Cake Bakery Boxes

Cake bakery boxes are the printed cartons a bakery uses to carry a cake from the counter to the customer’s table without it sliding, crushing or leaving grease on the car seat. TBPB makes them custom to your cake sizes with no minimum order, and we will beat a written quote for the same specs.

Start with the cake, not the box

Most bakery boxes are ordered too small. Measure the finished cake including the board it sits on, and count the height of any piping, fondant topper or fruit. A box that clears the decoration by about an inch is far safer than one that touches the lid, because a lid that grazes buttercream is the complaint you will hear about every time. If you sell three or four standard rounds and a sheet cake, order a size for each instead of one box that fits all of them badly.

Round cakes sit in square boxes, so the box width is the cake board diameter plus about 1/4 inch of clearance on each side. For tall cakes, a taller side wall or a two-piece lid and base keeps you from tilting the cake on the way out. Our tall cake boxes are built for that case.

Board, coating and grease

Folding bakery cartons are normally printed on paperboard in the 18 pt to 24 pt range, which holds a lightly loaded cake well. Heavier cakes, such as multi-tier or dense cheesecakes, do better on a thicker board or with a corrugated base. Grease is the real enemy here: buttercream and butter-rich pastries will mark plain board. A coated or lined interior helps, and a greaseproof liner or a cake board under the cake adds a second barrier. If you have a specific cake that leaks, tell us and we will suggest a board and coating combination to try first.

Food contact is your responsibility to confirm. TBPB prints the artwork you supply, so check with your own regulatory adviser if you need a particular contact-safe construction or label wording for your market.

Window or no window

A clear window shows the cake and sells it before the box is opened, which matters in a grab-and-go case. The cost is a weaker front panel and fingerprint marks on the film. For celebration cakes that are carried by the base and never shown in a case, a solid printed lid usually looks better and carries more branding. Where you want the cake visible but protected, a smaller window on the lid is a good middle ground.

• Styles: lock-corner, tuck lid, auto-bottom and tray with separate lid
• Board: paperboard, kraft board or corrugated for heavy cakes
• Print: CMYK or Pantone, matte or gloss aqueous coating
• Options: window cut-out, carry handle, interior coating, cake board inserts

Other formats to consider

If you mostly sell by the slice, a cake slice box is the right size and wastes less board. For a fuller line of formats see the bakery boxes category, or the plain cake boxes if you only need the standard style. Cupcakes and brownies are better in their own boxes with inserts, so do not stretch a cake box to cover them.

Send us your cake dimensions and quantity, even one box, and TBPB will draw the dieline and quote it so you can see the real build before you commit. A single test box is a cheap way to check the fit with a real cake inside.

Frequently asked questions