The Caker’s Jordan Rondel closes iconic K Road shop after 10 years: ‘Heartbreaking’

The Caker's Jordan Rondel has revealed that her K Road bakery is closing down. Photos / @thecaker, Supplied

The Caker’s Jordan Rondel has revealed that her flagship bakery on K Road is closing its doors.

The Auckland bakery is the birthplace of Rondel’s iconic cake kits - instantly recognisable for their layered designs, gourmet flavour combos, and fresh fruit and flower toppings.

It’s a bittersweet move for the baker, who shared the news on Instagram yesterday, writing: “The time has come to announce that one of the facets of my brand, my Auckland bakery, is closing its doors after 10 years to make way for me and The Caker to grow in other ways.

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A post shared by Jordan Rondel, The Caker (@thecaker)

“This bakery has been the foundation for building what The Caker is today - a brand and a community that extends 2 continents and is in the homes of thousands upon thousands of cake lovers.

“446 K’Road was the home base for developing my cake kits. I wrote recipe books there. It became a hub for collaborating with all sorts of brands, artists and friends and it’s where I developed my own identity.”

Rondel, who runs The Caker with her sister Anouk, said it was “heartbreaking” to be closing this chapter, but that she was excited about “fresh possibilities”.

The Caker's vegan coconut, strawberry and basil cake. Picture / Sally Greer.

“I want to deeply thank everyone who chose our cakes for their celebrations over the years, who sent the kindest messages and reviews, I love you! And I want to deeply thank all our staff whose loyalty and dedication will never, ever be forgotten, you are my heroes.”

Rondel revealed she will still travel back and forth between Los Angeles and New Zealand and teased several upcoming projects including “multiple” collabs and TV appearances.

And before the bakery shuts up shop permanently, Auckland cake lovers will get a taste of several “iconic end-of-an-era” products to be released throughout the next month.

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For Rondel, it all started back in 2010 when she decided to take her blog selling her designs to the next level and set up a bakery to create custom cakes.

Recipe book deals and the creation of the DIY cake kits followed. By 2018, The Caker was well and truly an Auckland institution - then Rondel announced her plans to expand the business into Los Angeles in the US.

Since then, the business has become well established in the US and Rondel has worked with several celebrities, from baking a gluten and nut-free olive oil cake for Miley Cyrus’s birthday to collaborating with Chrissy Teigen to create a spiced carrot cake kit with salted caramel.

The collab went sour when the model then appeared to copy Rondel’s designs to create baking kits of her own - but the original cake kit is still available on The Caker’s website.