A Duckcake is exactly what it sounds like and nothing like what you expect. It is a rubber duck sitting in a cupcake liner, with a swirl of frosting on its head and a cherry on top. The liner is rubber. The frosting is rubber. The duck, unsurprisingly, is rubber.
People pick one up in the shop and it takes about two seconds before they check whether it is edible. It is not. That confusion is most of the appeal.
Five colours, five liners
They come in red, purple, orange, green and blue. The duck underneath stays the same cheerful yellow; the liner and the frosting change. Lined up on a shelf they read as a set, which is why very few people leave with just one.
Why it works as a gift
Birthdays are the obvious one. A Duckcake next to a real cake is a joke that lands without anybody having to explain it, and unlike the real cake it is still there in the morning.
It also does well for people who are not supposed to have cake. Someone recovering, someone on a diet, someone whose birthday you forgot until the shops closed. A cupcake that cannot be eaten turns out to be a reasonable substitute for one that can.
The rest of the bakery
Duckcakes sit in our Food & Drinks collection, which also holds donut ducks, coffee ducks and a few things that should probably not be food at all. If you are buying for an occasion rather than a flavour, start at Gifts instead.
One warning
They photograph extremely well next to real baked goods, which is how most of ours end up on Instagram. If you put one on a cake stand at a party, expect at least one person to try.
Meet the character
Every duck in this story is real, and most of them are still in stock.
Browse the ducks