Allergens in our cakes
Our kitchen handles all 14 of the allergens UK law requires a food business to declare, so no cake we make can be sold as free from any of them. 5 of the 14 are in our recipes: cereals containing gluten, eggs, milk, peanuts and tree nuts. We will give you the full ingredient list for any cake before you order.
If an allergy is severe
We are a small kitchen. Flour, nuts, eggs and dairy are used in the same space on the same day, and no amount of care removes the risk of traces. For an allergy where traces matter, please order from a bakery set up for it — we would rather tell you that than take the order.
Tell us about any allergy when you enquire, and we will answer honestly about what we can and cannot do.
Which of the 14 allergens are in our cakes?
The list of 14 is set by the Food Standards Agency and is the same for every food business in the UK. 5 of them are in what we bake; the other 9 are not ingredients we use, though the kitchen is not free of them.
| Allergen | In our recipes |
|---|---|
| Celery | Not an ingredient we use |
| Cereals containing gluten | Yes wheat flour is in every cake we bake |
| Crustaceans | Not an ingredient we use |
| Eggs | Yes in every cake except the vegan ones |
| Fish | Not an ingredient we use |
| Lupin | Not an ingredient we use |
| Milk | Yes butter, cream and milk, in every cake except the vegan ones |
| Molluscs | Not an ingredient we use |
| Mustard | Not an ingredient we use |
| Peanuts | Yes in the Snickers cake and in the caramel and peanut bento filling |
| Sesame | Not an ingredient we use |
| Soybeans | Not an ingredient we use |
| Sulphur dioxide and sulphites | Not an ingredient we use |
| Tree nuts | Yes almonds in the Rafaello, walnuts in the honey cake with prunes |
What is in each cake on our menu?
Straight from the menu we bake from, so it changes when a recipe does. Every cake below contains gluten, eggs and milk; the column shows the full list.
| Cake | Contains |
|---|---|
| Classic Honey Cake | gluten, eggs and milk |
| Spartak (Chocolate Honey Cake) | gluten, eggs, milk and other nuts |
| Napoleon Cake | gluten, eggs and milk |
| Red Velvet Cake | gluten, eggs and milk |
| Black Forest | gluten, eggs and milk |
| Victoria Sponge Cake | gluten, eggs and milk |
| Strawberry & Exotic Fruit Cake | gluten, eggs and milk |
| Double Chocolate Cake | gluten, eggs and milk |
| Rafaello Cake | gluten, eggs, almonds and milk |
| Snickers Cake | gluten, eggs, peanuts and milk |
| Tiramisu Cake | gluten, eggs and milk |
| Orange & Sour Cherry Cake | gluten, eggs and milk |
| Honey Cake with Prunes & Nuts | gluten, eggs, milk, other nuts and tree nuts |
| Shortcrust Cookies with Caramel Filling, 1kg~56-60 nuts | gluten, eggs and milk |
Custom cakes are quoted with their own allergen list, because the recipe is built for your order. See the signature menu for what is in each of these.
What can you adapt, and what can you not?
Of the 5 allergens in our recipes, eggs and milk can be left out, and the cake that leaves them out is a different cake rather than an adapted one: a vegan cake is set on a cashew mousse instead of baked as a sponge. Gluten and nuts cannot be left out, because they are in the kitchen rather than only in the recipe — and the vegan cake is itself made of nuts.
- Vegan: yes. No milk and no eggs in the recipe. Baked in the same kitchen as cakes that contain both, so it suits a diet, not an allergy.
- Gluten-free: no. Wheat flour is in everything we bake and the kitchen cannot separate it.
- Nut-free: no. Peanuts and tree nuts are used here. A recipe without nuts is possible; a cake safe for a nut allergy is not.
- Leaving one ingredient out: sometimes. Ask, and we will tell you whether it works in that particular cake.
What is your food hygiene rating?
5 out of 5 — the top rating — given by Bracknell Forest Council on 18 December 2020. You do not have to take our word for it: the record is public.
Food Hygiene Rating 5, Bracknell Forest Council
Registered as Marina Zavalina — the owner's name, not the trading name, so search for that on the register. Reference 1267030, rated 18 December 2020.
Check the rating on ratings.food.gov.ukWhat else do people ask?
Do you make nut-free cakes?
No cake we make can be called nut-free. We use peanuts and tree nuts in the kitchen — almonds in the Rafaello, walnuts in the honey cake with prunes, peanuts in the Snickers — so cross-contamination cannot be ruled out, whatever is in the recipe. If an allergy is severe, we are not the right bakery for you, and we would rather say so than take the order.
Do you make gluten-free cakes?
No. Wheat flour is in every cake we bake and the kitchen is not set up to separate it, so we do not offer gluten-free and will not describe anything as such.
Do you make vegan cakes?
Yes, and they are their own cake rather than a sponge with the eggs taken out: the base is a set cashew mousse. No milk and no eggs in the recipe, and nuts in it by construction — which matters if you came here avoiding dairy and had not thought about cashews. They are made in the same kitchen as cakes that contain milk and egg, so they suit a diet rather than an allergy.
How do I find out exactly what is in a cake?
Ask when you enquire. We will give you the full ingredient list for the cake you are ordering, before you pay anything. The allergen column in the table on this page is the quick version, taken from the same menu we bake from.
What is your food hygiene rating?
5 out of 5, rated by Bracknell Forest Council on 18 December 2020. The record is held under the owner's name, Marina Zavalina, rather than the trading name, so search for that if you want to check it yourself.
Can you adapt a recipe to leave an ingredient out?
Sometimes, and we will say honestly whether it is one of those times. Leaving nuts out of a recipe that contains them is possible; making that cake safe for a nut allergy is not, because of the kitchen it is baked in.
How do I order with an allergy?
Put the allergy in the enquiry form along with the cake you want. We will answer before you pay anything, and if the answer is no, it will be no — our policy is that our kitchen handles all major allergens (celery, gluten, crustaceans, eggs, fish, lupin, milk, molluscs, mustard, peanuts, sesame, soybeans, sulphur dioxide and sulphites, tree nuts). While we take every care, products may contain traces of allergens.
Tell us about your cake