Cake sizes
We sell 2 different sizes:
Traybakes:
Size 30cm x 18cm, weight approx. 950g-1kg, portions 12-16.
Individually wrapped cake slices:
Size approx. 8.5cm x 3.5cm, weight 50-75g, 1 portion per pack.
Cake care
For online shop orders: on the day of dispatch, we take the cakes for your order from frozen stock. They are safe to refreeze for up to 3 months if you wish. Further details on shelf life and refreezing are included with your order. All our cakes are suitable for home freezing unless otherwise stated on our website (sometimes the case for our special offers).
Out of the freezer, our cakes have a shelf life of 15-35 days depending on the type of cake. These shelf lives are based on the cakes remaining in their film wrap. Once opened, we advise keeping your cakes in an air tight container for 3-5 days away from direct sunlight.
Shelf life and allergen information
Everything we make is gluten free, we also have a range of dairy free products available.
On site, the only allergens we have are: nuts, milk, egg, and ingredients containing soya. We follow strict cross contamination procedures, however we cannot guarantee the absence of (tree) nuts. Therefore all of our products may contain nuts and due to possible contamination at the nut processing facility some may contain traces of peanut.
Ingredients lists, shelf life and allergen information are all available to view on each product page. Full, in depth allergen information for all our products in one comprehensive table can be downloaded here.
Our cakes are individually labelled with allergen information, please do check this before eating.
If you need any further information please do contact us.
The Vegan Society standards
It is a thorough process to gain accreditation, which ensures no animal products are intentionally used at any stage of the production process for any of the raw materials or finished product.
The Vegan Society is not against foods labelled as vegan also carrying a ‘may contain’ warning about animal allergens, and sees veganism and potential allergen cross-contamination as separate issues. However, it does ask that companies strive to minimise cross-contamination from animal substances used in non-vegan products as far as is reasonably practicable.
Having possible traces of dairy does not preclude a product from being approved by The Vegan Society; please read the The Vegan Society guidance on allergens.
Dairy free
Some of our vegan cakes are also dairy free.
With the remaining vegan cakes that are not dairy free, the possible contamination risk comes from one of our chocolate suppliers, not ourselves. They make their milk chocolate at the same site as they make their dark chocolate, and unfortunately after conducting their own risk assessments they have concluded they cannot guarantee that their products will always be free from (unintentional) traces of milk. They therefore aren’t able to label them as being suitable for dairy allergy sufferers.
As milk is an allergen, we legally need to state this on our packaging.
Soya
Some of our ingredients contain lecithin, which is a vegan lecithin derived from soya. Lecithins are highly processed and therefore contain very little soy protein, making them suitable for some people with a soy allergy. The Anaphylaxis UK website provides more information on the potential side effects of soy lecithin for allergy sufferers, including the following:
“Lecithin: Lecithin (E322) is an emulsifier normally derived from unrefined soya oil and occasionally from rapeseed oil. Soya lecithin has to be labelled under EU Directive. Although the risk of reaction to soya lecithin may be small, we advise that you seek advice from your doctor or allergy specialist about whether you should avoid it”.
As part of our drive to eliminate as many as allergens as we can from our cakes we are seeking out sunflower lecithin alternatives where possible in future. For instance our chocolate supplier will be launching sunflower lecithin chocolate which we can use in 2022.
Oats
Oats don’t naturally contain gluten, but they are often contaminated due to being grown in the same place as other grains.
Our British grown gluten free oats are tested at a UKAS accredited lab and certified to contain less than 5ppm (0.0005%) gluten (which is the lowest that can currently be tested for).
For more information on the suitability of oats for a gluten free diet please find out more here.
Palm oil
Due to environmental concerns we don’t use palm oil as an ingredient itself within our bakery, but it is contained within three of our composite ingredients which we buy in ready-made, namely cinder toffee pieces, vegan baking spread and mincemeat. These ingredients are RSPO certified, but we still don’t think this is good enough. We realise this is not ideal and we will continue to search for palm oil free alternatives. thus demonstrating our commitment to being totally palm oil free.
Artificial preservatives
As with our approach to palm oil, we do not use any preservatives in our Honeybuns cakes. They are, however, found in a small number of the ingredients we buy in. This affects the following products: Apple Crumble Bar (apple sauce), Toffee Apple Slice (apple sauce), Raspberry Bakewell Slice (vegan baking spread), Chocolate Pecan & Caramel Slice Traybake (orange slices), and Mincemeat Crumble Slice (mincemeat).
Again, if we can source high quality, gluten free and vegan accredited alternatives we will swap over.