The Cake'ole, Bradford

City Park, City of Bradford

Welcome to The Cake’ole: the quaintest, quirkiest cake shop in the North. The Cake’ole is a fairy tale-themed café with quirks in every corner. Serving up a delicious range of hot and cold sandwiches, stunning sponge cakes, afternoon teas and hot chocolates, it’s like dining at a real-life Mad Hatter’s Tea Party.

Inside The Cake'ole

My friend, who lives in Skipton, first told me about The Cake’ole (a name which I’m still unsure how to pronounce). When she showed me pictures of their cakes, I was immediately sold, so we met for a cake and a catch up whilst on a day out in Bradford.

It was surprisingly quiet for a Saturday lunchtime, but it was the first weekend in January, and it made for a relaxing lunch. Whether you’re after lunch, afternoon tea or a quick coffee and cake catch up, The Cake’ole caters for you.

It’s a fairly large but basic menu, with a choice of hot and cold sandwiches, paninis and salads. Orders are placed and paid for at the till, before your food is prepared by the ever-so-friendly staff and delivered to your table.

We started with a spot of lunch. I had a warm tuna mayonnaise and cheese toasted panini. Served with salad and a handful of crisps, it was well presented and tasty, with plenty of filling. My tea for one came in a beautiful china teapot with a matching cup and saucer. Loose leaf tea always tastes better out of china. The second pot I ordered was significantly larger than the first though – sneaky!

Tuna Mayonnaise and Cheese Panini

There was a delay on one of our sandwiches, but the staff were apologetic enough and offered to refill my friend’s tea as a result, so you can’t complain about that.

Of course, the sandwiches were only the warm-up to the main event, which was the cake. The impressive display of cakes takes pride of place at the end of the counter. Three-tiered sponges in a plethora of colours and flavours are the main attraction. Varieties on this particular day included Mars Bar, Milky Way and Lemon and Elderflower. A generous slice of sponge cake can be served with a scoop of ice cream, at no additional charge. The ice cream is drizzled with molten chocolate, which solidifies nicely on top of the ice cream.

The Milky Bar cake was a delight: deliciously light, fluffy and moist vanilla sponge layered with white chocolate frosting, topped with a generous but not-too-sweet layer of white chocolate icing and finished off with a few giant Milky Bar chocolate buttons. Beautifully presented and extremely well-priced, at just £3.95 per slice – not much more than you’d pay in a high street coffee chain for a tiny little square of cake.

Milky Bar Cake

As I wasn’t planning on returning anytime soon, I thought it’d be rude not to take an extra treat away with me, especially whilst they still had a delectable-looking Christmas special. So I packed up a Festive Winter Slice: a yuletide take on a Millionaire’s Shortbread, one of my favourite sweet treats. It was a thick, biscuit base filled with mincemeat, topped with a layer of caramac-style white chocolate and decorated with holly. It travelled all the way back to Manchester with me and made for the perfect accompaniment to my Sunday afternoon cuppa the following day.

Festive Winter Slice

The Cake’ole is a little gem. I’m already planning another trip to Bradford in the future, purely so I can visit this magical rabbit warren of a cafe again. You’ll also find branches in Skipton and Keighley.