How to Customise an Eggless Cake in Sydney: Flavours, Sizes, Tiers & Design

Custom cakes don't have to mean complicated. At Num Num's Bakery, every order is already eggless by default — the customisation part is simply what makes it yours. There's no separate menu, no special request form, no upcharge for the egg-free option. You start from a foundation that's 100% eggless and build from there: flavour, size, tiers, icing style, colours, messages, toppers, even edible photos. The flexibility is the point.

What makes this worth talking about is scale. According to our internal order data, approximately 72% of orders placed at Num Num's include at least one customisation request [Num Num's internal order data, 2025–26]. That means nearly three in four customers aren't just walking in for a plain cake off the shelf — they're building something specific for an occasion that matters to them. And every one of those 72% of customised orders is eggless from the start, because our entire menu is.

This guide walks through every customisation option available — from choosing between 15 flavours to specifying font styles for messages — so you know exactly what to ask for when you WhatsApp us at +61 425 697 725.

What Customisation Options Are Available at Num Num's Bakery?

According to our internal order data, approximately 72% of orders at Num Num's include at least one customisation request [Num Num's internal order data, 2025–26]. That figure reflects something we see every day: people aren't just after a cake, they're after their cake — the one that fits the table, the guest list, the occasion, and the person it's made for. The range of options we offer makes that possible without needing to be a professional baker yourself.

Here's what you can customise at every order:

• Flavour — single flavour or dual-layer combinations from a menu of 15
• Size — six options from a modest 6-inch round to a three-tier showstopper
• Tiers — single tier, two-tier, or three-tier arrangements
• Icing type — buttercream, fondant, naked/semi-naked, or drip finish
• Colours — specify your palette and we'll match it as closely as possible in food-safe colouring
• Message or name — written in buttercream or fondant on top
• Toppers — floral arrangements, gold leaf, candles, or custom fondant toppers
• Edible photo printing — a full-colour food-safe printed image on a fondant panel
• Decorative details — edible flowers, metallic accents, sprinkle finishes, sculpted decorations

The most common request by far is a custom message — nearly seven in ten custom orders include one. Flavour combinations and colour preferences follow closely. These aren't complicated asks, and most of them add no extra time to your order. Tiered cakes and edible photos sit lower on the frequency list simply because they require more lead time, not because they're unusual — we do them regularly.

How Do You Choose Your Flavour Combination?

This is genuinely the decision most customers spend the most time on — and understandably so. There are 15 options, and unlike a lot of bakeries where the "menu" means subtle variations on chocolate or vanilla, ours covers real stylistic breadth. You can go warm and indulgent, fresh and fruity, South Asian-inspired, or Western classic. Choosing a single flavour is perfectly fine; choosing two different flavours for different tiers of a stacked cake is also absolutely possible.

For single-flavour orders, the most popular choices at Num Num's are Chocolate (by a clear margin), Butterscotch, Red Velvet, and Rasmalai — the last of which is particularly popular for cultural celebrations like Diwali, Eid, and South Asian milestone birthdays. Vanilla is a perennial favourite for kids' cakes because it pairs well with almost any decoration style and colour scheme.

For dual-layer combinations — where different sponge flavours are stacked in alternating layers — some pairings have become reliable favourites based on what customers order most:

• Chocolate + Butterscotch — the contrast between rich cocoa and warm caramel works well both flavourwise and visually when cut
• Rasmalai + Vanilla — fragrant and delicate on one layer, neutral on the other; great for mixed-preference guest lists
• Red Velvet + Vanilla — the deep red and white sponge layers look striking when the cake is cut open, popular for milestone birthdays and anniversaries
• Black Forest + White Forest — a contrasting cherry-cream duo that creates a visual reveal at the cut; popular for adult celebrations
• Ferrero Rocher + Tiramisu — both sit in the premium tier; this combination tends to appear in adult celebration orders where the host wants something sophisticated

Here's the full 15-flavour menu — all 100% eggless, no exceptions:

• Chocolate
• Vanilla
• Red Velvet
• Butterscotch
• Black Forest
• White Forest
• Strawberry
• Blueberry
• Mango
• Lychee
• Pineapple
• Ferrero Rocher
• Tiramisu
• Cookies & Cream
• Rasmalai

Browse the full Our Cakes page for photos of each flavour — it'll give you a much better sense of what each cake actually looks like finished and decorated, rather than trying to imagine from a list.

One insight worth sharing from our order history: when a customer is genuinely torn between two flavours, a dual-layer combination is almost always the right answer. The per-serving cost difference is minimal, and you end up with a cake that satisfies more people at the table — especially in mixed households where preferences vary across generations.

What Sizes and Serving Counts Are Available?

Getting the size right matters more than most people realise when they're ordering. Too small and you're cutting slivers; too large and you're sending most of the cake home with guests in glad wrap. Here's the full size range at Num Num's, with realistic serving guides based on standard dessert portions:

A practical rule: count your confirmed guests and add 15% for buffer (people who take two slices, last-minute additions). If that number lands between sizes, go up. You can always send leftover cake home with guests — you can't cut a too-small cake into more pieces than it has.

Use the Order Online page for a more detailed guide, or simply tell us your confirmed guest count when you WhatsApp and we'll suggest the right size for your situation.

What Icing and Decoration Styles Are Available?

The icing finish is the first thing people see when the cake comes out — before they know the flavour, before they read the message. Getting the finish right sets the tone for the whole celebration. At Num Num's, we offer four main icing approaches, each with its own look and texture:

Buttercream

Buttercream is the most versatile finish and the most popular. Within buttercream alone, there's real range: smooth and flat for a clean contemporary look, textured with palette knife strokes for an artisan feel, piped in floral rosettes or swirls for a romantic aesthetic, or blended in watercolour-effect gradients where multiple colours bleed softly into each other. If you're not sure what style you want, buttercream is usually the right starting point because it photographs well in any direction and works with every colour scheme.

Fondant

Fondant gives you sharp, architectural edges — the kind of perfectly smooth, matte-finished exterior you see on formal wedding cakes and highly structured designs. It's the right choice when you want sculpted decorations (fondant figurines, shaped toppers, 3D elements), when your design involves geometric precision, or when the cake needs to hold its shape over a longer period in a warm room. Fondant also takes edible printing particularly well. The trade-off is texture — fondant is firmer than buttercream and not everyone prefers the taste, though the flavour comes from the sponge and filling, not the coating.

Naked and Semi-Naked

The naked and semi-naked finish has become genuinely popular in the last few years for good reason: it shows the sponge. The layers of cake and cream are visible at the sides, giving a rustic, unfussy feel that works beautifully for garden parties, relaxed birthday lunches, and occasions where you want the aesthetic to feel warm rather than formal. A semi-naked cake has a thin layer of icing scraped over the outside, letting the sponge show through — it's essentially the perfect halfway point between a fully iced cake and an unfinished one.

Drip Finish and Accent Details

A chocolate or coloured drip running down the sides of a buttercream-iced cake has become one of the most requested details we see — it adds visual movement and a sense of abundance. Beyond drips, there are edible flowers (real or sugar), gold leaf and metallic accents applied with food-safe leaf, sprinkle combinations, and custom fondant toppers in specific shapes or characters. These are the details that make a photo of the cake worth keeping.

Can You Add a Custom Message or Name?

Yes — and this is the most frequently requested customisation we see, appearing in 68% of all custom orders at Num Num's. Adding a message is built into the standard order process, not a special add-on. Most messages fall into one of these categories:

• Simple name on top — "Happy Birthday Sarah", "Happy 30th", "Congratulations" — piped in buttercream in a colour that contrasts with the icing
• Multi-line messages — "Happy Birthday\nLove Mum & Dad" or two-line anniversary messages. We'll lay these out to fit the size of the top tier
• Milestone ages — "Happy 50th", "Happy 21st", "Mr & Mrs", "1st Birthday" — anything with a number or title works as easily as a name
• Script vs print — if you have a font style preference (flowing cursive vs clean block print), mention it when you order. We can't guarantee an exact font match, but we can match the general character

The best way to communicate exactly what you want is to send us a reference image via WhatsApp — a screenshot from Instagram, a photo you've saved on Pinterest, or even a photo of another cake you liked. A picture communicates intent more clearly than a paragraph of text, and it means we're both working from the same visual reference rather than interpreting the same words differently.

What About Photo Cakes and Edible Printing?

Edible photo printing is one of our most requested premium options. A high-resolution food-safe printed image is applied to a fondant panel on top of the cake — the result is a photo-quality reproduction of any image you supply, surrounded by icing and decoration as normal. It works well for memorial cakes, graduation cakes, milestone birthdays where you want a photo of the person as a centrepiece, sports or hobby-themed cakes, or custom character cakes for kids.

To place an edible photo order, send your chosen image via WhatsApp at +61 425 697 725 in JPG or PNG format. The key technical requirement is resolution: images should be at least 200dpi at the size they'll be printed. A small file blown up to fill a large panel will look pixelated and soft — the higher the resolution you can provide, the sharper the result. A photo taken on a modern phone camera is almost always fine; old scanned or compressed social media exports can be problematic. If you're not sure about your image, send it and we'll tell you honestly whether it'll print cleanly.

For edible photo cakes, a little extra lead time helps — mention it upfront when you first message so we can factor in the printing step alongside the baking and decoration schedule.

How Far in Advance Do I Need to Order a Custom Cake in Sydney?

The standard minimum notice for all orders at Num Num's is 48 hours. That's a realistic turnaround for a single-tier cake in a standard flavour and size, with a simple message on top. If your order fits that description, a Thursday order for a Saturday pick-up works comfortably.

For more complex custom work, build in more time:

• 5–7 days for tiered cakes, sculpted fondant decorations, edible photos, elaborate hand-piped designs, or unusual colour schemes requiring custom colour mixing
• 7–10 days during peak periods — October through December is consistently the busiest window of the year, and NSW school holiday periods see order volumes spike sharply

From our order history, approximately 72% of orders include at least one customisation request [Num Num's internal order data, 2025–26] — meaning the average order isn't a plain standard cake. Most of our customers are ordering something specific, which is exactly why we ask for adequate notice. A complex custom design that arrives with 24 hours notice is a design we can't do justice to.

If you're reading this the night before an event and you need something tomorrow — call or WhatsApp and ask. We'll tell you honestly what we can do in the time available. We'd rather give you a realistic answer than take an order and under-deliver.

How Do I Communicate My Vision via WhatsApp?

The WhatsApp process is deliberately simple — it takes less than five minutes for most orders. Here's the four-step process that works best:

1. Browse the Our Cakes page first, before you message. Get a feel for the flavours and what the finished cakes look like. Shortlist two or three options if you're not sure — we can help you narrow it down.
2. Message +61 425 697 725 on WhatsApp with the key details: your chosen flavour (or two if you want a combination), the cake size, your preferred pick-up date and time, and the location you'd like to collect from (Harris Park or Riverstone).
3. Send inspiration photos. If you have a visual reference — a Pinterest board screenshot, an Instagram post you've saved, a photo of a cake at a previous party you liked — send it. Don't worry if it's from a different bakery or if it includes elements you don't want. Just note what you like about it and we'll work from there. The more visual reference you give us, the more closely we can match your vision.
4. Confirm the design brief and collect. We'll reply with a confirmation of what we've understood the order to be. Check the details — flavour, size, message, style, pick-up time. If anything's wrong, correct it then. Once confirmed, we'll have everything ready at the agreed time.

Are Custom Eggless Cakes Surprisingly Affordable?

Bespoke doesn't have to mean expensive. At Num Num's, custom eggless cakes are priced accessibly — the "custom" in custom cake means you've specified what you want, not that you've unlocked a premium tier that costs three times the base price. A message on top, a colour choice, a flavour combination — these are standard parts of the order process, not extras with surcharges attached to each.

There's also a broader demand story worth understanding. As of August 2025, the National Allergy Centre of Excellence's "Costly Reactions" report found that 8.2 million Australians — 30% of the population — now live with allergic disease. Allergy & Anaphylaxis Australia reports that egg allergy affects approximately 9% of Australian infants. The practical effect of those numbers is that eggless custom cakes aren't a niche product serving a small minority — they're a genuinely mainstream need in multicultural, diverse Sydney.

The value proposition of a specialist bakery like Num Num's compared to a generic bakery that offers egg-free "on request" is straightforward. A generic bakery substitutes eggs into a recipe that wasn't designed for it — the result is usually denser, drier, and texturally compromised. We've been baking eggless from day one. The recipes are built for it. The outcomes are different because the approach is different: this isn't adaptation, it's our entire craft.

For families navigating egg allergy, that consistency also matters practically. When the cake comes from a kitchen where eggs are never used — not in another product, not on shared equipment — the risk profile is fundamentally lower than ordering from a mixed kitchen and hoping for the best. That peace of mind has real value at a child's birthday party or a family event where someone in the room has a genuine egg allergy.

Frequently Asked Questions