Cakes by Anna is a custom cake bakery based at 51 Bewdley Street in Christchurch, New Zealand, offering an extensive menu of celebration cakes made to order for pick-up or delivery. The bakery's range spans classic flavours like chocolate birthday cake and lemon cake through to more distinctive creations such as Burnt Basque Cheesecake, a naturally gluten free Flourless Chocolate + Berry Cake, and a Gin, Lemon and Coconut Cake finished with toasted coconut.
Dietary flexibility runs through much of the menu — many cakes are nut free by default, and gluten free, vegan, dairy free, or egg free versions are available on request for a wide range of flavours, with a handful of cakes (like the Banoffee Cake and the Orange and Almond Cake) naturally gluten free from the outset. Cakes are sized to feed anywhere from 6 to 40 people, and most flavours are also available as mini cakes or cupcakes in boxes of 6, 12 or 25.
Beyond individual cakes, Cakes by Anna caters for weddings and parties, and offers seasonal specials such as a Christmas Gingerbread + Friends gift box pairing a house-made gingerbread loaf with blue cheese and honey. Because the bakery works on a made-to-order basis, availability for pick-up or delivery can book out in advance.
Cakes by Anna is a made-to-order cake bakery working out of Bewdley Street in Christchurch, building a menu that ranges from comforting classics to more inventive, house-developed creations. Every cake is made to order for pick-up or delivery, which means the bakery's calendar can fill up — a note on the site reminds visitors to check the next available date before planning around a particular pick-up.
The cake list runs long, and it's built to cover a wide range of tastes and occasions. Classic options include the CBA Cream Sponge (available with strawberry compote, raspberry lavender, or poached apple fillings), a Classic Lemon Cake with house-made lemon curd, and a Chocolate Birthday Cake iced with whipped chocolate cream cheese icing — the kind, as the bakery puts it, 'you would have left a birthday party with as a kid, wrapped in a serviette.'
For something more distinctive, there's the Burnt Basque Cheesecake — a creamy, crustless cheesecake with a deliberately caramelised, bitter crust, available in a classic rum and vanilla version or a bay leaf and vanilla variation. The Gin, Lemon, and Coconut Cake pairs tangy lemon cake with gin and lime icing and toasted coconut, while the Tiramisu Cake layers coffee- and frangelico-soaked sponge with whipped mascarpone for a less overtly sweet option.
Some cakes come with a seasonal caveat. The Flower Power Cake — buttercream-iced and decorated with pressed seasonal flowers from the garden — is unavailable over winter months, when the bakery suggests enquiring about alternatives instead. Around Christmas, the bakery also puts together a Gingerbread + Friends Box, pairing a house-made gingerbread loaf with Windsor blue cheese and J. Friend & Co honey — inspired, according to the bakery, by a favourite after-hours snack combination of gingerbread and blue cheese.
The GF Flourless Chocolate + Berry Cake is called out as a signature item, naturally gluten free and available with dairy free, vegan, or egg free adjustments. Other naturally gluten free options include the Banoffee Cake (made with ground almonds) and the Orange and Almond Cake with Creme Fraiche.
Dietary flexibility runs through nearly the entire menu. Most cakes are nut free as standard, and gluten free, vegan, dairy free, or egg free versions are available on request across a large portion of the range — sometimes with a small additional charge, such as +$5 for a gluten free option or +$10 for a vegan and gluten free combination. A handful of cakes, including the Passionfruit and Raspberry Cake, are exclusively offered as vegan and gluten free.
Cakes are priced by size, generally scaling from a 6-inch cake feeding around 6 people up to large slab or two-tier cakes feeding 30 to 40. For smaller gatherings or as an add-on to a dessert table, most flavours are also available as mini cakes or cupcakes, sold in boxes of 6, 12, or 25 in a single flavour per box.
Beyond individual celebration cakes, Cakes by Anna caters for weddings and parties through a dedicated section of their site. Customers can also personalise cakes further with optional flower garnishes, bows, or candles added through the order form, on top of the base cake price.
Cakes by Anna is located at 51 Bewdley Street, Christchurch, Canterbury Region, 8024, New Zealand, and can be reached by phone for enquiries about orders, weddings, or custom requests.