us to give you a quote for any bespoke requirements being sure to provide as much information as possible.

What colour cupcakes do you have?

We usually use silver, gold or black for orders, and use our judgement as to what we think would look best when we make your order.  If you would like anything specific please let us know at the time ordering.

Can I try before I buy?

We off small cube samples of standard flavours – Victoria sponge, chocolate, toffee, carrot, red velvet and lemon. Samples are produced with generic icing fillings, but these can be changed when ordering your final cake. When it comes to ordering your final cake, we offer a large range of flavours for icings etc, but we are unable to provide bespoke combinations as samples. See our Samples page for more details.

Do your cakes contain nuts?

Sometimes, and coconuts too. Whilst we do not put nuts in our cakes as standard, there may be products such as peanut butter and ground almonds in our kitchens from time to time so we cannot guarantee a totally nut free environment for those with a very sensitive allergy.

How do I make cupakes like yours?

We hold a variety of cake decorating and baking courses in Chelmsford in Essex and online classes too. During these courses we will show you everything you need to know to create wonderful professional looking cakes of your own. We also offer private tuition in our shop, your home or via zoom as well as party sessions for both adults and children.

What is the minimum age for your cake courses?

Children from around age 11 can attend unaccompanied on most of our basic courses. This is just our recommendation, the individual ability and suitability of a child for classes is of course down to the discretion of the parents. Children under that age do well when accompanied by an adult on courses such as our Original Cupcake Course. We also offer private sessions and party sessions for groups of children if you prefer.

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