Be prepared for a sweet and tasty ride if you’re on a journey to find the best cake in Seattle. Seattle has incredible bakeries, and determining which one serves the best cake all depends on what you’re in the mood for.
Grab a slice of perfectly moist tres leches or order a classic Swedish princess cake. Satisfy your cravings with some dark and indulgent chocolate cake or savor a subtly sweet Japanese cheesecake.
You’ll find amazing cakes at smaller, hidden gem bakeries and at well-known, established ones that always have a line out the door. This guide will cover some of the absolute best cakes to get in Seattle as well as the bakeries that make them. So keep reading and prepare to get hungry.
The 11 Best Cake Bakeries in Seattle
Ready to try the best cake the Emerald City has to offer? Here’s our top 11 places:
- Deep Sea Sugar and Salt
- Bakery Nouveau
- Byen Bakeri
- Shikorina Pastries
- Hiroki
- Sugar Bakery
- Cakes of Paradise
- Salvadorean Bakery and Restaurant
- Despi Delite Bakery
- Hot Cakes
- Coyle’s Bakeshop
Deep Sea Sugar and Salt
What to Order: London Fog Cake, Carrot Pineapple Cake, 9LB Porter Cake,
Deep Sea Sugar and Salt is a big name in Seattle’s cake world. This bakery in the Georgetown neighborhood focuses solely on cakes and its creations are just about perfection.
Start with the London Fog if you can’t make up your mind. Earl Grey cake, bergamot mascarpone cream, and Earl Grey honey syrup combine to make this cake flavorful, moist, and just sweet enough.
The 9LB Chocolate Porter Cake and the Carrot Pineapple Cake are also hits. The former is soaked in a locally made Porter beer, enhancing its chocolatey taste. The latter is dotted with pineapple and has a browned butter cream cheese frosting that’s practically to die for. Don’t miss the seasonal cakes which change monthly and have included flavors like pistachio honey rose and brown sugar peach.
If you’re coming to Deep Sea Sugar and Salt, show up early. There’s nearly always a line at the cake shop, and pre-orders sell out months in advance. That alone is a testament to how good its cakes are!
Bakery Nouveau
What to Order: German Chocolate Cake
Bakery Nouveau is often considered the best bakery in West Seattle. As a West Seattle resident, I have to agree. In addition to West Seattle, you’ll find this French-style bakery in Capitol Hill and Burien. It has plenty of amazing treats.
Bakery Nouveau is known for its twice-baked croissants, fresh-made bread, and tasty macarons, truffles, and tarts. But if you’re just there for the cakes, you’ll be thoroughly satisfied.
Come for the best German chocolate cake in Seattle. With a dark chocolate base, caramel frosting, and coconut and pecan pieces sprinkled throughout, it’s meant to be savored. Other excellent options include delicious fruit-topped cheesecakes and creamy tiramisu.
Byen Bakeri
What to Order: Princess Cake
Order the Princess Cake from Byen Bakeri if you’re hunting for the best cake in Seattle. It’s one of this Scandinavian bakery’s specialties, and it tastes just as pretty as it looks. The cake is spongy and delicate, the vanilla custard is decadent, and the raspberry jam adds the right amount of tartness. Covered in the iconic green marzipan, it’s an unforgettable treat.
While Byen Bakeri serves the best princess cake in Seattle, some other cake options include its chocolate ganache cake and vanilla apricot cake. For special occasions, you can even order a traditional kransekage.
While visiting, you’ll probably be tempted to try out some of the other sweet and savory pastries. Popular items are kringles, danishes, cardamom braids, and tasty and filling sandwiches.
Shikorina Pastries
What to Order: Browned Butter Vanilla, Cake Jars
Shikorina Pastries may be one of the newer bakeries on this list, but it’s already established itself as one to look out for. You’ll find this small, Black woman-owned business in the Central District. The offerings include tasty cookies, chocolate chunk-loaded brownies, and homemade pop tarts. Of course, it also has some of the best cakes in Seattle.
Try the browned butter vanilla cake with an orange curd filling. It’s richly flavored, moist, and downright addictive. Their red velvet and chocolate cakes are also delightful and consistently well-executed.
One unique thing about Shikorina Pastries is that in addition to slices, whole cakes, and cupcakes, the bakery also serves “cake jars.” Deconstructed versions of the popular cakes are served in mason jars so they’re much easier to eat on the go. Enjoy layers of cake, frosting, and filling, one spoonful at a time.
Hiroki
What to Order: Green Tea Tiramisu, Souffle Cheesecake (Japanese Cheesecake)
Head to the Greenlake neighborhood in north Seattle to taste some of Hiroki’s delicious creations. To get the best of what this popular bakery makes, show up early because the goods go fast!
Hiroki has some of the best cheesecakes in Seattle. Try the popular Souflee Cheesecake (also known as Japanese Cheesecake), which is light, fluffy, and not too sweet. If you prefer something a little more traditional, order the rich and creamy New York Cheesecake, studded with lemon zest. And the unbaked honey cheese mango cheesecake will satisfy even the toughest cheesecake critics.
Finally, don’t leave without trying the Green Tea Tiramisu Cake. This cake is also light, made with mascarpone cream, flavored with matcha, and layered with chiffon cake. The result is a dessert that’s melt-in-your-mouth good.
Sugar Bakery
What to Order: Red Velvet Cake, Creme Brulee Cake
Sugar Bakery is another popular Seattle bakery with two locations. Visit the bakery in Queen Anne or First Hill. At both locations, the standards are high and the cakes are tasty, sweet, and generously frosted.
Of all the cakes, there are two definitive standouts. Try the Red Velvet Cake, which has a rich and tangy cream cheese frosting to balance out the sweet and moist cake. The Creme Brulee cake is also delightfully soft, with a gooey caramel topping reminiscent of the dessert it’s named for.
In addition to Sugar Bakery’s cakes, grab a few of their other baked goods to take with you. These include muffins, cookies, quiches, scones, and croissants.
Cakes of Paradise
What to Order: Rainbow Cake, Chantilly Cake
Got a craving for tropical cakes? Cakes of Paradise in the Georgetown neighborhood is the place to go. This small, family-owned bakery serves whole cakes and cakes by the slice in traditional Hawaiian flavors. Its passionfruit, guava, mango, and coconut cakes are some of the best in the city.
The bakery’s bestseller is the Rainbow Cake. This pretty cake is a feast for the eyes and, most importantly, it tastes amazing. Layers of strawberry, lime, and orange cake are sandwiched together with guava, passionfruit, and lime jams. The result is a light, but decadent cake you won’t want to stop eating.
In addition to this popular choice, Cakes of Paradise also serves chantilly cake (layered chocolate cake with buttery chantilly icing), and guava cake. Both can (and often do) satisfy self-proclaimed “non-cake” people.
Salvadorean Bakery and Restaurant
What to Order: Tres Leches Cake
Salvadorean Bakery and Restaurant is just south of West Seattle in White Center. It’s an underrated gem that’s been serving the community for almost 30 years. You’ll find traditional Salvadorean sweet breads, pastries, cookies, and more at this spot. But the most popular sweet is the delicious tres leches cake.
Salvadorean Bakery and Restaurant serves some of the best tres leches cake in Seattle. What makes it even better is that it comes in multiple flavors. Get strawberry, guava, or even chocolate tres leches cake. It’s perfectly moist and delicious enough to be devoured in moments.
If you’re visiting to grab a slice of cake, consider trying some of the restaurant’s savory goods as well. The pupusas, tamales, sopas (soups), and panes rellenos (sandwiches) are also fantastic.
Despi Delite Bakery
What to Order: Ube Cake
Despi Delite Bakery may seem like an unassuming spot in the Beacon Hill neighborhood but this Filipino bakery deserves a spot on this list. The family-owned bakery has delicious donuts, banana turon, and Filipino ube bread that I loved to treat myself to when I lived in the area. But let’s talk cakes.
The cakes at Despi Delite are moist, creamy, and delicious. Its brilliant purple Ube Cake is a bestseller that has just the right amount of sweetness for fans of this delicious ingredient. Other choices include the tasty pandan cake, a rich mocha cake, and much more.
If you’re searching for a birthday cake in Seattle, I recommend grabbing one from Despi Delite Bakery. The cakes are always beautifully decorated, and they have a wide range of customization options.
Hot Cakes
What to Order: Dark Decadence Cake (Chocolate Lava Cake)
Chocolate lava cake fans are lucky because Seattle has the perfect place to get them. Hot Cakes specializes in molten chocolate lava cakes, and when I’m looking for a rich, decadent dessert, this is the place I go. Find this dessert shop in Ballard and Capitol Hill.
When I say these cakes are rich, I mean it. Each cake is served with a side of ice cream to balance out the chocolate. The dark decadence cake is the most popular, filled with gooey, melted chocolate from a local chocolate maker. Other chocolate lava cake flavors include peanut butter and strawberry, and they all add to the decadence of the cake.
The cakes may look small, but if you like chocolate, they really pack a punch and will easily satisfy your cravings. If you’re not feeling chocolate, try one of their warm cookies or other sweets instead.
Coyle’s Bakeshop
What to Order: Chocolate Cake, Carrot Cake, Lemon Chiffon Cake
Coyle’s Bakeshop in Greenwood is another north Seattle gem. This bakery has a huge variety of treats. Try scones, cookies, quiches, or the “cretzel,” a crossover between a pretzel and a croissant. While it’s easy to salivate over all of the wonderful pastries, don’t forget about the cakes.
Coyle’s Bakeshop makes one of the most perfect chocolate cakes on this list. With four dark chocolate cake layers and an Italian meringue chocolate buttercream frosting, it’s pretty hard to beat.
If you’re looking for a traditional carrot cake, you also can’t go wrong here. It’s taken to the next level because they add mascarpone and whipped cream to the cream cheese frosting. Finally, lemon cake fans should grab a slice of lemon chiffon cake. It just may be the best lemon cake in Seattle.
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And there you have it! From one sweets connoisseur to another, these are some of the best cake bakeries in Seattle. Try them out, and I’m sure you’ll find your new favorites soon enough.
