This Darlinghurst bakery has your cupcake needs covered from every possible angle. You shouldn’t go past its selection of 12 signature flavours, including its ridiculously chocolatey namesake variety, but if you’re looking for something for a special occasion, Black Velvet’s got your back. There are bite-sized mini cupcakes, unicorn cupcakes, corporate cupcakes, wedding cupcakes and even gender reveal and baby shower cupcakes. Best of all, Black Velvet delivers across metropolitan Sydney, seven days a week, so no matter where in town you’re bunkered down, these cupcake maestros can bring you a cute-as-a-button sugar fix, direct to your door. Plus, you get the added bonus of having a certain '80s power ballad by Alannah Myles playing on repeat in your mind every time you place an order. If you please.

Flavour is everything at this Mosman bakery, which is why the Classic Cupcake Co offers a whopping 40-plus varieties, from timeless favourites like cookies and cream and vanilla confetti to more outside-the-box concepts like banana bread latte, pink lemonade and red velvet lamington. Founded by British chef Anna Eden in 2012, every cupcake features locally sourced free-range eggs and organic vanilla. The only staple ingredient that’s imported is the chocolate, made from sustainably grown cocoa beans by the maitre chocolatiers of Belgium. The Classic Cupcake Co also doesn't skimp on frosting, which as everyone knows, is the best feature of the form. In addition to its stunning cakes, the Classic Cupcake Co also offers classes for both adults and kids, although these are on pause until lockdown lifts. Until then, you can still enjoy these top-shelf confections, including cake pops, brownies and giant cupcakes, all of which are available for both store pickup and delivery.

Who knew desserts could be so chic? There’s something undeniably classy about the sophisticated restraint of the Sparkle Cupcakery aesthetic, but that’s not to say its flavours pull their punches. Its menu offers decadent riffs on classic favourites, like the lemon squeeze, a zesty citrus cake infused with lemon butter and topped with blow-torched meringue, the black forest, a rich chocolate sponge containing a burst of house-made cherry compote, and its signature hero, the pure sparkle, which humble brags about being flavoured with “the world’s best vanilla bean”. Because everyone should be able to enjoy desserts this extra, Sparkle also offers vegan variants, including some flavours you can only order cruelty-free, like the chai latte, a spiced cake with chai tea-infused custard, or the pina colada, containing real chunks of pineapple and a hearty kick of rum. Need your cake in a hurry? Order before 11am and you can get same-day delivery across most of Sydney Metro.

Not only are these cupcakes some of the prettiest we’ve ever clapped eyes on, but the baker behind them also has a remarkable story. Mersini Lagoudakis is entirely self-taught and originally launched a grassroots cupcake delivery business from her home kitchen in Holsworthy, whipping up floral cupcakes in the evening after finishing her day job as a data analyst. Her jaw-droppingly beautiful cakes have attracted a cult following on Instagram, and while she still juggles a day job with her sweet side hustle, her up-and-coming cake business, which specialises in cupcake bouquets that look uncannily like the real deal, continues to blossom. Unlike most of the entries in the list, this is an order in advance situation, as Lagoudakis can sometimes have a wait time of several weeks. But in our humble opinion, when the cupcakes are as gorgeous as these, they’re certainly worth waiting for.

If you’re looking for cupcakes with wow factor, you’ve come to the right room. This Balmain bakery is turning out intricately decorated cupcakes for damn near every occasion, from Halloween to hens’ parties, burlesque nights to baby showers, as well as a heap of other fun designs that are almost too pretty to eat. Almost. Also, in a stroke of business genius that will have you wondering how on earth we ever lived without them, the cupcake room also creates cupcakes for dogs, which the team have named "pupcakes", and frankly, we may never recover from that brilliant bit of wordplay. The Cupcake Room's delivery footprint covers much of Sydney, from the Northern Beaches down to Cronulla, and if you order before midday you can get same-day delivery. Alternatively, you can also swing by for in-store pickup.