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Sunday, February 16th
Magnolia Bakery began in 1996 in NYC's West Village, featuring cakes, cookies, pies, and pudding that got everyone's attention in the neighborhood. This bakery now has locations throughout New York, one each in LA and Chicago, and even in some more far-flung locales like Qatar and India. To share their love even further, Magnolia Bakery has a tasty selection of treats that can be shipped wherever you'd like them to go.
Just 4 flavors of cake
At first glance, the selection of cakes at Magnolia Bakery seems pretty scant, especially when you set the filter to just show the options available for nationwide delivery. There are only four flavors to consider: confetti, chocolate, carrot, and red velvet. But, as you start clicking on those cakes, you'll see that the possibilities expand a bit.
2 different cake sizes
To start, the cakes come in different sizes. A 3-layer, 6” cake can serve 6 to 8 people, while the 9” version serves 25-28 (!). Amazingly, there's not a huge price difference between those sizes: using the red velvet cake as an example, the smaller version is priced at $60 and the bigger one is $85. However, not every cake size is available for nationwide delivery, so keep that in mind.
Some cakes can be customized
The next perk that Magnolia Bakery offers on its cakes that you won't find everywhere else? Customization. The options vary by cake - for example, the red velvet cake lets you add a custom inscription of up to 22 characters in the color of your choice, while the chocolate layer cake only offers "Happy Birthday” in green. Some cakes show options that aren't available for delivered cakes, though, so don't get your taste buds in a tizzy thinking you can get the cream cheese icing version of that red velvet cake; delivered versions only come with whipped vanilla icing.
Fast delivery
But, once you figure out which cake you can order and all of the customizations you'd prefer, add it to your cart so you can select a delivery date. We were impressed that we could order a cake on a Friday and have it arrive at our recipient's location by Tuesday. That's also the part of the process where you can add a gift message or skip that part.
Shipping fees are expensive
Buckle up when it comes to shipping fees: on a 6” cake, we were charged $35 for priority overnight shipping (even though it wouldn't arrive until Tuesday; we figure that means it would be baked and sent on Monday, which makes sense). That also doesn't include the $3.15 in Route shipping protection that was included by default; you can uncheck that box if you prefer, but like many small businesses, Magnolia Bakery won't cover issues with their shipping carrier without that extra insurance.
Lackluster feedback on cake delivery
How about this bakery's reputation? The company earned a "C-” from the Better Business Bureau, but it was for failing to respond to the three complaints filed with the BBB in the last three years. (Hardly a track record of abject failure...) We found plenty of love for Magnolia Bakery in other places, with lots of mentions of the store's beloved banana pudding. But cake delivery? Those comments were harder to find, and unfortunately, when we did find them, they were from disappointed customers. One person said that the cake arrived on time and in good condition, but it tasted freezer burnt. Another said that her son's birthday cake, ordered a week in advance and with special overnight shipping, never made it; as she put it, "There are no redos on birthdays. Candles can't be added to an apology.”
Doesn't spell out a guarantee
That leaves us wishing that Magnolia Bakery were a little more specific with their satisfaction policy. As it stands, it says that if you have an issue with your online order (your cake arrives in bad shape), you should reach out by email as soon as possible, and issues are handled on a case-by-case basis. That's not exactly a promise to make it right, and we're not thrilled with the email-only customer service approach either.
Not our favorite option for cake delivery
If you were ordering your cake online for local pickup, we could recommend that you give Magnolia Bakery a try. Most people who try their treats at one of their in-store locations have nothing but good things to say. However, for cake delivery, this shop only comes in with a below average score here. The flavors and sizes are more limited when shipping cakes, the delivery fees are really high, and there's not enough reassurance from Magnolia Bakery that they'll make it right if you've spent in the neighborhood of $100 to get a cake delivered and something goes wrong.
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From cutesy Pinterest-worthy birthday cakes covered in fondant to the multi-tiered masterpieces of modern weddings, cakes have come a long way since then. Today, they're not just desserts but edible works of art, reflecting trends like naked cakes, drip designs, and inventive flavors such as matcha, churro, and ube. Cakes are synonymous with special occasions, but they've also found their way into everyday moments - because sometimes, you don't need a reason to treat yourself.
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