Calling all Bake Off fans!

[Runningfromthecrawlies]

DD1 is having her (12th) birthday sleepover this weekend . When I sent out the invitations, at the height of a heatwave, I envisaged them sitting around having a BBQ and swinging in the hammock, drinking pink lemonade. Inevitably, it is now going to bucket down on the night of the party. I need to pad out the planned activities a bit!

I’m thinking about buying a few large, plain Victoria sponges, getting them into teams and doing a Bake Off challenge with them. Full disclosure: I’ve never actually watched Bake Off, but that’s one of my jobs for tomorrow. In the meantime, I’d be really grateful for any thoughts on what decorating stuff is necessary for a night of Bake Off. Loads of ready- rolled white icing, and a similar quantity of chocolate drops and silver balls presumably. Some sparklers? What else is usually available to Bake Off contestants? Or what would be sensible under the circumstances? I’m off to Sainsburys in the morning…

Thanks very much in advance!

I reckon you need food colouring (gel) and something to pipe, at a minimum. Also worth thinking about what you want to challenge them to make - unless it’s tiny teams maybe get them to make an assemblage not a single cake otherwise it’ll be tricky for more than one to do things.

yoh could give them a theme? Worth giving them biscuits to decorate too I think

Perhaps a single big cake and I’ll get an extra small one for each team to chop up and use? Any other ideas would be gratefully received.

Ask them to create a theme? So maybe a beach scene or DD’s face?
Strawberry laces for hair perhaps, that sort of thing.

You can buy packs of different-coloured fondant icing in the supermarket, so they can make edible characters to go on their cakes. Should be good and time-consuming!

It sounds fun but do you really have to do anything?

When mine have had sleepovers, even for birthdays, I don’t do any activities, they just get on with it.

I really don’t have anything to do with them once they come through the door, aside from feeding them and having a birthday cake (although they don’t want to sit there and have happy birthday sang to them in front of their mates as they get older!)

I would think the main element of such a challenge would be actually, um, baking?
It's not called Cake Decorate Off!

I think I’d have been mortified if my mum organised activities like that for me at 12, sorry 😬

I love this idea, think I might copy it

you definitely need a theme, google could help with that and it will help will selection of decorations.

tesco has endless amounts of sprinkle etc they do packets of coloured icing and edible jell pens glitter etc. I think if you’re not careful it could add up to a lot so again a theme would help.

think out the box, icecream cones make castle towers or witches hats etc a few mini Swiss rolls and extra cup cakes .

check out the sweet isle for shoe laces / snakes / ice cream cones etc

you could do it sewing bee style where you have a table with all the decorations etc on, give them one cake per team and a set time to discuss what they are going todo.

I was going to say they then have a mad dash to select from the table but you could drag it out longer and make a game of it - multi choice questions to each team in turn, correct answer they can select an item? Or something like that? if doing mad dash I would supply little pots of sprinkle etc ?

tbh I think it’s an amazing idea my grandchildren love decorating cupcakes or even rich tea biscuits if need be 😂

ignore the negative comments you always get them, very sad. I just asked my 13yr granddaughter if she would like to go to a party and do this. She did point out she would want to eat the cakes, but it was a definite yes. My DIL also said it would be a good baby shower activity- cake to look like a baby or something

I used to love decorating cakes with my friends as a young teenager.

Colouring for the icing is definitely required, and maybe just bags of sweets (smarties, jelly tots, laces) for the rest. Toothpicks /skewers for structure. Maybe plain biscuits like rich tea that can be turned into various things.

We used to spend ages doing themes - a ski slope (with chair lift and meringue mountains), beech, forest with cottage etc. But it was generally impromptu so made with just whatever was in the cupboards!

Cupcakes may be better than one large cake?