This allergy-friendly restaurant was reviewed by guest blogger, Wendy Churton. Wendy is a stay-at-home mom who occasionally works as a freelancer in theatre and opera. These days, she’s navigating life with her son’s food allergies and her own postpartum anxiety. She is also a writer for a parenting blog called This Bumpy Adventure. All opinions are her own.
Cakes by Robert is a bakery located in the heart of The Beaches. With its bright purple and white signage along the storefront, it was easy to find along a strip of other shops. I stopped in with a friend to pick up some sweet treats for our toddlers on the way to a play date.
The interior is bright and welcoming, and they have several long coolers of delicious treats, plus an additional counter at the back for custom cake orders. And while there was no seating, we didn’t mind since we were off to enjoy a picnic in the park.
Our server was friendly and willing to answer any allergy-related questions we had. She let us know that all of their cakes are made in house, in their peanut-free and tree nut-free kitchen. They also have a selection of products that are available egg-free and gluten-free (provided directly from Goodbye Gluten—as the pastry chefs at Cakes by Robert want to avoid any cross contamination from their own kitchen).
In addition to cakes and cupcakes, they also offer several other treats, including a variety of tarts, muffins, and cookies. They also offer a selection of finishing touches for your dessert, including cake toppers and birthday candles.
But the best feature of the bakery by far is their Cupcake Bar. Here, you get to choose your cupcake size (mini or regular), cupcake flavour (chocolate or vanilla cake), icing flavours (chocolate, mocha, banana, lemon or strawberry) and any additional toppings you may like (sprinkles? yes please!). The kids loved being able to pick their own options. And each item was individually packaged to go.
Here’s what we ordered…
Jackie’s choice: Vanilla cupcake with mocha icing
Grace’s choice: Chocolate cupcake with chocolate icing and vanilla sprinkles
William’s choice: Egg-free cupcake with vanilla icing and blue sprinkles
Wendy’s choice: Vanilla cupcake with strawberry icing
Overall, the cupcakes were incredibly tasty. The cake was moist and a bit crumbly. And while the adults found the icing to be a bit too sweet, the kids certainly didn’t complain!
We also picked up a couple of extras to sample later, including both the creme brulée and butter tarts. We give these treats a thumbs up too. The creme brulée tarts reminded me of traditional Portuguese custard tarts (one of my favourite desserts), but were very sweet and crunchy on top—much more dessert-like!—and I was surprised to find the texture and taste very different than what I would have expected. The butter tarts had a soft crust that was chewy (rather than flaky) and the filling was sweet and light.
All in all, we recommend visiting Cakes by Robert if you need a special dessert for an event and are on the lookout for a bakery you can trust to be allergy-friendly. It’s also great to take the kids for a (safe) treat that they can customize.
For me, having the freedom to walk into a bakery and let my son pick his own dessert was such a joy, and I felt confident knowing he was safe with any of his choices.
This bakery is toddler and food allergy mama approved!
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Restaurants that appear on AllergyBites may have updated their menu or changed management since a review was posted. Please confirm that they are still allergy-friendly & that menu items don’t contain your allergen(s) before visiting or placing your order.
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