Montreal excels at sweets. Impeccable pastries, delectable doughnuts, and seasonal pies are all easily accessible and reliably delicious in the city. But when it’s time to fete another year around the sun, there’s nothing quite like some good cake. From fancified takes on carrot cake to an elaborate chocolate creation made with haskap, hazelnut, and praline crumble, there’s something for every birthday celebrant. Here is an assortment of bakeries, cake shops, and cafés offering exquisite cakes for the special occasion.
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Where to Find a Mighty Fine Birthday Cake in Montreal
Celebrate with elderflower, cappuccino, or classic chocolate cake
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Bernice
Open since August 2020, in Saint-Henri’s western stretch, Bernice offers up some decadent cakes. The s’mores option is made with a homemade graham crumble and chocolate caramel fudge, while its cappuccino cake mixes white and dark chocolate with layers of Tia Maria cream. Meanwhile, its carrot cake is taken up a notch with lemon mascarpone frosting.
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Rustique
This Sanit-Henri establishment is a reputed pie purveyor. Still, birthday-worthy cakes are also in its repertoire — think funfetti, s’mores, or an elderflower cake with lemon curd and toasted meringue. Orders can be placed online.
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Café Bazin
Part French bistro, part café, and part pastry shop, this highly regarded Westmount haunt from top Montreal chefs Antonio Park and Bertrand Bazin is great for croissants, quiche, and, yes, some spectacular sweets. Cake orders must be placed at least 24 hours in advance, with options ranging from chocolate almond dacquoise to a Charlotte made with raspberry mousse and whipped cream encircled by ladyfinger cookies.
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Lecavalier Petrone
Pointe-Saint-Charles got lucky when Lecavalier Petrone opened up shop on Centre Street in 2015. Though primarily known for its picture-worthy chocolates, it makes some exceptionally delicious cakes, too. Orders can be placed online for one of their seasonal creations, which, at the moment, include a chocolate cake with haskap, hazelnut, and an almond and pecan praline crumble, and a vanilla cake with salted caramel, pears, and white chocolate.
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Pâtisserie Afroditi (multiple locations)
Afroditi, a Park-Ex fixture since 1971, consistently produces cakes such as red velvet, Ferrero Rocher, and nougatine that are appropriate for every occasion, including a birthday party. While there, grab some Greek pastries — savoury and sweet — for the ride home.
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Mlles Gâteaux
Mlles Gâteaux’s custom cake choices feel near limitless, with flavours, forms, and sizes all up for discussion. Its Queen Elizabeth cake (dates, coconut, and caramel) is popular, but the shop also offers custom creations, where customers can opt for anything from banana batter to coconut mousse filling.
Pasticceria Alati-Caserta
Cannoli are the primary draw for visitors to this Little Italy institution, but it does pretty much everything superbly. Consider one of the following cakes the next time you want to sweeten a birthday spread: chocolate ricotta, Italian rum cake, or cassata verde (a typical Sicilian liqueur-soaked cake stacked with ricotta and swathed in pale green marzipan).
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Pâtisserie Zébulon
Pâtisserie Zébulon is an ambitious new Plateau pasty shop dedicated to vegan sweets. The attention to detail is apparent at first glance and carries over to its cake collection. There are three options: chocolate with a caramel center, classic vanilla with puffed amaranth, or berry with sweet clover cream. Available in multiple tiers.
Sachère Desserts
The cakes at this Village sweet shop marry European pastry techniques with Asian ingredients. Resulting flavours include chocolate with miso salted caramel, black sesame with raspberry, and matcha with white chocolate, among others. Available in gluten-free, cake orders can be placed online.
Pâtisserie Rhubarbe
Stéphanie Labelle’s Laurier East haven is famed for seasonal pastries that are exquisitely crafted, perfectly calibrated between sweet and tart, and breathtakingly beautiful. A chocolate-passion fruit cake with chantilly cream, cheesecake with sea buckthorn jelly, and chocolate-pear cake with cacao crumble are currently on offer. Rhubarbe’s lemon meringue pie is another fantastic choice, even if it isn’t exactly a cake.
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Les Délices Lafrenaie (multiple locations)
Saint-Leonard staple Les Délices Lafrenaie has been operating since 1979 and remains in the family. There are hundreds of cake flavours to choose from, including perennial favourites like amaretto, frutti di bosco (mixed berry cake), and hazelnut crunch. Customized cakes must be pre-ordered, though there’s always a selection of standards available.
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