Why our cakes arrive in the evening, and how to plan your party

Our weekday cake deliveries run in the evening, between 6:30pm and 10:30pm, because we spend the day baking and piping cakes to order and send them out once they are finished. Saturday is a full delivery day, Sunday deliveries run from 12:30pm to 2:30pm, and you can collect from Dagenham by appointment instead.

That is not how most cake websites work, and we know it surprises some people when they reach the cart. So here is the honest version: how a family-run bakery in Dagenham, East London actually gets cakes to your door, why we do it this way, and how to time your order so the cake is ready for the party.

The short answer: our delivery windows

When you pick a date in the cart, these are the windows you will see:

Monday to Friday: evening slots from 6:30pm to 8:30pm and 8:30pm to 10:30pm.
Saturday: a full delivery day, with two hour slots from lunchtime through to the evening.
Sunday: 12:30pm to 2:30pm.
Collection: from Dagenham, by appointment. You choose a collection time in the cart.

Delivery is £4.99 across East London and Essex. The calendar in the cart only shows dates and slots that are genuinely open, so if a slot is there, you can book it.

Shop birthday cakes → Our classic Birthday Cake starts at £32.99, with £4.99 delivery across East London and Essex. Pick your date at checkout.

Why a family bakery delivers in the evening

Every cake we sell is baked for one order. Nothing is sitting on a shelf waiting for someone to buy it. That means the daytime belongs to the oven and the piping bag: sponges baked, cooled, filled, coated in buttercream, chilled and piped. A vintage heart cake with layered Lambeth piping can take a long time to finish, and we would rather give it that time than rush it out of the door at lunchtime.

Once the day's cakes are finished, they go out. Doing it in one evening run, rather than dotting deliveries through the day, is what lets a small team keep delivery at £4.99 across East London and Essex.

There are two other reasons we like evenings. First, people are home. A cake that arrives at 2pm on a Wednesday often lands with a neighbour or sits in a porch. A cake that arrives at 7pm goes straight into the hands of the person who ordered it. Second, buttercream prefers cool air. A soft, hand piped cake travels better on a mild evening than in the middle of a warm afternoon.

What our customers actually choose

We looked at every order placed in the 60 days to 6 October 2026 where the customer picked a slot at checkout. There were 90 of them, and they tell a clear story.

Most people choose delivery. 62 of the 90, about seven in ten, had their cake delivered. The other 28 collected from Dagenham.

Weekday evenings do most of the work. 42 of the 62 deliveries, about two in three, went out on a weekday evening. Of those, 32 chose the earlier 6:30pm to 8:30pm window, about three in four.

Saturday is the single busiest day. 15 deliveries went out on Saturdays, about one in four of the total, more than any other day of the week. Nearly half of those, 7 of 15, chose the 12:30pm to 2:30pm slot, which is perfect for an afternoon party.

Sunday is the quiet one. Only 5 deliveries were on a Sunday, all in the lunchtime window.

So the evening rhythm is not something people put up with. Most of our customers plan around it without any trouble.

Planning a party: the evening before, or Saturday

Here is how we would plan it if it were our own party.

Party on a weekday evening? Book that evening's early slot, 6:30pm to 8:30pm. The cake arrives as people are getting home and goes straight on the table.

Party during the day on a weekday? Book delivery for the evening before. A buttercream cake is perfectly happy to spend a night at home, boxed, in a cool room away from radiators and sunny windows. In warm weather, the fridge is the safest place. Take it out a while before serving so the buttercream softens, because it tastes best soft.

Party on a Saturday? You have the most choice. Lunchtime slots suit afternoon parties, later slots suit evening ones.

Party on a Sunday afternoon? Book the Sunday 12:30pm to 2:30pm slot, or book Saturday and keep the cake cool overnight.

Party on a Sunday morning? Saturday evening delivery is the way to do it.

One more thing: book early. The calendar shows what is open, and the popular slots, especially Saturday lunchtime, fill first. We would rather you had your choice of slot than found the one you wanted had gone.

Collection by appointment in Dagenham

About three in ten of our recent customers collect instead of having the cake delivered. It saves the delivery charge and gives you a little more flexibility over timing. You choose collection in the cart, pick your date and a time from the slots shown, and we will have the cake boxed and ready when you arrive.

Collection is by appointment only, because we are a bakery working to order rather than a counter you can walk up to. The exact details for collection are given when you book.

If you are collecting, bring the car rather than a bus. Carry the box flat, keep it on the floor or in the boot rather than on a seat, and keep the car cool.

Where we deliver for £4.99

We deliver across East London and Essex for a flat £4.99. Our East London cake delivery page has the full list of areas and a postcode checker, so you can confirm your address before you start choosing a cake.

If you are sending a cake to someone else, the evening windows work well for surprises too. Most people are home after work, and a cake at the door at 7pm is a lovely way to end a birthday.

Milk cake trays travel especially well. Our Pistachio Milk Cake Tray (£23.99) comes in its own tray, so it is an easy one to send across town. Pistachio is our most ordered flavour, and the full range is in our milk cake trays collection.

How to pick your date and slot at checkout

Choose your cake and add any message or colour notes in the box on the product page. Our classic Heart Cake (£39.99) is the most ordered cake on our menu, if you need a place to start.

In the cart, choose delivery or collection. For delivery, enter your postcode, then pick a date from the calendar and a slot from the list. For collection, pick a date and time. Only open dates and slots appear, so there is no guessing.

Then check out as normal. Your order records the date and window you chose, so there is nothing else to arrange.

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.