How do you want your cake to look? This is possibly the trickiest question you ask yourself before you call The Cake People. You’ve seen our range of delicious cake options and you spied the edible and photo cakes and thought to yourself - they’d be awesome. And you wouldn’t be the first people to think that, as they are two of the most popular ways to create kids birthday cakes in Melbourne, or have a personalised cake for any occasion. While the terms are often used interchangeably, there are subtle differences. Understanding these differences can help you choose the right cake for your special person on their next birthday.

You can choose a cherished family photo or the image of your favourite cartoon character, both brought to life on top of your cake. In this guide, we’ll discuss what each of these terms mean and what sets them apart and how each, in their own way, can make your celebration one-of-a-kind.

What Is a Photo Cake?

A photo cake is a delicious cake featuring a real photo, in edible ink on wafer paper or icing, placed on top of the cake. The photos are totally fine to eat.

You can visit the edible image cakes page, or our photo cupcakes page. Our team has perfected the process of printing your photo onto a sugar sheet using food-safe colours, so every detail comes through crisp and true to the original.

We can frame the picture for you as well, with butter cream, or sprinkles. We fit the photo to the cake, be it a round cake or a square cake.

The flavour is a delicate vanilla, carefully balanced so it never competes with the cake beneath it. It simply melts away, leaving the design as the star.

What Is an Edible Image Cake?

An edible image cake is much like a photo cake, and in some ways includes the photo cake amongst its repertoire. You could say that a photo cake is also an edible image cake, but an edible image cake is not always a photo cake. Or, you could just take a slice and enjoy the cake.

View the range of our edible image cakes, we probably have a cake that fits your child’s current fandom. We have K-Pop Demon Hunters, Labubu, and Minecraft cakes all ready to go.

If you’d like to have your own image on a cake, something from your favourite movie, or an album cover of your favourite band, or even some art you’ve produced, you can upload your image on our custom image cake page, choose the colour of your cake, the size, and any other details, and let our cake making maestros do their thing.

Like our photo cakes, every image is printed with precision food-safe colour ink onto delicate sheets of icing, finished with a subtle vanilla flavour. We can place the image on top and cropped to fit the cake top, or offset, you tell us.

So What's Actually Different Between Them?

Photo cakes and edible image cakes rely on the same refined technology. 'Edible image' describes the printing process itself, while 'photo cake' refers to the finished creation, a cake that uses a photo as its centrepiece. Both are created using the same award-winning technique of an image printed on edible paper or icing, and then expertly placed onto one of our delicious cakes.

The real difference is how these two types of cakes are used, and some people’s reaction to them.

With photo cakes you often have one large image of a person, or people, on the cake. It is usually laid flat, much like a photo album, which looks fantastic.

Edible image cakes can often be individual images or graphics, cut out and placed on the cake in patterns or dioramas. Think logos or action figures, rather than just one photo. You can make them stand up straight, rather than laid flat like a photo.

Fun fact: In 2024, a study published in the Journal of Consumer Psychology which showed that some people find it a little strange eating cake with a face on it. They don’t want to destroy a photo of a loved one, or even of themselves! IF this is the case with you, that’s okay. We can bake you a Bluey cake or a Wiggles cake instead, no problems.

Which One Should You Choose?

While we believe you choose the cake you want for your occasion, as Melbourne's cake experts, here's our take on which style suits different types of celebrations.

Anniversaries and memorials are the perfect stage for a photo cake. You can have memories presented, old photos and tributes printed and displayed on the cake in a touching way.

For kids birthday cakes in Melbourne, edible image cakes are a fantastic idea, where super heroes or TV shows are taking the spotlight. Edible image cakes are also great for corporate events, with corporate designs and logos.

How to Order Your Photo or Edible Image Cake

You can order an edible image cake, or a photo cake, by starting on our Edible Image Cakes page.

For an edible image cake, navigate to the Custom Image Cake page, where you see the bright yellow Guzman Y Gomez cake, an example of the corporate event we talked about just before. You can upload your image, tell us what colour you want your cake to be iced and what size cake you’d like to order. There are other options to choose from, such as making the cake soy-free, or adding a gluten-friendly ganache dip. You can even add themed cupcakes to the order. Very cool.

A photo cake is ordered in much the same way from the same page, however you can also add the photo cupcakes to your order, which are great for the gift bags given to each child when they head home from your party.

Get Your Custom Cake From The Cake People Today

Are your tastebuds just as excited as your eyeballs right now, wanting a delicious cake with your custom photos or imagery decorating it? The Cake People can bring your fantasy to life on top of a cake, or with a batch of cupcakes. Both options of cake are fully customisable to what you want, and both are, of course, very tasty.

We can also create soy-free options and gluten-friendly ganache, so feel free to get in touch with us today and let's talk about your face on a cake!