I'm in the process of generating a boatload of papers for my new bakery, and have gotten to the "flavors" page. Other than just listing white, yellow, spice, etc. my inclination is to be more descriptive: "classic white, the traditional wedding cake"; "dark fudge chocolate, moist and decadent". In your experience is it better to keep it short, clean and simple or be more wordy in an attempt to whet the taste buds?

It depends on your clients at the end of the day-I found a very small % were really into reading descriptions, most went by the title. We list 51 flavors and I have them on a plaque in alphabetical order, with stars next to the most popular ones.

Unless it's an unusual flavor, or you come up with your own flavor names - I don't think it's necessary to describe the flavors. The only other time I would describe a flavor is if there is some great selling point (such as made with vanilla beans, flavored with real fruit, or no sugar added, etc.)

We list a description:

Raspberries and Cream: Buttermilk French Vanilla Cake paired with pastry cream and homemade raspberry filling. ( Also delicious with Vanilla Cognac Cake)

Lemon Supreme : Airy chiffon cake layered with tangy lemon curd, with fresh lemon mousse in the center.

Italian Cream: An old favorite. A sweet and fluffy coconut pecan cake laced with cherry puree and cream cheese custard.

White Chocolate Mousse: Layers of Chiffon cake soaked with white chocolate liquor, white chocolate truffle, and white chocolate mousse. 
Hazelnut Praline Torte: Creamy hazelnut truffle between a layer of chiffon cake and a layer of hazelnut mousse.

Pistachio Dacquoise: Layers of velvety pistachio cake resting on layers of pastry cream and pistachio meringue.

Banana Mousse: Banana Mousse and fresh bananas complement this moist, wonderful cake. ( The banana filling is very popular in chocolate cake as well)

Chocolate Mousse Cake: Belgium dark chocolate truffle and a light chocolate mousse make this a perfect chocolate dessert.

Chocolate Raspberry Mousse: Layers of dark chocolate cake filled with dark chocolate mousse and raspberry puree--gives dessert a most sophisticated touch.

Cappuccino Bavarian: Sumptuous chocolate cake soaked with espresso and filled with coffee scented pastry cream, and chocolate truffle.

White Forest: Layers of moist French chocolate cake complemented by the slight tang of italian amerena cherries, in a layer of enticing ricotta cheesecake mousse.

Tropical Carrot: Our state fair winning recipe with pineapple, macadamia nuts and coconut white chocolate cream cheese frosting.

Marble: Layers of Vanilla and Chocolate Cake filled with chocolate truffle, chocolate mousse and a layer of cream custard.

Caseys Cake: Vanilla Cognac cake with layers of fresh raspberries, vanilla custard, and passion fruit- A house speciality Strawberry Vanilla Mousse: (Seasonal, available February to September only)Fresh mousse studded with strawberries resting between layers of moist vanilla cake.

Mimosa : Moist champagne cake with tangerine curd filling and champagne buttercream .

Peaches and Cream: Fresh peach mousse and peaches resting on layers of vanilla cake, and vanilla bean custard.

Cream De Menthe:, mint-flavored ganache and chocolate mousse give this dessert a sophisticated touch.

Blueberry Nectarine: Blueberry mousse and bits of fresh nectarine layered between moist butter sponge cake with vanilla custard Bailey's Cream: Moist chocolate cake with Baileys Irish cream mousse and truffle filling.


I like it short and sweet. I am totally turned off by names that require an encyclopedia to let me know what it is I'm buying.

If the name doesn't tell you what it is, then you will need a description. i.e. "Dinah's Delicate Delight" ..... uh, yeah, ya gotta tell me what the heck that is. "Chocolate Fudge" ... I'm pretty sure I can figure that one out.

My traditional flavors are listed more briefly, and the gourmet flavors read just about like snarkybakers.