Ombre Cakes in Bracknell
An ombre cake is one colour graded from pale at the top to deep at the base. It is done in the same buttercream as any other cake — smooth at £0 or textured at £10 — so a 6-inch starts at £100 and an 8-inch at £130, exactly as they would without the gradient. Made to order in Bracknell.
It also has an advantage nobody advertises: it is the only way to put a really deep colour on a buttercream cake without the cake tasting of it. The last section explains why.
What does an ombre cake cost?
| Item | Price |
|---|---|
6" ombre Three bands is about all a small cake will show 8–12 slices | £100 |
8" ombre The size the gradient reads best at 14–18 slices | £130 |
10" ombre Tall enough for four or five steps of colour 22–28 slices | £150 |
Smooth Buttercream finish Blended with a scraper into one continuous fade | £0 |
Textured Buttercream finish Petal strokes or rosettes, each row a shade deeper | £10 |
The gradient is not an add-on: it is how the buttercream goes on, and the finishes are the ones priced on cake designs. Cake prices are floors for the size. Delivery from £30 by distance, or free collection.
Order an ombre cake
We reply within 24 hours with a price. No deposit is taken until you are happy with the quote.
Not ready to send it? What follows answers most of what people ask first.
How long it takes
7–10 days for a simple design, at least 14 for two tiers.
Sooner is sometimes possible: a rush adds 50% when the notice is under 7 days, if the diary is clear.
In a hurry? Bento cakes take 3–5 days.
Delivery
From £30, quoted by distance from RG12 0UY.
Collection from Bracknell is free — see the areas we cover.
Paying
50% deposit to hold your date; orders under £50 are paid in full.
Balance 3 hours before collection, or cash on the day.
The deposit is non-refundable but transferable with 4 days' notice — full terms.
What makes a cake ombre rather than simply coloured?
A direction. A coloured cake is one strength of one colour all over; an ombre is the same colour mixed at three to five strengths, applied in bands from the top down and then blended where they meet, so the cake has a light end and a dark end. The work is in the blending rather than the colouring: the bands go on with a palette knife and the joins are pulled together with a heated scraper in one turn of the turntable, which is why a rushed ombre shows its seams.
Two ways to grade a cake
Smooth, £0 — one continuous fade, scraped. The classic.
Textured, £10 — rows of petal strokes or rosettes, each row a shade deeper. Hides a join and costs a little more.
Inside instead of outside — graded sponge layers, which is a rainbow cake in one colour.
Across the tiers of a two-tier cake — pale on top, deep below, no blending needed.
How tall does a cake need to be for an ombre?
Tall enough that each band is clearly a band. On a 6-inch the side is short enough that three strengths is the sensible limit, and the cake reads as pale, mid and deep; a 10-inch at £150 will take four or five and gives a genuine fade. Width helps less than people expect, because the gradient runs vertically — a wide shallow cake has a lot of colour and nowhere to grade it. If the brief wants many steps, the honest answer is a taller cake, quoted in conversation, rather than more bands on the same height.
Why does an ombre cake taste better than a bold one?
Because only the bottom band carries the heavy dose. Buttercream starts out pale yellow, so reaching a deep shade means working in a great deal of colouring paste, and at that dose the paste itself is faintly bitter — the single commonest complaint about a dramatic cake, set out properly on cake colours. An ombre only needs that dose for the lowest band; the top two-thirds of the cake are pale and taste of buttercream. So a guest taking a slice from an ombre cake eats mostly the mild end of it, while the same cake coloured deep all over would be bitter in every mouthful. It is the rare case where the prettier choice is also the better-tasting one, and it is why pink cakes and blue cakes are so often ordered this way.
What else do people ask?
Allergies? Our kitchen handles all 14 of the allergens UK law requires us to declare, so nothing we bake is free from any of them. What is in each cake, and our hygiene rating.