Key points at a glance
- Custom cakes are consultation orders, not click & collect goods: instead of a shopping cart they need a request form, a quote and a written order confirmation.
- A good form asks for occasion, date, number of guests, desired design with photo, allergies and pickup or delivery. More required fields put people off, fewer lead to long back-and-forth.
- A cake page with gallery, starting prices and lead times answers the most common questions before anyone calls, and is found for searches like “order cake” plus your town.
- For custom and wedding cakes a deposit and a tiered cancellation rule are common. There is usually no right of withdrawal for cakes made to the customer’s wishes (§ 18 FAGG, § 312g BGB), but you should still agree the cancellation rule in advance.
- Ask actively about allergies and confirm in writing what the cake contains. Only promise “allergen-free” or “gluten-free” if your bakehouse can really deliver it.
This post is general information and does not replace legal or tax advice. Rules change and some differ between federal states: check the details with your chamber of commerce (WKO) or IHK, the competent authority or your tax adviser.
Why cake requests belong on your website
Anyone looking for a wedding or custom cake almost always starts online: “wedding cake patisserie” plus town, “order custom cake”, “photo cake”. The businesses that get found have their own page on exactly this topic, with pictures, a price range and a clear way to send a request. If you only offer a phone number, you lose the customers who plan on the sofa at 10 pm and have already asked a competitor by the next morning.
The online request has a second advantage for your business: it arrives complete. Instead of five phone calls for one cake, you have the occasion, date, number of guests, design photo and allergies at a glance and can calculate in peace. That takes pressure off the shop counter at peak times and off the pastry chefs who used to decipher handwritten notes.
The cake page: gallery, flavours, starting prices and lead times
Before anyone fills in the form, they want to know whether your style fits and whether the budget is enough. A dedicated “Cakes to order” page answers that and filters out requests that would never turn into orders anyway. This is what belongs on it:
- Gallery with 12 to 30 of your own photos, sorted by occasion: wedding, birthday, children, christening and communion, companies. Show only your own work, never photos from the internet. How cakes look good in daylight is explained in Food photography.
- Flavours and fillings: sponges, creams, fruit fillings and the house classics, each with allergen codes.
- Sizes and starting prices: for example “custom cake from 16 portions, from … euros” or a price per slice or per person. A price range is more honest than “price on request” and saves requests that fail on budget.
- Lead times for each type of cake and a note on fully booked dates in wedding season.
- Process in three to five steps: request, quote, deposit, order confirmation, pickup or delivery.
- Deposit and cancellation rule in plain words, and the link to the request form.
Starting prices on the website should also be final prices including VAT. What applies to price display is explained in the guides on price labelling in Austria and Germany. Work out the price per slice from ingredient cost and target markup with the menu price calculator, and use the recipe scaler to scale sponges and creams from a small tin to a large tier.
The request form: the fields you need
The form is the core. It should ask for everything you need for a quote, and nothing more. A good order runs from simple to elaborate: occasion and date first, then size and design, contact details last. Multi-step forms with one question per step work especially well on smartphones.
| Field | Required? | Why you need it |
|---|---|---|
| Occasion (wedding, birthday, christening, company, other) | Yes | Defines style, effort and whether a tasting makes sense |
| Date and preferred time | Yes | First capacity check before you calculate |
| Number of guests or portions | Yes | Determines size, tiers and price |
| Desired design as text and photo upload | No | Inspiration says more than three sentences; an upload for photos or sketches |
| Taste: sponge, cream, filling | No | Choice from your flavour list plus free text |
| Inscription, name, age | No | Copy the spelling exactly and have it confirmed in writing |
| Allergies and intolerances | Yes (answer “none” possible) | Basis for recipe and agreement, see below |
| Pickup or delivery with address | Yes | Delivery and set-up take time and belong in the quote |
| Budget range | No | Helps you make suitable suggestions |
| Name, phone, email | Yes | For questions and the quote |
Below the form, add a short data processing notice with a link to your privacy policy. Information about allergies is health data: ask only for what you need for the cake, do not keep it longer than necessary and pass it on only to the bakehouse. Anyone uploading photos of people for photo cakes should confirm that they are allowed to use them; the same goes for logos and well-known characters from films and series, where trademark and copyright may be involved.
From request to order
A request is not yet an order. Only once you have sent a quote and the customer has accepted it is the contract concluded. A fixed process prevents a date from being given away twice or a cake from being produced without a deposit.
Check capacity
Check the date against your order calendar. If the day is full, say so honestly right away or suggest another date.
Clarify questions
Ask open points about design, inscription or allergies together in one message, not in five.
Send a quote
Description, size, flavour, price, delivery costs, deposit, payment deadline and cancellation rule in one document.
Tasting for weddings
For wedding cakes offer a tasting with two to four flavours, for a fee that is credited against the order.
Deposit and confirmation
Only enter the date firmly once the deposit has arrived, and send an order confirmation with all details.
Production and handover
Confirm time and place a few days before. For pickup give transport tips, for delivery clarify set-up and cooling on site.
| Type of cake | Typical lead time | Particulars |
|---|---|---|
| Cake from the range with inscription | 2 to 3 days | More a pre-order than a request, fixed price |
| Custom cake, photo cake | 1 to 2 weeks | Fondant and sugar figures need drying time |
| Company cake with logo | 1 to 2 weeks | Request the logo as a file, clarify invoice details |
| Multi-tier wedding cake | Several weeks to months | Tasting, delivery and set-up; dates in season go early |
Deposit, cancellation and the law in Austria and Germany
With individual cakes you carry the risk: ingredients are bought, figures modelled, and the cake cannot be sold to anyone else. A deposit is therefore common and fair. Many patisseries ask for a fixed amount or part of the price, for example a third to a half, and for wedding cakes often full payment a few days before the date. What matters is that the amount, deadline and cancellation rule are stated in the quote and the customer confirms them.
| Question | Austria | Germany |
|---|---|---|
| Withdrawal for online or phone orders? | In principle a 14-day right of withdrawal under the FAGG (Distance and Off-Premises Contracts Act), but an exception for goods made to customer specification and goods that spoil quickly (§ 18(1) nos. 3 and 4 FAGG) | In principle a 14-day right of withdrawal, but an exception for goods made to customer specification and goods that spoil quickly (§ 312g(2) nos. 1 and 2 BGB, Civil Code) |
| What applies if the customer cancels without an agreement? | No free right to cancel. If the bakery supplies the material, the order is presumed to be a sales contract (§ 1166 ABGB, Civil Code): you can insist on payment or withdraw after a grace period and claim damages, in both cases minus savings. Only for a contract for work (e.g. the customer brings the material) does § 1168 ABGB apply: price minus savings | For individually made items, § 650 BGB refers to the right of termination under § 648 BGB: agreed price minus saved expenses |
| Flat cancellation fees in your own terms | Possible; courts can reduce excessive amounts (§ 1336(2) ABGB, for consumers also § 7 KSchG) | Possible if reasonable (§ 308 no. 7 BGB); customers must be expressly allowed to prove a lower loss (§ 309 no. 5 BGB) |
Without a clear agreement, you would have to prove your costs item by item in a dispute. A tiered rule that matches the actual work is simpler: free of charge or for a small handling fee up to two weeks before the date, then the deposit is retained, and in the last few days the larger part of the price, because the cake is already in progress. Phrase the rule in a friendly way and explain why: “From this point we have ordered ingredients and made the figures.” Similar thoughts on fair cancellation rules can be found in the guide on no-shows.
Allergens and special wishes for individual cakes
With cakes to order, allergen information runs in two directions. You must inform customers which of the 14 major allergens the cake contains, as with any unpackaged food. And you should ask whether guests at the celebration have allergies or intolerances, because that can change the recipe. The basics are covered in the guides on allergen labelling in Austria and Germany.
- Inform before the order: if customers order online or by phone, the mandatory information under Art. 14 of the EU Food Information Regulation (LMIV) must be available before the purchase is concluded. For the flavours and fillings on your cake page this means allergen codes right next to them, with a legend.
- Confirm in the quote: because every cake is different, the allergens of the chosen combination belong in the quote or order confirmation, and on a note attached to the finished cake.
- Check bought-in decorations: fondant, sugar figures, wafer paper, food colourings and chocolate decorations have their own ingredient lists. Titanium dioxide (E 171) has been banned as a food additive in the EU since 2022; old stocks of decoration no longer belong on a cake.
- Only promise what you can keep: under EU law, “gluten-free” may only be used for food with no more than 20 mg of gluten per kg. In a bakehouse with wheat flour in the air, that is hard to guarantee. It is more honest to say “no gluten-containing ingredients, traces possible”.
How to get it right
- Make allergies a required form field with the answer “none”
- For severe allergies, call back and record the agreement in writing
- File the cake’s recipe and decoration in your allergen documentation
- Address possible cross-contact openly
- Attach a note with flavour and allergens to the finished cake
Better not
- Promise “allergen-free” when nuts are processed in the same bakehouse
- Buy decorations without knowing their ingredients and allergens
- Note allergies only verbally at the counter
- Pass on guests’ intolerances in a group chat
Create one consistent legend for the cake page, quote and cake label with the free allergen legend. How to label allergens in the display is covered in the guide on the cake display.
Allergen legend for your cake menu
Create a legend of the 14 major allergens for your website, quotes and cake labels in a few minutes, free and without sign-up.
Bringing WhatsApp, phone and form together
Many customers prefer to send their design photo by WhatsApp. That is convenient and should stay possible, but with clear rules. Use a separate WhatsApp Business account instead of your private phone, set up a quick reply with the link to the request form and transfer every request into your order calendar. How to set up the account is explained in WhatsApp Business.
- One order calendar for all channels: whether form, call or chat, every cake is in one place with date, status and deposit.
- Make the status visible: request, quote sent, deposit received, in production, picked up.
- Phone requests by template: a printed questionnaire with the same fields as the form lies next to the phone.
- Vouchers as an add-on: anyone who wants to give a cake as a gift without knowing the flavour and date will be glad of a cake voucher. Design a template with the gift voucher generator.
Making your cakes visible on Google and your website
The cake page only works if it is found. Use what people search for in the page title and heading, for example “Wedding cakes and custom cakes in Graz” or “Order cakes in Bamberg”. In your Google Business Profile upload new cake photos regularly, link the cake page and use posts to point out free dates in wedding season. Ask happy couples for a review with a photo: nothing convinces new customers more.
Checklist for cake requests
- Dedicated cake page with a gallery by occasion
- Flavours and fillings with allergen codes and legend
- Starting prices or price per slice, including VAT
- Lead times for each type of cake
- Request form with photo upload and required allergy field
- Automatic acknowledgement and quote template
- Deposit and cancellation rule, checked and visible on the page
- One order calendar for form, phone and WhatsApp
- Cake photos and link in your Google profile
Website with a cake page, free as a preview
See how your patisserie, bakery or café could look online with a cake gallery, request form and opening hours before you decide.
A free preview of your venue website, designed by us.
Sources
- JUSLINE: § 18 FAGG (exceptions to the right of withdrawal)
- Gesetze im Internet: § 312g BGB (right of withdrawal)
- Gesetze im Internet: § 648 BGB (customer’s right of termination)
- JUSLINE: § 1168 ABGB (price when the work is not carried out)
- EUR-Lex: Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 (LMIV), Art. 14 and Art. 44
