Where can I buy your products?
We take orders year round, by phone (775-6701). We don’t currently have a retail location. All of our products are made to order. You may pick up your order from us in Portland or we can deliver it to you. (Contact us for delivery details.) We are currently participating in the Indoor Winter Market at 85 Free Street (Saturdays from 10 – 1). Find us there to pick up something to try, or place an order and pick it up while shopping at the market.

How long will it take until my cake is ready?
Please give us one or two days lead time to prepare your order. (For really large orders, we will need more time.) As noted, we make everything fresh so we cannot simply pop something out of the freezer and microwave it for you! It will be worth the wait, we promise.

Can I order a cake online?
We do not yet offer online ordering. To be honest, it makes us a bit nervous. We’d like to talk to you directly before filling your order.

Can I pay with a credit card?
We do not yet have the capacity to accept credit card payments. Cash or check only.

Do you make any gluten-free or dairy-free items?
We want to be very careful with these questions. If you have a SEVERE gluten or dairy allergy, given that our kitchen is not free of those ingredients, the safest answer is no. Our vanilla and some of our chocolates and cocoas are certified gluten-free, so we are able to make some gluten-free meringues in various flavors, and these would also be dairy-free. We do not at this time have reliable recipes for gluten-free cakes or cookies. A lot of our items contain butter as the only dairy item, so if the issue is lactose intolerance, many people can eat those without a problem, as butter contains relatively little lactose.

I’m thinking of placing a large order. Can I have a sample to test your items?
You are welcome to order a sample of our items. Our policy on samples is we ask you to pay full price for what you order as a sample. Should you later decide to place your final order with us, we will credit you back the cost of the sample. Please note that we offer credit for samples on large orders only.

Why do your cakes cost what they do? I can get a birthday cake for $10 at Shaw’s!
We cannot compete with Shaw’s or any other grocery store on the basis of price. We do not mass manufacture cakes with mixes and cheap ingredients. We make our products by hand, from scratch using fresh, high quality ingredients. All of that is reflected in the price–and we guarantee in the taste as well.

I am planning a fancy party. Could you tint the cake’s frosting to match my colors?
In a word, no. While we try not to say “never,” we do avoid using food coloring in our products. Upon special request, we can color frosting (or red velvet cupcakes). Nonetheless, it is far from our expertise, and we are NOT the right people to ask to match a specific color. There are other bakeries in town much better equipped than we are to do this.

Where do you get your ‘local’ ingredients?
We try to get as many as our fruits and vegetables as possible from the area near Portland, Maine. Some of our local ingredients are seasonal, some are year-round. In the spring and summer, all of the fruits and vegetables we bake with are from local farms, such as Snell Family Farm in Buxton. Year-round, the cage-free eggs we bake with come from local farms such as Windy Hill in Westbrook or Sumner Valley Farm. We get our applesauce from our good friend Waite Maclin, otherwise known as Pastor Chuck, whose organic apples come from Ricker Hill Orchards in Turner, and year-round we bake with local apples, maple syrup, and blueberries. The delicious cream and buttermilk we bake with come from Smiling Hill Farm in Westbrook.

Of course, many ingredients can’t be sourced locally, but we are still very fond of them. A terrific source for vanilla is The Vanilla Queen, and a great chocolate resource is World Wide Chocolate in New Hampshire. If you’ve never baked with cane syrup, we recommend Steen’s from Louisiana. A great alternative to corn syrup.

On a side note, one of our favorite local businesses, which has nothing to do with ingredients but which can keep you organized, is details. And don’t forget our favorite Portland graphic design firm, Visible Logic.

We only finished half our cake. What’s the best way to keep the rest of it?
Layer cakes or cupcakes can be refrigerated; with layer cakes, you can press some plastic wrap to the cut portions to keep them from drying out. The cupcakes are fine as is, since their paper holders protect them. Pastries that have lasted more than a day can be refreshed by a brief stint in the toaster oven at about 300 degrees.