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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To have made ds a homemade birthday cake?

105 replies

ineedsomeinspiration · 18/12/2013 00:05

Its chocolate with chocolate butter cream icing, chocolate fingers round the edge and a smartie number 2 on the top.
Everyone else I know seems to purchase elaborate creations for thier lo birthdays. I'm too scared to post a picture anywhere in case I win bad mum of the year award. Pretty sure it will taste lovely.
Will ds be scared for life at not having a three tier fireman ssm cake?

OP posts:

AnotherWorld · 18/12/2013 00:07

Probably yes. Get thee to Asda.

primigravida · 18/12/2013 00:07

I have always made homemade cakes for my two and sure that have never been as elaborate as some of their friends cakes but they have just really enjoyed have a cake with candles. Your ds will not be scarred for life. I have had the same feelings as you in the past especially after seeing other friends post pictures of their creations on facebook but Dh has always reassured me that homemade cakes taste best and he's right.

Your cake sounds wonderful.

NurseRoscoe · 18/12/2013 00:10

He's 2. He will care more about what it tastes like and I bet yours tastes better than the tacky shop ones with characters on!

Who cares what the judgemental world of faceache thinks? Be proud to be the parent you are

BrianTheMole · 18/12/2013 00:12

God no. I always feel bad about buying the cheap birthday cake. But I don't have much time and I'm crap at making cakes. I think theres something quite nice about making your child their birthday cake.

NoComet · 18/12/2013 00:28

YANBU it will taste far nicer.

I do do elaborate cakes, but multi coloured commercial fondant, may look fancy, but butter cream tastes nicer.

CoolaSchmoola · 18/12/2013 00:30

I always make DD's birthday cakes, amongst others.

selsigfach · 18/12/2013 00:32

What on earth makes you think that a shop cake made from powdered battery eggs, veg oil and marg is better than your creation which has been made with love and, I imagine, superior ingredients? I would be offended if my husband bought me a cake instead if making me one on my birthday!

DrinkFeckArseGirls · 18/12/2013 00:34

If I could bake, I'd do it too. I can't plus no time/ patience, hence shop bought one.

LittleprincessinGOLDrocks · 18/12/2013 00:34

I always make my DC's cakes. But then there is little choice for us as DS is allergic to eggs. My kids always love their cakes, and we have only ever had nice comments from the party guests.

selsigfach · 18/12/2013 00:35

Posted too soon...

Well done for giving it a go, I'm sure your son will love it. Lucky boy for having a creative, clever mum!

HavantGuard · 18/12/2013 00:38

DC usually want it to be linked to their latest obsession eg Batman and don't care about anything else. Anyone they see for a couple of days after they've been to a party gets told what the cake 'was' not what it tasted like.

puntasticusername · 18/12/2013 00:40

Huh. Stealth boast, much?

Yours sounds lovely. I don't even bother tasting any slices of supermarket cakes that come home in party bags etc - they're all totally rough. They go straight in the bin. Who cares about fancy icing when the important bit, the CAKE goddammit, tastes like a pavement?

thebody · 18/12/2013 00:45

He is 2, he won't give a crap. Sure it's lovely op.

Woman up chik. No one else will/should care about a toddlers birthday cake. Sure it's lovely xx

HavantGuard · 18/12/2013 00:51

He's 2!!! I must read more carefully . Just make sure he doesn't grab the lit candles.

HeadfirstThroughTheTimeVortex · 18/12/2013 00:53

He's 2, it's chocolate cake, he will love it. Plus it's homemade so will taste yum and not synthetic.

thebody · 18/12/2013 00:57

Can I have a slice?

ZombieSquirrel · 18/12/2013 00:58

YANBU.

It sounds delicious. If it's cheaper and easier, who cares less? Heck, my 14yo has a homemade cake (but he doesn't show it to anyone, he just eats it because it's cake, nevermind the attractiveness!)

HeartsTrumpDiamonds · 18/12/2013 01:10

YANBU!

My DDs love the part of their birthday where they decide on what kind of cake they want, we research recipes together and then bake and decorate! It's the only time all year I bake anything from scratch. This year DD2 wanted this toasted coconut confection and it turned out wonderfully.

Anyone can splash out £££ on a store bought cake. It takes real love and affection to turn out a home made home decorated semi squashed non symmetrical creation

AveryJessup · 18/12/2013 01:19

I made my 2 year old's birthday cake this year. It didn't look stunning on the table compared to all the shop-bought ones I've seen but it had less sugar, grated courgette to sneak in some healthiness and was gluten-free (I'm celiac ). It tasted great anyway and I got a lot of compliments on it!

Last year I bought a fancy one and most of it went to waste. It was too big and too sugary. At this toddler age I think homemade is a better option. I do know what you mean though - I was worried about seeming a bit cheap. A 4 year old at my son's party (an older sibling of DS's friend) made a comment about it being small that her mother reprimanded her for so I think when they get to that judgey age, maybe I'll have to go for the fancy shop cakes to avoid social shame!

EBearhug · 18/12/2013 01:27

Surely home-made cakes are the best? Shop bought cakes might look impressive, but fondant icing is vile and the cake doesn't quite seem real. You don't get that hint of cotton wool with home-made cakes. Definitely not unreasonable.

Amy106 · 18/12/2013 01:51

It sounds lovely.

southerngirl25599 · 18/12/2013 05:15

YANBU

I've always made my dd a cake for her birthday and she's now 14! and she loves them, i don't want to spend $$$ on a tasteless, tacky cake from the supermarket when i can make one at home for almost nothing. I've done Tweedy Bird, Hello Kitty, a giant heart the whole lot!

imip · 18/12/2013 05:57

I have 4dcs and make every cake for them. Well, I do lie. I haven't made them when I've been pregnant because of HG. I love homemade cakes, and I am getting quite good at them (they still look homemade, but one of the recent ones still looked like hello kitty!). Keep baking that cake, will taste much better than a shop brought one!

Also, on ebay you can buy edible cake toppers of characters your kids like. I've seen a parentdo this, and the cake looked great. As they get a little older, you can get dcs to help. My 3yo made a toadstool for her sisters woodland cake with coloured icing. It looked like she made it, but it also looked like a proper toadstool!

I have a similar homemade only approach to school play costumes! My angel will onstage today!

Pinintrest search on what you want to make, your life willneverbethe same again!

Mutley77 · 18/12/2013 06:15

Mine have never had a shop bought one other. My lovely mum made them a cake every year until we moved away - now I have to do them and they are more of the basic kind but I refuse to buy one from a shop (some kind of snobby I guess...). Although yours sounds great, I made a similar one for DD for her last party and got loads of compliments!

Original poster

ineedsomeinspiration · 18/12/2013 06:27

It's not the shop brought ones that get me. Its the commissioned by cake maker ones. Honestly some have been like wedding cakes. One friend had a three tier one.
I probably could have had a go at something a bit more fancy with fondant but it would have taken a lot longer and cost more. I refuse to pay for someone else to make a cake for me.

OP posts:

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