Weeping Willow Cakes is a one-woman custom cake business handmade in Arrowtown, serving the Queenstown-Arrowtown area including Lake Hayes. The business was dreamed up over coffee on an Antarctic research base with New York-based edible artist Rose McAdoo, built around a shared passion for zero-waste, nutritious, beautiful cakes that stand out from the crowd.
Many recipes have been passed down through generations, drawing on a time when food was a reason to gather, share and celebrate. Cakes are locally sourced and made using fresh ingredients and home-grown flowers, with a decorating style described as naked, floral, scrumptious and intricate — focused on flavour and real ingredients rather than artificial decoration or heavy icing. Florals are sourced in collaboration with Wild + Bliss, a regeneratively managed micro flower farm in Arrowtown that grows blooms from seed, bulb, corm and cutting without harmful sprays.
As the baker is a one-woman show, orders require 48 hours notice at minimum (1 week's notice for general orders), with custom and wedding orders taking longer to get right — so early ordering is encouraged to secure a spot. Delivery is offered, or cakes can be picked up with care taken driving them to their destination.
Weeping Willow Cakes began with an unlikely origin story — dreamed up over coffee on an Antarctic research base, in conversation with New York-based edible artist Rose McAdoo. The two shared a passion for zero-waste, nutritious, beautiful cakes that stood apart from the ordinary, and from that conversation a philosophy took shape: cake, flowers, sustainability and beauty, combined into one handmade product created in Arrowtown for the wider Queenstown area.
Many of the recipes behind Weeping Willow Cakes have been passed down through generations, rooted in a time when food was a reason to gather and celebrate. Every cake is made with locally sourced ingredients and home-grown flowers, and the decorating style leans deliberately away from clean-cut, heavily iced designs — instead favouring something more naked, floral, scrumptious and intricate, with the focus firmly on flavour and real ingredients rather than artificial decoration. Florals come through a collaboration with Wild + Bliss, a regeneratively managed micro flower farm in Arrowtown that grows its blooms from seed, bulb, corm and cutting without any harmful sprays — and every wedding cake price includes the cost of the flowers used to dress it.
While the baker admits a soft spot for an old-fashioned sponge, the real draw is a willingness to reinvent flavours and bring customers' own ideas to life, working together to land on something that fits both the occasion and the tastebuds involved.
Beyond wedding cakes, Weeping Willow Cakes caters to corporate events, kids' celebrations, and everyday sweet treats. For weddings specifically, a helpful size guide takes the guesswork out of ordering — from a 6-inch, three-layer cake feeding 6-8 people through to a three-tier 8+10+12 inch cake feeding 100-120, with the general advice to size a little smaller since not every guest will want cake on the night. For events wanting more variety, dessert tables come highly recommended — a popular option that's an easy way to cater to a range of dietary needs — alongside compact cakes and 'mini minis', which let couples build their own DIY dessert spread alongside a showcase cake.
As a one-woman operation, the baker asks for a minimum of 48 hours' notice on orders, with custom and wedding pieces taking a little longer to get right — so ordering early is the best way to secure a spot. Both delivery and pickup are available, though anyone collecting their own cake is reminded these are delicate works of art that need a slow, careful drive to their destination.
For anyone in the Queenstown-Arrowtown area after a cake that leans into real ingredients, local flowers and genuine craftsmanship over stacks of fondant, Weeping Willow Cakes offers a distinctly personal, homegrown alternative to a standard bakery order.