The 14 Best Cake Shops In NYC
Cake has a special place in the American psyche. For many, it will bring to mind afternoons spent baking in the kitchen. Others will vividly remember the taste of their favorite store-bought slice during childhood. Whether a home-baked cake or a store-bought slice, just about every American connects cake with the same idea: celebration. Anne Byrn, author of "American Cake" highlighted this to NPR: "Cake is an icon of American culture. Be it vanilla, lemon, ginger, chocolate, cinnamon, boozy, Bundt, layered or marbled— cake has a special hold on the American palate, imagination, and heart. Why? Because it is celebratory."
While special occasions are the foundation of cake enjoyment in the United States, places like New York City are seeing demand for cake outside of the celebratory setting. Many innovative cake shops are now selling single cake slices.
Thanks in part to the increased demand for cake in this city, innovation in the cake scene is spreading, allowing high-quality desserts and incredible choices to abound. What follows are the highlights of New York's current cake shop scene: stores that prove there is no better time to be a cake lover than now and no better place to be one than in New York.
1. Lloyd's Carrot Cake
Although New York's cake renaissance is new, not all of the city's excellent cake shops are. After all, only the very best shops are able to withstand the test of time. Lloyd's Carrot Cake, which has locations in Riverdale and East Harlem, is one of the few long-standing institutions still gracing the city.
Lloyd's Carrot Cake was founded in 1986 by Lloyd Adams. From the very first day, the eponymous cake was made using Adams' grandmother's recipe. Hailing from the Virgin Islands, hers was a recipe rich in cinnamon, raisins, and walnuts. Thanks to this recipe, and Adams' determined nature, the store rapidly became part of the Riverdale community.
Adams passed away in 2007. The business was then taken on by his wife Betty Campbell-Adams. She expanded Lloyd's Carrot Cake, opening another store in East Harlem. Since her passing in 2020, Lloyd's Carrot Cake has been run by Adams' and Campbell-Adams' children, Lilka and Brandon.
Over the decades, the carrot cake itself has retained its exceptional quality. In an interview for Kent Quarterly (via Issuu), Brandon Adams attributed this success to the company's painstaking production process: "Not to poke our chest out, but our carrot cake really is the best. It's truly an artisan process. We grind up eight hundred pounds of carrots a night that go fresh into the cakes, which helps keep them very moist. The quality and consistency of the product is what connects customers to us."
2. Lady M
Lady M opened in the Upper East Side in 2001. The brand has since gone on to open shops across the U.S. and beyond at a breakneck pace. The cake that fuelled this incredible growth is Lady M's Mille Crêpes. The mille crêpes exemplify Lady M's unique approach to cake baking, in which French technique, Japanese taste, and a Japanese aesthetic are all balanced.
Lady M CEO Ken Romaniszyn described these mille crêpes to Iconic Life as follows: "Our Mille Crêpes cakes are an elaborate labor of love — each painstakingly built from scratch. They are built over a two-day period. The base consists of 20 paper-thin crêpes layered with a combination of pastry crème and whipped crème. Although it sounds simple, the pastry chefs at Lady M have perfected their craft — the crepes can't be too thick or thin nor can the pastry crème be too heavy."
Lady M's cakes don't come cheap; most cost over $100. For this price, customers get premium cakes made with only the finest ingredients including wild French blueberries, super fine flour from Japan, and tea blended in Singapore. Given the company's success, it is evident that the cakes are worth their price.
3. Eileen's Special Cheesecake
Those that live in New York know that cheesecake is taken very seriously there. Defined by its richness, New York cheesecake is made throughout the city with varying levels of success. One of the finest comes from Eileen's Special Cheesecake, a shop known for its light version of the indulgent dessert.
Eileen's was launched by Eileen Avezzano in 1974. Her light, yet intensely flavored cheesecake rapidly became one of New York's most sought-after desserts. Over the years, it has been routinely championed by notable food writers such as Ed Levine, a contributor to The New York Times and the founder of Serious Eats.
Despite being nearly 50 years old, Eileen's cheesecake is by no means outdated. It continues to be championed in the food world and by reviewers on Tripadvisor. One such person wrote: "I've been ordering cheesecakes from Eileen's for Thanksgiving for the past 20 years. The cakes are beautiful, moist and light, and Eileen's has a big variety of cool and unusual flavors." While the classic version is a favorite, you can also try flavors like marble or cherry.
4. Flour Shop
One week before Amirah Kassem opened the first Flour Shop store, one of her cakes — an early iteration of the now conspicuous explosion cake — went viral. Kassem vividly recalled the moment of this initial success to Glamour: "I really wanted to re-create the surprise element through a dessert. I thought, I'll put lollipops and chocolates and things. And when had I cut it open, they were all stuck in there and not coming out ... The third or fourth time, I landed with a ton of sprinkles. And that moment happened when everyone pulled their phones out and started freaking out."
Flour Shop has built on this early success by producing a range of over-the-top, glamorous, and fun cakes. These do not come cheap. The shop's Cara the Unicorn cake starts at $200. Fortunately, cheaper options, like the store's Mini Explosion Cakes, are also available.
The company's New York store is decorated in a similar manner to the brand's cakes. Rainbows cover the walls and balloons dot the space, lending the shop a celebratory feel. Although this style isn't for everyone, this consistent aesthetic makes Flour Shop a must-visit destination for many cake enthusiasts.
5. Lady Wong
New York is home to stores that sell specialties from around the world. In terms of cake, few specialties have attracted as much attention in recent years as the kuih — Southeast Asian steamed cakes — sold at Lady Wong in Manhattan.
Kuih is an umbrella term for a variety of small Southeast Asian foods. At Lady Wong, the vast majority of these are sweet and contain traditional ingredients like pandan. Seleste Tan and Mogan Anthony, the couple behind Lady Wong, make all their kuih from scratch using ingredients directly sourced from farmers in Southeast Asia. The resulting cakes, ranging from onde onde to cassava cake, are exceptional.
Lady Wong also boasts an impressive range of large, whole cakes for sale. These present Southeast Asian flavors via traditional French formats. Beautiful execution demonstrates the couple's experience in crafting fine dining caliber bakes. Cakes such as the Black Sesame and Passion Fruit Entremet and the Strawberry Yuzu Mille Crêpes stand out as some of the most striking cakes in the whole of New York.
6. Ladybird Bakery
Ladybird Bakery comes from the team behind Two Little Red Hens, another incredibly popular New York bakery. Since 1992, Ladybird Bakery has also been one of the most favored shops in the city. It's especially famous for its Brooklyn Blackout cake. Customers rave about it. One Yelp review said of the cake: "I don't find myself in this part of Brooklyn very often but when I am, I cannot help but drop by to pick up this decadent cupcake or cake. It is truly one of the best cake bites in the entire city. I can't vouch for anything else here, but given that this chocolate cake is so awesome, I have to believe the other stuff is just as good. Definitely get yourself a piece of this Brooklyn Blackout."
Ladybird's offerings extend much further than the Brooklyn Blackout. The cake shop also offers red velvet and carrot cakes. What's more, Ladybird Bakery sells a rotating selection of seasonal cakes such as Lemon Cloud Cake, a tart bake sold in the spring and summer that contains both lemon curd and lemon buttercream.
7. From Lucie
Lucie Franc De Ferriere's first cake shop, From Lucy, welcomed 500 customers on its opening day. Just about all of them were after a single serving of cake. This might not sound groundbreaking to many. But in the cake business, where whole cakes have dominated sales for so long, the sudden demand for single portions is transforming the industry.
From Lucie is leading the charge, selling small handmade cakes and slices that eschew perfection in favor of a unique style. This approach was highlighted by Franc De Ferriere in an interview with Cherry Bombe: "I know that a lot of people tend to put pressure on me because I'm French so they're expecting kind of this refined patisserie that's more kind of like a Paris-based or up north-based patisserie. I'm kind of the opposite of that. I'm trying to bring more the French countryside which is more like a rustic look to cake and more like a homemade style. Cake never looks perfect, it looks like it just got out of the oven. It's a nice either light fluffy cake or a spongy moist but it's not a perfect kind of finish to it."
Her approach is working out for her. After opening at 11 a.m., From Lucie routinely sells out of all its small cakes and slices by 1:30 p.m. For those looking to guarantee a taste of Franc De Ferriere's cake, the shop also sells custom-ordered cakes.
8. Baked
Baked is a Brooklyn-based shop that found fame thanks to its range of brownies. Celebrities like Oprah Winfrey and Martha Stewart even sang their praises. Today, the shop is just as well known for its bold-tasting cakes.
While the usual suspects of chocolate, cookies n' cream, and red velvet abound, Baked has made a name for itself by selling a range of ingeniously flavored cakes such as Coca-Cola Bundt cake and Wintermint cake. The most popular of all these slightly leftfield options is the Sweet and Salty cake, which co-owner Renato Poliafito described to Jessie Unicorn Moore: "It's a classic combination that nobody really thinks about — that sweet and salty combination, with dark chocolate, caramel, fleur de sel, it comes together in this way that makes all other desserts bow down to it. When people bite into it, you see their face just ... melt."
The shop also sets itself apart by offering a range of baking and decorating classes that teach customers the skills they need to create Baked-style cakes at home. Enthusiasts can also choose from several cookbooks authored by the owners.
9. City Cakes
While the popularity of single portions is growing rapidly, many cake shops still view show-stopping whole cakes as the heart of the business. This is the case at City Cakes, where incredible feats of baking — and engineering — are crafted for special occasions. Most impressive of all is the 3D sculpted cakes that are modeled to look like everything from the Roman Colosseum to a Pacman arcade console.
All of the cakes are expertly finished, but when it comes to wedding cakes, head cake designer Benny Rivera makes sure to keep things extra clean. He said to Cake Masters Magazine: "My secret to working with wedding cakes is just one thing, to keep it clean. Even when a design can be a little bit too much or is covered with a lot of flowers, painted work, sugar details ... it is very important to keep the work neat and clean."
Of course, both 3D sculpted cakes and wedding cakes can be incredibly expensive. Fortunately, City Cakes also offers a selection of cupcakes, single cake slices, and cookies, meaning everyone can sample Rivera's handiwork.
10. Lysée
Lysée is making a name for itself by producing exquisitely high-end, individually portioned cakes. The shop's atmosphere matches its bakes. Both are more akin to a Michelin-starred restaurant than your local bakery.
This is most apparent during the shopping experience. Lysée presents its cakes in a well-lit room, giving one the feeling of visiting an art gallery or museum. Such drama seems only pertinent given the exquisite quality of the cakes. The most famous of these is Corn, a corn-flavored mousse cake that has been crafted to resemble corn-on-the-cob. It is a masterful cake that does service to chef Eunji Lee's formidable skill.
Lysée's atmosphere and cakes make it obvious that Lee has worked at Michelin-starred restaurants throughout her career. Yet this knowledge did not prepare New York for the announcement that Lysée has started offering a paired wine menu to serve alongside its cakes. While brave, the addition of a wine menu only adds to Lysée's reputation as the premier dessert experience in New York; a sentiment echoed on Yelp: "The service here is outstanding ... The desserts are unique and airy with a French technique and a Korean influence. It's definitely expensive but this is not a casual dessert place. It is meant to be a unique sensory experience in a private setting."
11. Rob Ben-Israel Cakes
Rob Ben-Israel Cakes is the gold standard of custom-made whole cakes. Ben-Israel's cakes are towering structures used to celebrate the most glamorous of occasions. Many are so beautiful that they would not look out of place in a Disney movie.
Of course, cakes of this nature can be incredibly expensive; Ben-Israel's minimum cake order is reportedly $500 and he consistently makes cakes that cost thousands. In other words, Rob Ben-Israel Cakes is one of the least economically accessible cake shops in New York. That being said, there is probably no better cake shop in the entire city, either.
Ben-Israel is always in demand. Customers often book him a year in advance, as explained to The Chef's Connection: "Most people start investigating half a year to a year in advance. We want them to come in when they have made some decisions about colors and numbers, but the crunch time is three to four months before, so it's pre-season. But of course, we will do last minute. Brides generally come to us three months, half a year, even a year in advance."
12. Soma Cakes
Another jaw-dropping cake shop located in New York City is Soma Cakes. This cake shop is the brainchild of Hiroyo Ruiz; a cake maker and pastry chef that was raised in Tokyo and trained at New York City's Institute of Culinary Education. Ruiz's career has included stints at a number of elegant establishments including Nobu, Financier Patisserie, and Ladurée.
All of Ruiz's formidable skills are utilized to craft Soma Cakes' modern, eye-catching designs. These are usually perfectly formed cubes or cylinders decorated with swooping sail-like pieces of wafer paper. Cakes of this caliber demand high prices. The minimum order at Soma Cakes is $500. Ordering by the slice is not an option.
Few people can afford to splurge on these types of cakes. If, however, you are searching for the perfect cake to celebrate a special occasion, Soma Cakes might be the shop for you. Just be aware that Soma Cakes is visitable by appointment only.
13. Ovenly
Ovenly was launched by two people who met at a food-centric book club. While literature and food formed the basis of their friendship, both Agatha Kulaga and Erin Patinkin had other things in common. This shaped Ovenly immensely, as Kulaga explained in an interview with Spirit Spritz: "Erin and I both come from Eastern European background where a lot of nut flours and spices are used in baking, so that really inspired many of our recipes. We want to create pastries that have the perfect balance of sweet and salty, so nothing is cloyingly sweet or overwhelming ... We want our pastries to bring people moments of joy to and be a daily indulgence. It's an experience that brings you a little bit of nostalgia but that also has this unexpected twist in the end."
Ovenly grew rapidly, opening several stores across Manhattan. During this process, the cake shop became known for its innovative selection of cakes, especially its Caramel Apple Pie cake.
Earlier this year, several Ovenly stores abruptly closed. Two stores now remain; one in Greenpoint, the other in Cobble Hill. A range of cakes can be purchased in a variety of sizes from both. Many customers also enjoy the brand's selection of cupcakes.
14. ByClio
Clio Goodman opened her first bakery at the age of 23. Puddin' was a runaway success. Unfortunately for Goodman, this success did not last. The business closed in 2014.
Goodman's new venture, ByClio, is a cake shop that once again demonstrates her mastery of baking, but this time in a manner that is more likely to last. In practice, this means offering a flexible and rotating menu of cakes for sale by the slice. These include flavors such as Rhubarb Lemongrass Buckle and Orange Sage Olive Oil. All slices cost between $7 to $12.50.
While still selling whole cakes, Goodman has made an effort to distance herself from the social media-driven world of perfect-looking desserts. She explained why to The Washington Post: "Instagram can really make people feel like they're not doing enough when they are doing enough. But when you see something, you know, a little bit messy or a little bit imperfect, it's like, 'Okay, well, I'm a little bit imperfect too, and that looks great. So maybe I'm doing great'." The new business model evidently works, it's estimated that ByClio sells around 200 cakes per month, more than enough to satiate a large swathe of New York's cake-loving inhabitants.