Hey friend, get excited because today I‘m dishing all about the deliciously fun world of Send a Cake! 🎂 If you haven‘t heard, they‘re an online cake delivery service that‘s blowing up social media with their explosive (literally) cake gift boxes.
Imagine sending your BFF a beautiful box that showers them in confetti, ribbons, and photos when they open it—oh, and there‘s a gourmet cake inside too! Sound amazing? I‘ve ordered from Send a Cake multiple times now, so I‘m ready to give you my honest take.
But first, let me back up and explain exactly what Send a Cake is, in case you‘re new to this gifting phenomenon. Started in 2019 by baking enthusiast James Siew, Send a Cake is all about creating wow-factor cakes that double as an interactive unboxing experience.
The concept is simple: You go on their website, pick one of their pre-designed explosion gift boxes (or customize your own), write a personal note, then have it shipped to your lucky recipient. Send a Cake takes care of the rest, hand-crafting and boxing up your creation to deliver on the date you choose.
What makes Send a Cake stand out is the crazy level of personalization. Beyond picking your cake flavor (from seasonally rotating options like red velvet, confetti, and guava), you can deck out your gift box with all sorts of add-ons. I‘m talking a pop-up Happy Birthday song, edible image photos, plush toys, even mini liquor bottles!
You can also choose from themed Send a Cake boxes for different occasions, like:
🦋 Rainbow Butterfly Surprise Cake Box
🎉 Big Party Celebration Cake Box
👶 Baby Gender Reveal Cake Box
🎮 Retro Gamer Cake Arcade Box
The unboxing is where the real magic happens. Your recipient lifts the lid to be greeted with a burst of confetti, a flurry of butterflies, or a shower of candy and gift items raining down. I wish I could be there to see their reaction every time!
Okay, so now that you‘ve got the basics, let‘s talk about how Send a Cake compares to the other online dessert delivery services out there. Spoiler alert: They‘ve got some serious advantages.
Send a Cake vs. The Competition
In the age of Instagram and TikTok, photogenic food gifts are all the rage. Brands like Milk Bar, Baked by Melissa, and Goldbelly have been duking it out for years to see who can create the most eye-catching, share-worthy desserts to ship nationwide. But in my opinion, Send a Cake has them all beat when it comes to the gifting experience.
First, there‘s the wow factor. Your giftee might be expecting a cake, but they‘re not expecting it to come with puff balls, sparklers, and a spray of metallic ribbons! Send a Cake really nails that surprise and delight feeling.
Another huge plus is the customization. With most online bakeries, your options are pretty limited. You can pick your flavor and maybe add a gift message, but that‘s about it. Send a Cake lets you go crazy personalizing your gift box with photos, music, stuffed animals, and even liquor mini bottles! It‘s more than a cake – it‘s an event.
Of course, all these frills do come at a price. Send a Cake‘s gift boxes start at $30 and can quickly climb past $100 once you start adding in custom goodies. But considering most of their competitors charge $50-$70 for a plain old cake, I think the cost is justified for a special occasion.
Don‘t just take it from me – the proof is in the numbers. The online cake delivery market has been growing steadily year-over-year, projected to reach $2.7 billion by 2027. And during the pandemic, demand shot up as people looked for new ways to celebrate remotely.
According to Technavio market research, the online cake delivery sector saw a whopping 38% increase in 2020 alone. As one of the trendiest new brands in this space, Send a Cake is well positioned to ride that growth and keep wowing customers with their signature "cake explosions."
My Send a Cake Experience
Now I know you‘re dying to hear about my personal Send a Cake adventures! I first discovered this company back in 2019, when I was looking for a sweet way to cheer up my bestie after her breakup. I‘m a bit of an online shopping addict (guilty!) so Send a Cake‘s crazy cake bombs immediately caught my eye.
I ended up going with their Pink Butterfly Surprise Box and added some sassy breakup-themed photos to customize it (thank you, meme generator). The ordering process was stupid-easy, taking me less than 10 minutes from start to finish. They even let me schedule my delivery a month in advance!
When the big day finally came, I was almost as excited as my friend. She called me SCREAMING about how obsessed she was with her gift – "the butterflies were so extra, I can‘t even!" Apparently the red velvet cake was also insanely delicious, super moist and flavorful.
I‘ve since ordered the Birthday Sprinkles Explosion Cake Box for my niece (huge hit) and even splurged on the Bro Box Beer Cake for my boyfriend‘s 30th (he loved it). Each time, the cakes arrived exactly as scheduled and in pristine condition thanks to the careful packaging.
The only slight negative I‘ve encountered was a shipping delay due to a winter storm. Send a Cake was quick to notify me and reshipped the cake for free, but it was still a bummer for my sister to not get her birthday box on time. I highly recommend opting for the $15 guaranteed shipping if your gift is time sensitive!
One thing I love is that Send a Cake has been adding new gift box designs and flavors on a regular basis. Last summer they released a Pride sprinkles cake and a vegan/GF Meyer lemon cake (yay for inclusivity!). I‘m always stalking their social media to see what‘s coming next.
What Customers Are Saying
You know I‘ve always got my ear to the ground for the latest buzz! So of course I did a deep dive into Send a Cake‘s 60,000+ online customer reviews to see what the word on the street is. Spoiler: it‘s pretty darn glowing.
With an average 4.5 rating on Trustpilot, the vast majority of Send a Cake customers are raving about their experience. Words like "amazing," "wow," and "so much fun" come up over and over in their review titles.
Buyers gush about how impressed their gift recipients were with the elaborate unboxing surprises, saying things like "she was over the moon!" and "best reaction ever, worth every penny." There are so many cute stories of Send a Cake boxes delighting kids, parents, friends, and coworkers.
The cakes themselves also get high praise, with recurring comments about how fresh, flavorful, and generously sized they are. Send a Cake‘s attention to detail with the packaging (sturdy boxes, cool packs, padding) seems to ensure that most orders arrive in great shape.
On the less positive end of things, the handful of 1-3 star reviews mostly cite delivery problems (cakes arriving late or damaged) and some disappointment with the cake-to-filling ratio in certain boxes. It‘s a good reminder that you‘re mainly paying for the unboxing experience vs. a huge, elaborate cake.
There are also a few Send a Cake customers wishing for a wider variety of cake flavors and more allergy-friendly or diet-specific options (keto, sugar-free, etc). Hopefully this is something the company expands on as they grow!
Overall though, Send a Cake scores big points for creativity, quality, and customer service – all important things in my book. I‘ve seen them actively responding to reviews and emails, always aiming to make things right if anything goes wrong.
The Final Verdict
Alright friend, let‘s recap all the juicy details! After carefully reviewing Send a Cake‘s products, ordering process, and mountain of customer feedback, I can confidently say that this company lives up to the hype.
Their signature cake explosion boxes make such a fun, memorable gift for any occasion. I love the level of personalization they offer (the photo cakes are too good) and the genuine delight they bring people. It‘s just really hard to go wrong with a surprise burst of confetti, you know?
Compared to other online dessert delivery services, Send a Cake definitely has an edge when it comes to the gifting experience. You get so much more than just a cake – it‘s really about creating a special moment.
Yes, their cake boxes can get a bit spendy once you load up on the add-ons. But isn‘t that what gift-giving is all about? I‘m more than happy to shell out for the wow factor on a major milestone or holiday. And starting at $30, their basic boxes are pretty on par with competitors.
Quality and freshness seem to be a big priority for this company, which I appreciate. You can tell they use real, premium ingredients (no mystery cake mixes here). And their detailed packing process gets the cake to your loved one‘s doorstep in one piece.
The main thing I‘d love to see from Send a Cake is more variety, especially in the allergy-friendly and diet-specific realm. Some gluten-free, vegan, or low-sugar cake options would be clutch. I know they‘re a young company still, so I‘m optimistic their menu will keep expanding!
For now, I‘m happy to keep Send a Cake in my back pocket for all my VIP gifting needs. The joy on my friends‘ and fam‘s faces when they open their cake mail is just priceless! And isn‘t that the whole point?
I hope this Send a Cake review has given you all the deets you need to decide if this trending cake delivery service is worth the hype. I know I‘ll be "sending a cake" again real soon! 🎂📬