FAQ
Important notice
COVID-19 postponements and cancellation policy
This applies to orders placed on or after 22nd March 2020 until further notice
Although our shop and bakery in Bishop’s Stortford is closed for now due to the coronavirus outbreak, you can still order your special occasion cakes through this site. However, we strongly recommend not placing any orders for collection on or before Thursday 14th May.
Due to the uncertainty at this time because of Covid-19, we have put in place this special postponements and cancellation policy to enable you to feel confident in booking your special occasion cake with Karen’s Cakes. Our aim is to be as flexible as possible whilst still being realistic about the future and how it may affect your plans. If you have any further questions of worries please do not hesitate to contact us via the contact page on this website.
Postponements
If the period of closure is extended by the government and your order is required during the new period we are happy to postpone until a later date of your choosing or carry the amount paid over to a different order, again at a later date. This is subject to availability and the usual notice period of booking lead times. Should we be unable to complete your order for the new date for any reason, we will refund you in full.
Cancellations
If the period of closer is extended by the government and your cake is required during the new period meaning we will be unable to fulfil your order and you wish to cancel, we will refund you in full.
Postponements and Cancellations due to self isolation
If you are in a period of self isolation or ill due to Coronavirus when your cake is required we are happy to either postpone or refund in full (*subject to the notice given) whichever is your preferred option.
*If your order has been started, as a gesture of goodwill we would give a partial refund to reflect the ingredients and overheads costs only.
If we are in the same situation i.e. in a period of self isolation and can not fulfil your order, again we are happy to postpone or refund in full.
Orders placed after 21st March 2020 for collections any dates on or before Thursday 14th May 2020
We strongly recommend not booking a cake for this period, however if you choose to please take note of the following.
It will be extremely unlikely that we be able to complete any orders up to and including Thursday 14th May 2020. If you have chosen to place an order for during that period and we can not complete it because we are still closed we will refund you. A £3.50 cancellation fee will be deducted to cover bank and admin charges.
We will be closely mentoring the situation and if we are able to re-open prior to the 14th May we will contact you informing you and complete your order as placed. Alternatively at that point you can choose to postpone due to self isolation as stated above.
Portion guide
This is an approximate guide to the number of portions you can get from our standard depth cakes. For designs that state a ‘deep’ cake increased the number of portions by approximately 15% and extra deep by 50%.
Vanilla Genoese/Chocolate Devil cake /Belgian chocolate cake
12cm – up to 10 portions, 15cm– up to 16 portions, 20cm– up to 30 portions, 22cm – up to 40, 25cm– up to 50 portions, 30cm– up to 70 portions
Rich fruit
15cm – up to 25 portions, 20cm– up to 40 portions, 25cm– up to 60 portions, 30cm– up to 90 portions
Where do I park to collect my cake?
There are double yellow lines outside our shop which means you CAN stop to collect your cake especially if it is large and heavy. We strongly recommend that you have paid in full so that the collection process is as quick as possible and we are happy for you to phone to let us know an estimated time of arrival. Please do not stop on the zig-zags by the zebra crossing as this is illegal and will result in an instant fine of approximately £100 and a minimum of 3 points on your licence. It is also a criminal offence to park on the pavement, so we respectfully ask that you do not do this either.
Where should I put the cake to transport it home?
We advise either in the boot or a foot well, not on a seat which is not flat and the cake could fly off if you have to break in an emergency. If the cake is not too large then on a passengers lap is ok but we do not recommend this for heavy cakes or long journeys.
How long will my cake keep?
As a guide, the cake will be at its best for up to 7 days from collection, cupcakes up to 3 days. We also advise that you order your cake for collection as near to the date you intend on eating it as possible so that you are enjoying it at its freshest. All of our cakes are baked to order, so any surplus that you want to keep for longer can be frozen.
Where should I keep my cake?
Room temperature is fine but away from direct sun light or radiators. We do not recommend keeping your cake in a fridge or somewhere too cold as it will make the icing go wet and sticky once it comes back to room temperature. We do not recommend leaving your cake in a car on hot or cold days or a garage or out building where there may be insects or vermin present unbeknown to you.
Can you make cakes suitable for people with food allergies?
We offer a gluten/wheat free Belgian chocolate cake in all sizes and cupcakes and gluten/wheat free Victoria sponge cake in limited sizes and cupcake range and a dairy free vanilla cake in limited sizes. With regard to nut allergies, we do take orders for these although we have nuts on the premises, therefore we cannot 100% guarantee they will not contain nut traces. For that reason we have to ask you to sign a disclaimer stating you are happy to go ahead on that basis. Unfortunately we cannot cater for any other allergies at this time.
Should require a more comprehensive breakdown of the ingredients contained within our cakes please contact us directly.
Ordering and collecting a wedding cake
To ensure your cake is at its best we advise that you collect no more than 3 days before your wedding day. All of our cakes are securely boxed ready for transportation. Please see above for transportation and storage details.
Delivery of wedding cakes
Deliveries will be during normal working hours and direct to the wedding reception venue. We do not deliver to private addresses unless the wedding reception is to be held there and are quoted for on an individual basis. Please note deliveries on a Sunday or Monday are quoted on an individual basis and are subject to availability.
Please advise us of your expected arrival time at the venue on the day of the wedding (‘Any Bishops Stortford town centre restaurant’ – include restaurant name) together with contact name and number of the person co-ordinating for you at the venue on the ‘order notes’ section of the checkout page when placing your order.
Our delivery area is within 50 minutes (a round trip of 1 hour 40 minutes) drive from our Bishops Stortford shop.
Where possible we will deliver and display the cake, however in some very rare circumstances this may not be possible, for example when the ceremony takes place in the same room as the reception. If this is the case, please liaise with your reception venue that they will be happy to accept delivery and take responsibility for displaying the cake.
For venues not shown on our list and fitting the above criteria please ask us to give you a personal quote.
Can the glittered decorations on my cake be eaten ?
The glitter we use is non edible/food contact safe glitter.
Although it is not recommended this type of glitter should consumed in volume, if small quantities do come into contact with your cake this is fine. However any decorations themselves covered in the glitter are not edible and we recommend that you remove these before serving your cake.
Cake topper range
Although these are all hand crafted from icing they are unsuitable for consumption as the icing used has to set extremely hard and would be unpleasant to eat.
