It's that time of year when it feels like every damn person you know is having a birthday, the predictable result of mid-winter cabin fever.
On a birthday density map, September and October light up, with all the most common birth dates happening in September, so we've rounded up the best places to get cakes. Whether you need an elaborate custom confection or just want an off-the-shelf vanilla round, this list has you covered.
Written by Sarah Murrell
Gallery Pastry Shop
SoBro / 1101 E 54th St G
Scoring a GPS cake for a loved one's birthday is a sure bet that everyone will keep talking about that cake for birthdays to come. Their custom cake game is absolutely without competition in Indianapolis, covering every base from cakes that look like 3D oil paintings to perfect cake incarnations of Darth Vader to pieces of sleek modern art. Or zig when everyone else zags and get a multi-tiered "cake" made of macarons. This is the cake shop made for the Instagram-obsessed.
Circle City Sweets
City Market / 222 E Market St #50
Custom cakes and classic French technique come together in this shop known for their seasonally-inspired menu of French classics. Get a tall stack of silky sponge layered with housemade jams made from local fruit, or go exotic and commission one of Cindy's famous towering croquembouches. If the birthday in question happens to fall on a Friday, it's worth checking to see if you can swap that cake for the infinitely superior CCS special: the pastry-cream-filled doissant, which is by far the best local take on the donut-croissant combo.
Long's Bakery
Stringtown / 1453 N Tremont St
The best place for classic yeast donuts also makes a mean birthday cake, and many Westsiders' birthdays are not complete without a Long's cake. Get it standard sheet shape or get a little round guy, but bring cash when picking up and either a couple extra bucks for a donut or herculean self-control. Long's also does great sheet cookies and brownies if the dessert table is looking a little sparse with only the cake on it. Order over the phone or in person, because they've got a website like they've got a credit card machine.
Taylor's Bakery
Eastgate / 6216 Allisonville Rd
There is something wonderfully innocent and nostalgic about sheet cake and sugar cookies coated with bright icing, and no one does these childhood classics like Taylor's. Get the perfect size cake for your group with that classic whipped buttercream stacked up high in blossoms, balloons, or in the shape of a Thanksgiving turkey. If the celebrant is a big fan of angel food cake, Taylor's also specializes in a rotating lineup of special angel food cake flavors.
Confectioneiress
Zionsville / 80 Brendon Way
Zionsville's cutest little sweet shop is a beast when it comes to custom cakes. Adventurous eaters with a taste for the unusual will appreciate flavor options like banana split and white chocolate raspberry. They'll do your Pinterest board one better, with perfect unicorn cakes for your baby to smash or the succulent garden cake of your social media dreams. They've got a mean selection of grab-and-go cakes in the fridge, too, for those that forgot to mark their calendars but need to show up with a cake today.
Flying Cupcake
Multiple Locations
Can't decide on a cake flavor? The Flying Cupcake means never having to choose. Swap the single cake for a box of different flavors to share with friends, including options for vegan and gluten-free folks. Cupcakes come in a couple different sizes, so grab a big one - the red velvet and wedding cake are dreamy - and a few small ones to taste the whole menu. The Flying Cupcake also has a birthday club, but be aware: it's a one-day offer only. No dilly dallying with the free cupcakes.
Boyden's Bakery
Greenwood / 3953 S Meridian St
The southside has some of the best old school bakeries in the city, and Boyden's is the landmark. Their team of experienced cake decorators have steady hands, and they've perfect the art of stars and ribbons. Boyden's also has a great selection of donuts and cookies, and the comforting aesthetic of their Cooper Black sign and tiny shop front are the biggest tell that they're baking fresh daily.
Hart Bakery
Warren Park / 7030 E 10th St
The Eastside's longstanding bakery might need a paint job, but their cakes are eternally beloved. For the price, there's no better value for a cute custom cake with a moist, tasty center. Hart Bakery is still an independent, family-owned shop with a well-trodden gift shop, so it's possible to hit two birds with one stone - card and cake, all in one.
Illinois Street Food Emporium
Butler-Tarkington / 5550 N Illinois St
Need to walk out of a shop with a fancy cake in the next hour or so? ISFE has you covered with a case full of classics like Italian Cream Cake, mile-high carrot cake and naturally gluten-free options like bete noire. It's got the same feeling as a New York-style deli in an upscale neighborhood, with a case full of reheat-at-home food to go with the cake for those who need to put a nice home-cooked dinner together in a hurry.
Cake Bake Shop
Broad Ripple / 6515 Carrollton Ave
There are cake shops and then there are cake fantasia cafes, and Cake Bake is the latter. The interior looks like the set of a Dior fragrance commercial shoot, and there is something so lovable about its extremely extra decor, and the fact that many of their storybook cakes feature edible glitter decorations. Pop in and stay with a cup of coffee and take some time to fully absorb every silk flower blossom and ripple in the luxe table tops.
Rene's Bakery
Broad Ripple / 6524 Cornell Ave B
Another great outpost of classic French pastry, Renee's squeezes an impressive lot of product from their garden shed-size bakery. Their cake game is much simpler - but these are all about the perfect taste and texture. Custom order your flavor and filling for up to ten people or snag one out of the case, and take it home - there's barely room to stand in Renee's, let alone sit and sip.
Vanilla Bean Bakery
North Willow Farms / 2324 W 86th St
They can do minions. They can do turkeys. They can do football fields and cakes that look like bags of Skittles. Vanilla Bean Bakery specializes in custom cakes in a variety of standard sizes, or you can request a show-stopping piece of sugar sculpture in the shape of your dreams. They can even do large cakes to feed a crowd, if this party requires backup.
Where do you get your cakes baked? Let us know at [email protected]!
