Do you make birthday cakes for your children? Or did your mum make you one?

[Rearingthestars]

My mum never made me one, she had a few made for me - nothing crazy just like the woman down the street who would bake it and then place a Barbie on top.

But I’m just curious .. is it quite common for a mum to make a birthday cake?

No, and no. I don't really care enough about cake to neither make one or eat one. I'll order one for my ds. When I was younger, my mum would decorate a Walls Viennetta with tinned peaches which I loved.

My mum made cakes to look like our favourite cuddly toys as we grew up. She’d stay up late into the early hours making them so we wouldn’t see, and it was always an amazing surprise.

Im carrying on the tradition of my daughter, I took a day off work to make a Bluey cake for her first birthday, and next month I’ll be making her cuddly ghost toy into a cake equivalent for her second birthday.

Yes and yes.

My mum did when we were in the lower years of primary school.

I did mine from newborn to end of primary school. Less so now or if I do it's a simple carrot cake or lemon drizzle. I was a SAHM during the primary school years so had much more time and I liked doing it for their parties. Now they are young men and more likely to be hanging over on their birthdays.

My Mum made us birthday cakes and I made them for all four of our children because back then they didnt really sell them in supermarkets. All was fine until they all started getting to 18 and 21 and it became a competition about who could have the best, most original etc etc cake. Son wanted a giant crispy cake, it ended up several tiers all made in flexi buckets and was about 2 foot tall, one daughter wanted a cake with a goldfish bowl and with a real fish in and got it. After 21 I refused to make anymore until 30 and then that is it.

My mum never did but she wasn't really baking inclined. I enjoy it so I do make ds cake every year. They don't look professional by ANY means but we bake the cake together and then I decorate it as a surprise. It's been a nice tradition to start but I could really do with a decorating class to be honest!

No, my mum has never made one and I don't make one for dcs. She bought a cake most years and I always buy a cake.

Yes and yes. Simple but themed cakes for the DC. However DD2, when she was four, was asked what she would like to do for her birthday and requested one particular friend to come for tea and to choose a cake at the supermarket. She picked a very modest Hello Kitty cake that she'd presumably been quietly eyeing up for a while. 😁

My mum used to make a fabulous chocolate cake which we requested right up into our twenties. It was pretty basic and just decorated with chocolate buttons, but it had the most wonderful texture and tasted amazing.

I tried the same recipe for my DC but they prefer a Mary Berry chocolate fudge cake that I make, with ganache and broken up Cadbury Flakes. I’m completely useless at cake construction and fancy decorating.

My mum never bought a cake in her life, either for a birthday or any other occasion, she always made them. Birthday cakes are very important in our family.

My mum had 3 children and we each had a specially made and decorated cake until we left home. She still often makes us a cake if we see her on our birthday. My dad used to make my mum a cake on her birthday and I took over from about the age of 11 or 12. My mum also made and decorated my wedding cake.

I made my own children a special decorated cake for their birthdays, I did fairy castles, dolls, jewellery boxes, swimming pools, cars of all types, trains, robots etc. I made them their choice of cake until they got partners who did it for them. Now one or other of my children make me a birthday cake.

I make all kinds of cakes for everyday eating. My DiL is a fantastic baker and makes my son amazing birthday cakes as well as other types of cake. He makes her a special birthday cake for her birthdays too. My siblings do the same as do their spouses. All their children are great bakers and do the same too. I make cakes for my granddaughters' birthdays too, I make the offer to my daughter and she always accepts.

Whenever there's a family get together a big homemade cake is always part of the celebrations. I don't think any of us would have married anyone who didn't like cake and couldn't make one!

My mum made a few cakes when I was young - I think mainly because we were pretty broke and she couldn’t really afford a bought one. When I was a bit older and we were more financially comfortable it was just bought cakes.

I make every birthday cake for my kids (a different theme each year depending on what they are in to - I’m actually getting pretty good), and plan to continue doing so until I die/can no longer bake/ they move far enough away that there is no way to get it to them. It is a pain, but satisfying to have accomplished once it’s done, and it’s lovely seeing their excitement.

My granny used to make us all one.
we used to pick which one we wanted out of a book, I can’t remember the name of it now.

i buy cakes for my kids, I’m not a very good baker

My mum only started doing this when I was in my late teens. Probably struggled to find time or energy before then, I'm the eldest of 3, all close in age, and we had no family support at all due to distance. My eldest is 8 and I'm yet to ever bake a birthday cake for any of my 3, I just buy supermarket ones, they're perfectly happy. My DM however usually bakes birthday cakes for my own DCs now! Which is nice, just basic sponge cakes but they enjoy them. I couldn't make anything much more fancy myself, neither of us are particularly into baking.

No. I'm not a great baker nor were my parents. They had them made at a cake shop locally themed for whatever we were into at the time.
I do the same for my dcs but use a local lady as the cake shop closed about 20 years ago

My mum made all mine and lots of my DDs. My mum died at 80 in 2023 and subscribed to Family Circle most of her adult life. She would have thought making a cake was a bare minimum! She also made Xmas cakes and puddings each year and ran her local WI. Of course there were home made cakes!

I do!

I have a particular chocolate fudge cake that I make. It is always decorated differently. One year, Smarties, another year I made white chocolate mice "running around" it, another time I sprayed painted it with edible sparkles. Never any shite malleable shop bought icing or lurid food colouring.

It is not pro-looking because I am not a pro. It is just a very tasty chocolate cake and my kids always want second and third pieces. I know when they grow up that freshly baked chocolate cake made with real ingredients will be how they remember childhood birthdays.

I love baking and always make my children cakes for Birthdays. I have done Stitch, farm/tractor, Toy Story, Peter Pan, Capybara, Squishmallow, Waffle Dog, numbered cakes. I definitely get create, love going all out.

My Mum or my Nanna always made me a Birthday cake too. My Nanna was my best friend and taught me to bake/cook. I made her 50th Wedding anniversary cake and delivered a homemade cake/baked goods during lockdown each week when I did her shopping. Definitely my happy place.

Occasionally I have been asked to make them for family and friends. I have just charged cost of ingredients but often been given a thank you gift/voucher/money. I sometimes consider baking professionally but on the decorative side I am very much self taught 🫣

My mum made me some amazing cakes when I was a kid, teddy bears, swim pools, dogs. I make all my kids cakes, I’ve progressed from smartie covered traybskes to spiders, snakes, cars, cats & dinosaurs. Dc4’s birthday next week & I’m making a Jurassic Park themed one with a monster truck.

My mum didnt

And I dont for my dd - i took her to tesco to let her choose one

Should I be making them? 🤔🤔😄

My mother always made us beautiful cakes. I usually buy them because I haven’t inherited her baking skills.

Haha - the nearest DH and I ever came to divorce was 18 years ago when we were wrestling with grey fondant icing at 1am because DS1 had expressed a wish for a cake shaped like our silver Vauxhall Zafira.

I'm not sure my mum ever knew how to bake a cake. She's got the intelligence to follow a recipe and cooked plenty, but never baked cakes. She always got whoever was doing our childcare (nanny/au pair) to bake us a birthday cake, which makes us sound really posh, but there wasn't as much childcare around when I was young. Then once we grew out of childcare, we would bake our own. I was a very keen baker as a teen.

Now DH bakes all of the birthday cakes, though DD1 is quite into baking too. I think the reason that DH does the birthday cakes is that I find decorating them really tedious. DH has done all sorts of designs, but now it's mostly just a Bruce Bogtrotter style chocolate cake, sometimes covered in chocolate bars.

This might give you some more feed back

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/5512420-did-you-have-a-birthday-cake-every-year-as-a-child-how-old-are-you-now-was-it-homemade-or-bought

Yes I have made all of dd bday cakes, I only have one dd and I like making them.

I do and she did. Mine are better 😁