Friends of Fort George members Greg Knight and Crispin Bottomley help unload the birthday cake made by Willow Cakes and Pastries last year. Catherine O'Donnell, owner of the shop, said this year's cake will be bigger and better.

It's the hours leading up to Canada Day which the staff at Willow Cakes and Pastry enjoy the most.

It's that time of the year where they help bake and assemble a four-foot by eight-foot birthday cake that will be consumed by several hundred people on Canada Day.

The cake is part of the "giant cakewalk," one of the highlights of the July 1 festivities. It's so integral that the cake is loaded on the back of a truck and paraded down Queen Street to Simcoe Park.

Catherine O'Donnell, owner of Willow Cakes and Pastries, is the mastermind behind the large birthday cake. She said it's always a challenge to out do the previous year's cake.

"Last year we did a cake with maple leaf shaped cookies," O'Donnell said. "Without giving too much away, this year's cake will have raised maple leaves on different levels. It will be half chocolate strawberry and half vanilla and cherry flavoured. It will take 16 hours to make. What will it look like? You'll just have to see that day."

O'Donnell said while baking and creating the cake is one thing, another challenge to the process is getting the cake out of the bakery. She said it takes at least 20 people to lift it onto the truck.

The cakewalk towards Simcoe Park is a tradition for many locals, O'Donnell said.

"In the morning they'll come to us for coffee, then they go eat cake and come back later to tell us about it," she said.