|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
From mountain ranges to intricate 3D floral patterns, imagination is the limit to what a cake can look like at Palo Alto’s newest cake shop.
Topi Cakes opened Oct. 8 along El Camino in the former spot of Shekoh Confections. Created by best friends Tiffany Xing and Ivy Ling, their debut brick-and-mortar shop offers three main services: daily treats for dine-in or takeaway, customizable cakes and cake-making classes, both in-store and offsite.
Xing’s favorite part about cake is “the joy that it brings to people.” She said it can be a casual dessert for a pick-me-up after work or it can be a special way to celebrate an important day.
The origin of Topi Cake began about seven years ago, when the friends – who met in college at an accounting class – started their own separate at-home custom cake businesses. Xing was working at Visa full-time as a financial analyst and making custom cakes after work and on the weekends. Eventually, she knew she was ready to take the next step – opening her own storefront.
So she approached Ling, whose strength in baking tasty cakes complements Xing’s skills in cake decorating. The name Topi is a combination of the friends’ names and also happens to be a type of antelope found in Africa.
“It always stands high, and is very confident,” Xing said.
The interior of Topi Cakes has a minimalist, Japanese-style aesthetic, with neutral tones and wood textures. A display case at the front is filled with the bakery’s daily cake selection, which rotates daily, Xing said.
Box cakes are single-serving chiffon cakes layered with fillings and toppings in small plastic boxes. Flavors include peach oolong tea, black sesame mochi, soy milk and even salted egg and pork floss ($8.50-$9.50). Xing described her cakes as Asian-style, saying they have less sugar and more natural ingredients.
“All the box cakes, they’re like the mini version of our standard cakes, because maybe you don’t want to buy a big birthday cake for a casual event,” Xing said.
Larger ready-made cakes include a 5-inch strawberry molten chiffon cake and a 3-inch jasmine green tea cake ($14.25-$24.85). In addition to cakes, spherical scones stuffed with cream cheese filling are also available in the case and can come in flavors such as mango pomelo, pistachio, Oreo chocolate, Early Grey tea and matcha strawberry ($4.25).
Customized 6-inch cakes start from $68 but are usually priced around $120, Xing said. Topi Cakes can do hand paintings ($118+), handcraft florals from bean paste or buttercream ($128+), do custom shapes ($168+), decorate with fondant ($88), create cakes with multiple layers ($138+) and even make wedding cakes ($400+).
But the main reason for opening a storefront, Xing said, was to be able to offer cake-making and cake-decorating classes.
“A lot of people want to try baking, but all the equipment, all the tools, are already so complicated, and then you don’t know if you like it or not, and then you spend so much money on that, and you might have bought the wrong thing,” Xing said.
One type of class Topi Cakes will offer includes a tablet with a step-by-step video guide. Xing said she is “very confident anyone without experience or any age can make a cake by following that instruction.” KitchenAid stand-mixers and all other baking equipment will be provided. Topi Cakes will also offer workshops with an in-person instructor for more in-depth learning.
For those not looking to bake their own cake, there will also be cake-decorating classes where Topi Cakes provides a baked cake that you can decorate however you’d like. Classes will be around $80-$100, and will likely be offered by the end of the month, according to Xing.
Topi Cakes, 2305 El Camino Real, #B, Palo Alto; Instagram: @topi_cake_shop. Open Wednesday to Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m and Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Dig into food news. Follow the Peninsula Foodist on Instagram and subscribe to the newsletter to get insights on the latest openings and closings, learn what the Foodist is excited about eating, read exclusive interviews and keep up on the trends affecting local restaurants.
Mountain View residents launch app to help homeowners navigate building permitsMarch 11, 2026 8:29 am