Monarch Cakes

Monarch Cakes is a long-established cake shop at 103 Acland Street in St Kilda, known for traditional European baking and a relaxed place to enjoy cake and coffee. The business traces its recipes to the original shop in Poland, with influences from Austria, Germany, Hungary, Slovakia and France. Its approach is deliberately old-fashioned: cakes are made with butter, eggs, flour and sugar, without substitutes or premixes.

The range includes several distinctive house specialities. The Chocolate Kooglhoupf is a yeast-based cake with real chocolate swirled through it, available in round sizes and as a slab. It can also be bought by the slice with coffee, while larger slabs are suited to catering. The Polish Baked Cheesecake follows a century-old recipe and uses Gippsland cottage cheese. Other named favourites include the light, plum-topped Monarch’s Famous Plum Cake, a tangy French-style Lemon Tart, Poppy Seed Delight and the flaky Continental Custard Vanilla.

There is a strong sense of continuity here. The family’s cake shop began in Lygon Street, Carlton, in 1931, before moving with its clientele to the seaside suburb of St Kilda. Monarch Cakes was established on Acland Street in 1934 and has remained at the same address, becoming a destination for locals and visitors. The venue describes its setting as having old-style ambience, friendly service and the warmth of a family-run business, with Acland Street offering a lively backdrop as people stop for coffee, cake and a break from the day.

Monarch suits anyone looking for traditional continental cakes rather than quick, mass-produced baking. It works for a casual coffee stop, a slice while exploring Acland Street, or a larger cake order for a celebration or gathering. Online cake ordering and catering are available through the business, while the Lemon Tart is specifically intended for local customers because it does not travel well by mail. With its St Kilda history, sit-down cake-and-coffee focus and recipes carried across generations, it offers a distinctly old-school Melbourne cake-shop experience.