Take the Cake

Never disappointed everything is always fresh and delicious love the cupcakes and my favorite is the fruit tart

My boyfriend and I ended up here when we were craving a cupcake from the Sugar cupcake truck only to find them packing up and leaving upon our arrival. SO, we ended up not getting any cupcakes here but opted for two slices of cake. Two huge slices of cake. They were $ 5 each. I had the peanut butter mousse and my boyfriend had the black forest I believe. They were definitely decadent and delicious. The place seems pretty pricy from what I was gathering. The quality is good but I do think there are lots of other places in the area with more affordable prices. Not a great place if you’re on a tight budget.

Ordered the cake for my bridal shower (Purcell Torte) from here, and it is quite possibly the single most delicious cake I have ever had. I still have guests telling me how delicious it was, over two years later. The combo of ganache, raspberry, and white chocolate mousse is heavenly. The cake itself is perfect – not dry and not too moist. I wish this had been our wedding cake; unfortunately we were directed elsewhere by our caterer. We continue to order smaller reincarnations for each of our anniversaries and birthdays here and there. A great special occasion treat. My mom loves their carrot cake as well.

I love cakes — and I am as picky as they come. I prefer organic ingredients, but can be happy with cakes made from wholesome, conventional ingredients as well. I have not eaten a grocery store cake in 20+ years, and have never bought one for my family.
I’ve tried the French bakery in New Haven — meh. All style but cakes were dry and not sweet enough. There are some local cupcake places in Hamden and New Haven… they are just okay. I have been searching for a decent cake place for nearly 3 years with no luck… until now.
THIS place however, Take the Cake on the Post Rd just outside of Guilford, is exceptional. The prices are reasonable for what you get. (A whole foods cake of the same size but with half the flavor and none of the elegance is only about 20% less).
I just stopped in there on a whim — having seen the shop from the road. After speaking with the folks working (one may have been the owner/​baker), and learning about the quality of ingredients used, I decided I had found my cake shop. I bought a Purcell Torte and an Italian Pistachio Chocolate Torte and both are AMAZING! The pistachio was just for dessert after the family dinner that night. It was light, flavorful, and the bits of Italian cherries were little exquisite bites of happiness. The Purcell was for my husband’s birthday, which is today. The lovely baker decorated it (at her request!) for no additional charge, and the result was stunning. My husband was super impressed, and we agreed that we would no longer buy cakes anywhere else.
The only challenge we face with this business moving forward will be deciding which flavor to try next… or if we should just stick to these new found favorites.
Thank you Take the Cake!

I’m partial to other pastry shops, and on price alone, this place is just too expensive for what it is. I’ve had two cakes… both of which were chocolate and I’m not a fan so I can’t rate based on that. I’ve heard rave reviews and trust the people who say this, but my personal opinion I think it is out of mosts price range… unless of course you find a deal or coupon, then it makes it a little more worth it. I would come here again if needing a cake or pastry, but wouldn’t be opposed to trying something different either.

I am almost never satisfied by bakery bought cakes, but this place was amazing.

Wow! Absolutely delicious cakes. We were first introduced at a local restaurant that used Take the Cake for their desserts since they didn’t have a pastry chef. We had the chocolate coconut cake and it was heavenly. Not a stupid flourless cake, but a real moist, sweet, yet refined, cake. Despite the 30 min drive from our place, we HAD to go check out the actual place and ordered another cake and a cookie. All were fantastic. They aren’t cheap, but this quality rarely is. I bet they make great wedding cakes!

Giving this 1 star based on customer satisfaction and not their actual cakes as I never had the chance to actually taste any of their cakes.
I called the store a few hours ago and asked if I stopped by would I be able to order a cake to be ready for tomorrow. They said «sure» so I rushed over to place my order. When I entered the store I was greeted with a nice hello and asked if they could help me. I said I was there to order a cake for delivery tomorrow and the young man behind the counter grabbed an order pad and pen and asked what I wanted. I first decided on the size of the cake I wanted, by pointing to similar sizes in the case. After the size was decided I then started to request the type of cake I wanted. As soon as I said «I’d like a marble cake with strawberry filling» he looked right at me and said «Oh I’m sorry but I can’t do that». I was taken aback and asked «is it because you don’t have strawberries?» and his reply was «oh now, we’re done making cakes for the weekend (today is Friday) and you’ll have to pick what’s in the case» as he pointed to the few cakes available, none of which would have worked for me as they weren’t birthday cake material. I walked out not buying anything and will now head over to (gasp) BigY to order a cake.
I’ll never return and can’t believe a bakery doesn’t bake cakes upon request.
I should have saved myself a trip to that part of town and just gone to Big Y to begin with.

I’d driven by this place countless times but Monday was the first time I actually came by and checked it out. On my to-​do list that day was to drive to my current favorite cupcake bakery a few towns over to pick up a few for me and my honey for dessert that evening, but I decided that instead of going all the way there just for cupcakes, I’d check out Take the Cake since it was on my errands route and a convenient stop.
I popped in and was immediately met with a counter full of plates of cookies as well as a platter of cake slices wrapped up and ready to be sold. They all looked so good! I looked over to the right and a large glass case of beautifully decorated cakes, tarts, tortes, and cupcakes caught my attention. I was impressed by the vast selection and they all looked exquisite. Looking further in I could see work stations and flour, sugar, cocoa and other cakey ingredients. Décor wasn’t as in-​your-​face or bold as it is in other bakeries, but it didn’t have to be; the gorgeous-​looking sweets spoke for themselves.
Since I had cupcakes on the mind, I decided I would pick up a few. I inquired about the price, expecting it to be within the range of all my favorite cupcake bakeries in the state along the Connecticut shore and in Hartford area. It wasn’t. The price of one cupcake here costs twice as much as I had expected, at five bucks a pop! I thought I heard wrong at first. People complain about the cost of the four dollar cupcakes at NoRa in Middletown (and those are also filled). I used to think I would never pay that much for a cupcake, but there I was — paying even more. So, I spent as much as I had planned to ($ 10) but instead of four I got two.
I brought home two lovely cupcakes: Chocolate Raspberry — chocolate with a chocolate filling and raspberry buttercream and Vanilla Passion — vanilla with a pastry cream filling and passionfruit buttercream. The chocolate was phenomenal. Have you ever eaten anything that brought you so much pleasure that you moaned and your eyes rolled to the back of your head? The cupcake base was a nice and moist chocolate cake and the filling was rich and fudgey. Frosting was silky smooth and had flecks of raspberry throughout. Oh, so good!
Unfortunately, I didn’t feel as passionate about the Vanilla Passion. It was undoubtably good but I longed for more of a passion fruit flavor in the frosting. There was barely a hint there. Same silky smooth frosting texture as the chocolate. Pastry cream filling was tasty as was the vanilla cake base, but there isn’t much more to say about it.
With these cupcakes costing twice as much as others and just about the same size, I expected double the deliciousness. Were these cupcakes twice as delicious as others to warrant the higher price tag? Honestly, they were quite comparable.
Four star cupcakes at two star prices = Average of a three star rating

This place is awesome, huge fan of the purcell torte. One tiny piece can feed two people. Everyone that works there is very knowledgeable. As for the request of having artificial food coloring on a wedding cake, I completely agree with the owner. The cakes have an understated beauty that would look ridiculous with garish «ornaments». Perhaps the man who requested this wedding cake likes his cakes like he likes his women, «cheap» with a lot of artificial ornamentation.

It small hole in the wall with decent but overpriced cakes and cookies.

I got the cheesecake to bring to a party, and was not disappointed. It was fantastic, and I have never had so many people ask where I had gotten a dessert (some certified sweets-​hounds, which I am not). Pricey, yes, but worth it. Tip: if you’re in the New Haven area and want to save yourself the trek to the shoreline, Bön Appetit on Whitney in Hamden carries them regularly.

Funny how a reviewer can knock a business owner for being opinionated: D
I’ve been buying slices here for years-it’s a great way to sample the different cakes and at $ 5 for a slice that can easily feed 2 people it’s a bargain.
I bought a couple of the cupcakes and discovered that I, a chocolate lover, was out chocolated! The chocolate mousse cake had a similar effect on me but I loved it.
The only reason I’m giving 4 stars instead of 5 is the price-​it makes these cakes for an occasion instead of everyday. ‘Tho I have been known to celebrate birthdays with 5 slices.

One note worth mentioning; the owner doesn’t take special requests kindly. She wouldn’t decorate my friend’s wedding cake the way he wanted it decorated. It was either her way or no way.
Needless to say she got no way. He simply found another cake maker who was more than willing to fullfill his request. Plus, as a bonus, the other cake maker’s price was 20% less. So he was double happy with that.
For you schmucks that are commenting about my review (Dorothy and Brit I’m looking at you), STFU, you don’t know the details. Try reviewing the business instead of other people’s words.

The only downside is the expensive price tag. $$$$. $ 50 for a 9inch round cake.
That being said the lemon coconut cake was awesome. It had outstanding flavor and was very light. Perfect for a hot summer night.

$ 10 for 2 cupcakes.
when people talk about Crumbs Bake shops in NYC they say DAMN those are BIG and damn good.
Take The Cake’s cupcakes were pretty good and they were big and they were expensive. If ever I was nearby and needed a cupcake fix I wouldn’t hesitate to stop in here, and all the cakes did look amazing.

All of us *** R. with our reviews here are not related.
We looked here for wedding cakes for our wedding. We had a couple samples of cakes in our favorite flavours, and, well, it was pretty hit-​or-​miss. It’s worth checking out if you’re in the area, and they’re very nice about walking in there and letting you buy slices, but, well, we aren’t using them. We’re just having Claire’s from New Haven.

I’ve been getting birthday cakes for my family here for years. The smaller size is roughly $ 20 and is rich enough for 10 people. The filled cupcakes each feed 2 kids, yum. The ginger cookies are the best and sometimes you can find them in other stores locally

My wedding cake came from here 16 years ago. It tasted as wonderful as it looked, decorated with fresh flowers. The white chocolate Mousse if our favorite. They have cakes in the case that you can just stop in and pick up or you can order exactly what you want. We continue to buy our birthday cakes here. They also have great cookies and other goodies.