Vegan eaters shouldn’t have to settle, especially on special occasions. Thanks to Vegan East, which offers flavorful layer cakes festooned with buttercream rosettes, fresh raspberries, and cookies, they don’t have to. Pick from nearly a dozen options, from carrot cake with vegan cream cheese frosting to a chocolate cookie dough cake. Several flavors are available gluten-free. Cakes range from $45 to $54.

Patisserie 46’s chef and owner John Kraus is a maestro of chocolate. Highlights from this menu include a three-layer chocolate cake; a gluten-friendly flourless raspberry chocolate cake; and a classic opera cake, rich with ganache, coffee-soaked jaconde, and French buttercream. Cakes range from $40 to $50 based on size.

Black Walnut Bakery’s cakes are beautiful in their simplicity — the pineapple coconut meringue cake, for example, is adorned with golden-brown peaks of meringue and toasted coconut flakes; another favorite layers a chiffon sponge with vanilla Bavarian cream and cassis preserves. Chocolate aficionados should opt for the chocolate lux or carmella cakes. Cakes range from $45 to $75.

Ordering a cake from the Copper Hen is the dessert version of a choose-your-own-adventure novel. Start by selecting the cake design (options include a crisp minimalist icing, an arrangement of fresh berries, or lavish drips of caramel with a rose petal garnish, to name a few). Next pick a serving size, from four-inch to 12-inch. Finally, pick out a flavor — maybe carrot, vanilla raspberry, or champagne — and voila. (A gluten-free chocolate cake is available, too.)

This Lake Street bakery specializes in scratch-made tres leches cakes decorated with colorful frosting and bold flourishes. Pick one of the pre-made cakes dressed with ganache and fresh strawberries from the bakery case, or commission a custom creation, whether it’s a piña colada tres leches or a red velvet cake with a cream cheese filling.

Whimsical mermaid tails, vibrant flowers, cheeky phrases — Eat Me Bakery offers a wide range of cake styles, all frosted with a skillful flourish. Flavors include classic chocolate, vanilla, and red velvet, as well as more unusual fruit and botanical-inspired options like grapefruit, peach, and chai. Add buttercream, jam, or toasted marshmallow filling. Cakes start at $75. Note that Eat Me Bakery doesn’t have a brick-and-mortar location; order online.

Quiet Cat Bakery specializes in neat layer cakes with exquisite layers of piping and fresh fruit adornment. Place a custom order — maybe an Italian meringue buttercream topped with figs and berries, or a gluten-free vanilla cake with a strawberry filling and chamomile mousse. To order, email quietcatbakery@gmail@com.

At Durango Bakery in Northeast, find cakes frosted with cloud-like swirls of whipped cream, topped with glazed strawberries and peach slices, or crowned with huge icing roses.

Dahlia’s cakes are dreamy and romantic — they look a little more like Monet’s Water Lilies than dessert. Offered in two sizes, they’re frosted with buttercream in a choice of three colors plus two accent colors for decoration. Vanilla and chocolate are offered year-round; seasonal flavors are offered by the month. Cakes range from $115 to $140 depending on size.

Makers of the famous “geode cake,” Nadia Cakes offers imaginative sculpted and tiered cakes. Order a recreation of a character from an animated movie, a pastel-hued cake garnished with fondant flowers, or a replica of an everyday object, like a teapot or box of cigars. Two to four months notice is advised; request a quote online.

These cakes have the precise contours and rich, creamy layers of Paris’s fine pastries. The buttery Paris Brest cake is studded with hazelnuts; the opera cake is built on an irresistible coffee buttercream. B’Beri Desserts is online only, but delivers around the metro. Cakes range from $45 to $65.

Marc Heu’s cakes evoke the romance of Paris with ganache, pastry cream, and gold leaf. French classics are well-represented, including a fraisier cake made with a vanilla sponge and ringed with strawberries, and a striking opera cake made with coffee buttercream and dark chocolate ganache. In the mood for something exceptionally fancy? Get a custom vanilla Saint Honoré in the shape of a letter or number.

The layer cakes at the Buttered Tin are the platonic ideal of a birthday cake — the moist layers are held together with generous frosting. The hot fudge sundae cake is an exuberant confection topped with dark chocolate ganache, whipped cream, sprinkles, and cherries, and the TBT Ho Ho is a massive, gourmet version of the childhood treat. For a more subdued dessert, try the delicately-flavored lemon drop cake garnished with edible flowers.