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?

I made the smash cake for my older dc's 1st bday. Have bought all the others - including 1/2 birthdays - for both dc. I just don't have the time to bake a cake on top of everything else and find trying to make a decent cake just stresses me out. 😵‍💫

I don't remember ever having a birthday cake baked for me. It could be that I've just forgotten cakes from six decades ago. DM was a good baker so it's likely she baked a few.

I baked and iced a sandwich / layer cake every year for all the DCs' birthdays - no fancy shapes. There are four birthdays within the same four week stretch, so this was quite a challenge. One DC liked the same cake every year. The rest never settled on one favourite cake.

I am in my 40s and my mum still makes me a birthday cake, she has never missed a year and her cake is one of my favourite things about my birthday. We made my son's together each year until lockdown then my son started to help me make his own. Have so many lovely memories of special cakes made over the years for me and with my mum and son.

Yes and yes.

Mum made theme cakes for us all as kids, though she didn’t ask what we wanted and they could be quite simple (her speciality was a straightforward cake iced with a clock face set to the ‘time’ of your birthday, so 8 o’clock for an 8 year old. I don’t remember what age she didn’t do it any more, maybe 14 or so? She was a great baker, they tasted tip top.

I did theme cakes for ds until he was 21. My top two reviews for my own work were the Death Star and a roller coaster one I did when he was about 13 or so. I was quite good at rough but effective constructions slapped into shape at about 1am.

I now have 2, this will be the first year with 2 to make, 6 months apart. Let’s see if I have a breakdown and decide I’m never making one ever again 😂

Love the bit about the icing sugar, probably slowly killing ourselves off with the dust inhalation but hey, it’s for the kids…

Mum never made mine.

I have generally made DS a lemon drizzle cake. Last year (12th) he said he wanted to have the rest himself after we'd all had a piece. He let it go mouldy, so this year I'm buying one.

My mum always made mine. She still makes people a cake on their birthday even now if we can visit, she’s such a sweetheart.

I have two toddlers who are happy eating mud so the effort of baking a cake isn’t quite worth it to me just yet! Maybe next year when they’re older and I have a little more time?

I did, but decorating cakes was my hobby and I'd done loads of classes etc.
I'm older now and too lazy these days so usually just buy cakes now.
My dad always made my cakes when I was little. He's gone now, but when cake decorating became my hobby, it was something we'd do together and we ended up making loads of celebration cakes ( including tiered wedding cakes) for friends and family as a joint effort.

I don't particularly remember my birthday cakes from childhood, apart from one which my chef uncle made which was a barbie surrounded by a massive dress which was the cake. I think my mum generally made my cakes but they would have just been a Victoria sponge with smarties around the top or a chocolate cake covered in melted chocolate. She would never have bought one.

I don't make cakes for mine, although I did a butterfly one for ds2 when he was 2, it was a pretty rough attempt. They prefer the shop bought ones even though I think they're all visual and actually pretty bland in taste.

We always got supermarket cakes when I was a child, as far as I can remember. But I was one of three kids and I never saw my mum bake a cake from scratch until I was well into adulthood - she probably didn't have the time or interest before!

I make my son his birthday cakes but I don't really decorate them beyond spreading on some kind of icing and sprinkling on hundreds and thousands 😁

I used to make all of DD’s cakes. Little Mermaid, 101 Dalmatian’s, and many others. She used to tell me what she wanted and I tried to replicate it! She makes cakes for her own children. Can’t recall if my mum made mine but as she’s a great baker she probably did.

My mum made one every year. Just a basic sponge with some of the horses from my toy farm placed on top.

Except the year when the cake sank so she made another then dropped it on the dog. My dad had to rush to Asda on his way back from work and pick up a clown cake. Served it to the kids then read on the back of the box that certain colours of the icing weren’t edible, which was pretty much the whole cake. He was straight down Asda complaining 😄

My DH made our DD cake last year for her 5th birthday. It was a unicorn head and she loved it. Only for family though as we don’t do parties. We usually buy from the supermarket but they’re always disappointing.

We won’t bother in future for my DS as he’s just had his 4th birthday and announced the worst part of the day was having to have a cake as he doesn’t like them.

I also make my DC’s cakes. They are a labour of love - I spend hours designing them based on child’s current obsession, and then they take hours to make, often I am doing them late into the night. DC’s are always very grateful, and talk about cakes I’ve made but I think I mostly do it for me, because I love doing it for them.
My mum always made cakes filled with love for every birthday, even though I come from a very large family.

My mum used to make us cakes up until 10 or so. I now make them for my DC and niece/nephew as my sister doesn’t bake and I offered. I do enjoy it though - I love baking, they always give me a brief which I do my best to meet, it has varied quite a bit over the years but now the older ones tend to go for flavours and particular drip coats etc. rather than making unicorns, tigers, Peppa Pig etc. I get presented with a YouTube or Tiktok and that one please!

Yes I used to make them for my DC. Easy ones , like a football pitch . Lots of green icing. One year I attempted a Dalek cake for DS who was into Dr Who. However the grey icing made it look very unappetising. I don’t think any of my now adult DCs make birthday cakes!

My mum always made one for me when I was little. She was a great baker but it was probably a good thing for her that no one worried about intricate decorations in those days. I have always made one for my DC even though I haven't inherited mum's baking skills. I feel embarrassed when I look at how badly they are decorated (following DC interests and requests) but my DC loved them and still love the memory of them now.

Sometimes, sometimes not.

My son has requested something homemade for his party tomorrow so I will be baking today.

I still make them for my adult children (eldest will be 46 this year) and my grandchildren, my son in law and my husband. I'm not even that good at making cakes! I have tried gently suggesting that my daughter might like to make her children's birthday cakes.... But no.

My husband makes my cake, bless him, because he knows it's important to me and neither of my children have ever offered.

My mum was a brilliant baker and always made our birthday cakes, we chose what flavour we wanted, they were not elaborately decorated but usually has loads on sweets on top. I made birthday cakes for my children as we lived some distance from my parents and I could not afford to buy one. I made a few using Jane Fonda recipe book, like a train, castle, princess doll etc which used bought cakes put together but I made as much of the parts as possible. I must have thrown the book out when my children grew up because I could not find it when I wanted to make the train for my grandson - my daughter has not inherited my love of baking! I ended up buying another copy from a second hand bookshop!

My mum did make birthday cakes for my children if she was visiting on their birthday and always made cakes when we stayed with her. Chocolate cake was her speciality and I still use her recipe today.

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Never and never. Always bought one though. Never crossed my mind that it wasn’t home made.

Yes, my mum made us birthday cakes, and I made them for my own DC. They are now adults and have largely taken over cake making for family birthdays. But not themed or decorated cake, just something like a chocolate or carrot cake.

My mum must have made my cakes - I was born in the 70s so supermarket cakes much less of a thing. But the only one I remember was the one ordered one. Eighth birthday, 8-shaped cake, very pink and frilly. Despite being a tomboy I was excited for it cos the roses were made of marshmallow, but they were rock hard and very disappointing. I wonder now if there was some backstory to that cake as it was all quite out of character 🤔

Yes my mum made my birthday cakes and I made them for my children too.

My mum made us cakes ever year, but she was a great cook and baked a lot.
I made DS first birthday cake, it was a but crap and needed a cake topper to look OK. Never made another, but mum made him several over the years, a minion was particularly memorable.
He has had everything from basic supermarket ones to fancy local bakery ones.

I don’t think my mum has ever baked a cake in her life. She’s 76 now. When my grandmother died and therefore was no longer around to make Christmas dinner for us all, we started having Chinese takeaway instead. 😂 Literally cannot recall a time when she ever cooked a roast in my life. She will cook, but it’s always weird stuff and nothing too complicated. Like cheesy spaghetti or chicken and mash, but definitely no cake baking! She would buy my birthday cakes or have them made.

I do make my children cakes or buy them. Nothing fancy, just a normal cake, no like sugar work or anything wild. 😂 But I do cook Christmas dinner every year and I do cook a roast for my family regularly. We bake together and mostly cook all meals from scratch. I’m just very different to my mum.