Pistachio beats every flavour: our milk cake orders since 2023

Pistachio is the most ordered milk cake flavour at Cake Trays, and it is not close. Since January 2023, pistachio milk cake trays have been in 448 of the 1,077 orders that included a milk cake, ahead of Biscoff on 332 and Oreo on 115, and pistachio has come out on top in every single year.

We are a family-run bakery in Dagenham, East London, and milk cake trays have been on our menu throughout that time. Here is what our own order book says about the flavours East London actually chooses, when it orders them, and how to pick the right tray for your table.

The numbers: our milk cake tray orders since 2023

These are counts of orders that included each flavour, from 1 January 2023 to early October 2026, taken straight from our own order system.

• Pistachio: 448 orders
• Biscoff: 332 orders
• Oreo: 115 orders
• Chocolate: 46 orders
• Vanilla: 42 orders
• Caramel: 15 orders
• Rooh Afza: 11 orders

On top of those, our two tray special offer appeared in 128 orders. Pistachio alone was in roughly four out of every ten milk cake orders over the whole period.

What stands out to us is how steady it is. Pistachio beat Biscoff in 2023 (177 to 121), in 2024 (150 to 115), in 2025 (70 to 60) and again so far in 2026 (51 to 36). Biscoff is a strong, reliable second. Nothing else comes near either of them.

Shop milk cake trays → Every flavour is £23.99 a tray, with £4.99 delivery across East London and Essex. Pick your date at checkout.

What a milk cake tray is (and how it relates to tres leches)

A milk cake tray is a soft sponge soaked in a sweet milk syrup, topped with cream and finished with a flavour on top, then set in a tray so it can be cut into squares and shared. If you know tres leches, the Latin American cake soaked in three kinds of milk, you already know the idea. Milk cake is a close cousin: the same wet, creamy, spoonable crumb, served cold.

Ours come in a 9 by 9 inch foil tray. That gives 9 generous squares, or up to 16 party size pieces if you are feeding a crowd. They are best served chilled straight from the fridge and eaten within 48 hours of delivery. We wrote a longer explainer on what a milk cake tray is if you are new to them.

The tray matters more than people think. A soaked sponge is too soft to stand up on a cake board, so a tray is the natural home for it. It also means you can put it straight on the table, cut it where it sits and keep the leftovers covered in the fridge without moving anything.

Why pistachio wins, in our view

The numbers tell us what people choose. Why they choose it is our opinion, but we have a few ideas.

It looks like a celebration. A pistachio tray is white cream under a thick layer of crushed green and gold nuts. Put it on a table next to anything else and it is the one people photograph. You can see it in the picture above.

The contrast works. Milk cake is soft and sweet all the way through. Crushed pistachio adds a light crunch and a gently nutty, slightly savoury note that stops the whole thing feeling too rich. Every forkful has two textures.

It fits the table it lands on. Pistachio is a much loved flavour in South Asian and Middle Eastern sweets, and a lot of our milk cake orders are for family gatherings where those flavours already feel like home. Pistachio milk cake sits comfortably next to everything else on that table.

Biscoff wins a different crowd. It is caramel, biscuit and spread, sweet and familiar, and it is the one we would point to for anyone who does not want nuts. Our Biscoff Milk Cake Tray is topped edge to edge with crumbled biscuit and a drizzle of spread.

The flavours that surprise people: Rooh Afza and caramel

Our smallest sellers are the ones people ask about most when they first see the menu. Caramel has been in 15 orders since 2023 and Rooh Afza in 11. They will never trouble pistachio, and we are honest about that.

We keep them because they are not trying to be pistachio. Rooh Afza is the rose syrup many families grew up drinking, and our Rooh Afza tray is soaked with it and finished with red syrup swirls through the cream. For the people who love that flavour, nothing else on the menu will do. Caramel is the gentle one, a soft milk cake with a deep caramel drizzle, for anyone who finds Biscoff too sweet.

When East London orders milk cake: the yearly peak

Our milk cake orders follow one clear rhythm, and it is not Christmas or summer. It is Ramadan and Eid.

In 2023, our busiest milk cake month was April, with 101 orders. That year Eid al Fitr fell in late April. In 2024 the peak moved to March and April (66 and 55 orders), as Ramadan started in March and Eid came in early April. In 2025 it was March (60 orders), with Eid at the end of the month. In 2026 March was the peak again (63 orders), and February more than doubled January as Ramadan began in the middle of the month.

Because the Islamic calendar moves about 11 days earlier each year, our busiest weeks move with it. December gives a smaller lift most years. Ramadan 2027 is expected to start around early February, with Eid al Fitr expected around early March, so if a milk cake is part of your plans, get your date booked early. Those are our busiest weeks of the year for milk cake.

Which tray for which occasion

Here is how we would choose, based on what people order and what we have learned making them.

• Eid, iftar and family gatherings: pistachio first, Rooh Afza if you want something more traditional on the table.
• Office treats and mixed groups: Biscoff. It is the safest crowd pleaser if you do not know everyone's tastes, and it has no nut topping.
• Children's parties: Oreo or chocolate. Familiar flavours are an easy win with younger guests.
• Big gatherings: our two tray special offer is £39.99, which works out at up to 32 party size pieces.

One honest note on allergies: pistachio trays are topped with nuts, and our kitchen handles nuts, so if anyone at your gathering has a nut allergy, speak to us before ordering.

Frequently asked questions

Written by the Cake Trays Team, a family-run bakery in Dagenham, East London, baking celebration cakes to order at caketrays.co.uk.