The Butter End

Welcome to the sweet intersection of culinary art and baking excellence in Southern California: The Butter End Cakery. While many bakeries promise delicious treats, The Butter End elevates the experience by crafting bespoke, stunning, and unforgettable custom cakes and celebration desserts. Located in Gardena, this studio and academy has become one of California's most sought-after custom cake shops, lauded for the uncompromising quality of its ingredients and the extraordinary artistry of its designs. Whether you are planning a grand wedding, a unique corporate event, or a simple yet perfect celebration, The Butter End offers a sweet finale that is as beautiful as it is decadent.

The philosophy of The Butter End, championed by owner and artist Kimberly Bailey, is simple: never sacrifice flavor for design. Their cakes are consistently praised for being moist, delicious, and truly memorable, often compared to "Grandma's cake" but with the visual sophistication of a modern masterpiece. They take immense pride in challenging the stereotype of dry, unexciting event cakes. It's this dedication to both artistry and taste that has earned them recognition from prestigious outlets like Martha Stewart, Inside Weddings, and The Hollywood Reporter, in addition to being featured on Food Network shows like

Ridiculous Cakes

Buddy vs. Duff 2

The journey of The Butter End began in humble beginnings in a small guest bungalow in Venice, CA, before expanding to its current locations, including the Gardena custom cake studio and academy. This story of passion and persistence, which started as a form of therapy for Kimberly Bailey, now brings joy to countless clients throughout Los Angeles, Orange County, Santa Barbara, and beyond. Every dessert is baked from scratch, in small batches, ensuring a quality that mass-produced bakeries simply cannot match. The Gardena location serves as a hub for their custom cake design and educational classes, fostering creativity in the heart of Southern California.

The Butter End’s commitment to quality starts with the ingredients. They use only cage-free eggs, organic milk and produce, hormone-free butter, and the finest pure extracts and chocolates available. Furthermore, the bakery famously avoids traditional fondant, opting instead to cover their artistic creations with a more delicious rolled chocolate—a detail that epicures and guests always appreciate. This focus on superior components is why their flavors are so rich and their cakes so moist.

One of the most defining aspects of The Butter End is their completely collaborative and custom design process, particularly for wedding cakes. Kimberly Bailey and her team work closely with clients to move beyond simple replication, instead treating each cake as a unique work of art inspired by the couple’s personal style, the event’s vibe, and visual elements like a bridal dress detail or wedding invitations. This ensures the cake is not just a dessert, but a true statement piece. For example, one client’s cake incorporated elements from a butterfly sculpture in their home, and another was inspired by the bride's watercolor floral artwork, demonstrating the bakery's boundless creativity.

Custom cake pricing at The Butter End reflects the incredible amount of artistic labor involved. It is determined primarily by the factors of artistry, scale, and time required, rather than a simple per-slice metric. Some of their intricate designs can take 70 to over 100 hours to create, truly making them commissioned works of art. The bakery excels at everything from elegant, traditional tiered wedding cakes to whimsical, sculpted groom’s cakes that bring a couple's inside jokes or personal hobbies to life.

Location and Accessibility

For clients across the South Bay and the greater Los Angeles area, The Butter End’s custom cake studio and academy is conveniently located in Gardena, CA. This serves as the primary location for custom cake consultations, design appointments, and the educational classes hosted by Kimberly Bailey.

Address: 1910 Rosecrans Ave, Gardena, CA 90249, USA

Its location near major Southern California thoroughfares makes it accessible for clients traveling from various parts of the region to discuss their custom cake needs or attend a class. It is advised to contact the studio for an appointment, as this is their custom design and educational space rather than a daily retail counter.

Services Offered

The Butter End provides a comprehensive range of custom dessert services for all types of occasions throughout Southern California, from intimate celebrations to elaborate, high-profile events.

• Custom Wedding Cakes: Specializing in bespoke, couture designs that are fully unique to the couple, with a collaborative design process including artistic sketches.
• Custom Celebration Cakes: Creating one-of-a-kind designs for birthdays, anniversaries, corporate events, showers, and more, ranging from multi-tiered cakes to fully sculpted works.
• Pre-Designed Cakes: A curated collection of beautifully designed cakes available for a quicker turnaround (as little as 48 hours for certain designs) for smaller events.
• Variety of Baked Goods: Offering an array of smaller desserts including cookies, cupcakes, scones, macarons, mini-cakes, coffee cakes, éclairs, and more available for pre-order.
• Custom Dessert Buffets: Designing full spreads of assorted desserts for events.
• Cake Tastings and Consultations: Providing an elevated and special tasting experience with owner Kimberly Bailey to sample a wide variety of their delicious flavors.
• Educational Classes and Workshops: The Gardena studio is home to an academy that hosts decorating classes, as well as classes taught by other fine and culinary artists.
• Dietary Accommodations: Offering options for Gluten-Free, Vegan, and Lactose-Free desserts.
• Event Services: Providing professional consultation, setup, and delivery for event cakes.

Features / Highlights

What sets The Butter End apart in the competitive Southern California bakery landscape is a combination of their artistry, high-quality ingredients, and commitment to the client experience.

• World-Renowned Artistic Design: Recognized for creating incredible, highly detailed, and unique cake designs, from elegant floral creations and watercolor effects to whimsical, sculpted cakes (like a six-foot great white shark or a Millennium Falcon replica).
• Fondant-Free Cakes: The bakery uses a tastier rolled chocolate to cover its cakes instead of traditional fondant, ensuring a more palatable experience for guests.
• Premium, High-Quality Ingredients: Strict use of local cage-free eggs, organic milk and produce, hormone-free butter, and the finest pure extracts and chocolates, resulting in famously moist and flavorful cakes.
• Decadent and Unique Flavor Selection: An extensive menu of delicious, gourmet flavors, including signature offerings like Chocolate Almond Cherry Cake with Cherry Cream Cheese Buttercream, Coconut Cake with Passion Fruit Buttercream, Edie's Banana Chocolate Chip Cake, and a hand-grated Carrot Cake with Walnuts.
• Celebrity and Hollywood Clientele: The Butter End has become known as the "cake shop to the stars," creating custom works for Hollywood studios and celebrities, while still maintaining dedication to backyard weddings.
• Adaptability for Dietary Needs: Offering a selection of popular flavors in Gluten-Free and Vegan formats (e.g., Vegan Carrot Cake, Gluten-Free Chocolate, Chocolate Chip Cake) to accommodate all guests.
• Exceptional Customer Service: Clients consistently rave about the friendly, professional, and responsive staff, particularly owner Kimberly Bailey, who ensures the process is seamless and exciting from tasting to delivery.

Contact Information

To inquire about a custom cake, schedule a consultation, or find out more about the classes offered at the Gardena academy, please use the following contact details:

Address: 1910 Rosecrans Ave, Gardena, CA 90249, USA

Phone: (310) 943-9241

What is Worth Choosing

When planning a wedding or a significant milestone celebration in California, choosing The Butter End is choosing an experience defined by quality and creativity. As one delighted customer noted about their wedding cake, "Our cake was EXACTLY as I had envisioned it, and it was as beautiful as it was delicious. Our guests couldn't stop raving about it." Another reviewer emphasized the complete package, stating, "Kim and her staff were so delightful and easy to work with from start to finish. We also scheduled a cake tasting in which I got to try TEN different flavors of cake, all of which were absolutely delicious."

What is truly worth choosing is the peace of mind that comes from knowing your centerpiece dessert is in the hands of genuine artists and passionate foodies. You are guaranteed a cake that is moist, bursting with flavor from premium ingredients, and a visually stunning custom design that captures the essence of your event. For a cake that your guests will not just politely taste, but enthusiastically finish and remember for years, The Butter End in Gardena stands unmatched in the Southern California custom cake industry. They are the destination for Californians who believe their special day deserves an extraordinary, delicious, and edible work of art.

The Butter End

1910 Rosecrans Ave, Gardena, CA 90249, USA