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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to throw my sons birthday cake in the bin? Anyone else had a catering/party/cake disaster?

26 replies

Billynomates71 · 30/08/2014 01:01

Have spent two days baking a mahhoosive cake for ds1 and ds2, party is tomorrow. Have spent all evening doing the icing, which went progressively from bad to worse. At about midnight I lost my temper with it and threw it in the bin. It was beyond repair.

Thing is I always do a feature cake for the kids birthdays, and they have always turned out well - they have become a bit of a talking point for friends and family and there are even fb posts saying things like "can't wait to see the cake tomorrow!"

Now I have no cake. Plan to nip to tesco's in the morning and buy one, but feel like I have let the boys down.

Anyone else had a catering/party/cake disaster?

OP posts:
Anotherchapter · 30/08/2014 01:11

Yes me!!!

Fuck the cake! When dd1 went tits up, I flew to asda and bout a large meringue base and piled it high with Neapolitan ice cream and strawberrys and sweets and different sauces.

It worked brilliantly, all the kids sat round with a spoon, laughing and digging in. It was huge.

No cake for party bags though but who cares as most cake doesn't even get eaten!

whathaveiforgottentoday · 30/08/2014 01:14

Some bloke called Ian may have had that problem this week!

YouTheCat · 30/08/2014 01:17

Some odd hipster had a bit of a problem.

Get a Spiderman cake from the shop and just say you didn't have time.

sharonthewaspandthewineywall · 30/08/2014 01:31

You are prob overthinking it. My daughters fave cake was a thirty second batten burg house job which looked like willy wonkas factory had thrown up over it. The roof was slightly slanted too

Sapat · 30/08/2014 01:42

Every Xmas. I do all the baking on Xmas eve in my mums kitchen, it always goes horribly wrong because her kitchen is woefully inadequate and it is known as the day mummy swears a lot. I always just about manage something presentable after much effort, it annoys me because I am a good cook and my baking is usually excellent. Every fecking year...

Sapat · 30/08/2014 01:43

But don't stress, just buy something. It's only cake.

SaggyAndLucy · 30/08/2014 01:50

Google 'pigs in mud cake'.
2 multi packs of kit kits, a pot of Betty crocker chocolate icecream and some fondant icing! its a doddle and the kids LOVE it! Wink

abigamarone · 30/08/2014 02:02

You're being very unreasonable to have thrown it in the bin. I like cake, I don't care what the icing looks like when I'm eating it. And now I want cake.

BreadForBrains · 30/08/2014 02:29

Yes, as pp brought up, Iain has had a similar predicament.
As did I sort of, for dds birthday last year. Well, it fell on the floor and exploded shortly before everyone arrived. It wasn't really salvageable. I kind of cried (it had taken 2 days and considerable expense) and dp drove to sainsburys and bought some kind of hideous 'party cake'.
Bleak days.
Although we (they) look back on it and laugh now!

OccamsRaiser · 30/08/2014 03:46

For my little sister's birthday, mum had ordered a number 7 cake from a bakery in town. My big sister (12) nursed it on her lap on the way home, and wanted to carry it into the house. Stepping out of the car in the garage she lost hold of it... It went splat onto the tyre of my dad's car.

Fortunately mum was able to salvage it by clearing off the ruined icing/decorations and re-frosting and throwing a bunch of lollies on top. But still definitely a cake disaster!

3littlefrogs · 30/08/2014 05:06

Mine was eaten by the cat.

AggressiveBunting · 30/08/2014 05:26

Mine was eaten by ants. I've hated the little fuckers ever since. Imagine the horror of being 7 yrs old, coming downstairs on your birthday to find your cake overrun by ants. Dark days.

SelfconfessedSpoonyFucker · 30/08/2014 05:27

How old are your kids? Could you do a one bowl cake and cover it in chocolate ganache and maltesers? They cover a multitude of sins and will taste great.

Do any of the shops there sell frozen cream puffs? You could make a croquembouche with melted white chocolate quite easily. Melt the chocolate in a bag in the microwave and chop the corner off.

Or just decide not to do it and to hell with it.

kiwiscantfly · 30/08/2014 07:07

I had an ant problem too, 24+ cupcakes and DD's first birthday cake were covered in them. I was soooo upset and was only saved after friends rallied around and helped to make more. You have my sympathies!

brotherhoodofspam · 30/08/2014 07:53

DD's 1st birthday I decided to do a 3D swiss roll teddy held together with butter icing. Very hot day in June and butter icing melting, nothing holding together despite copious use of cocktail sticks. Put it in the fridge to solidify a bit and when I brought it out teddy's had fell on the floor and dog promptly ate it. Cue slightly hysterical phone call to DH at work (next to M&S) to bring something home (I was v. hormonal at the time expecting DS1, trying to be perfect Mum and already having failed 3 attempts at chocolate crispies). He came home, made a cake which I turned into a butterfly and a tradition was born that he makes the cake and I do the decorating. The kids love to hear the story of the dreadful teddy though.

combust22 · 30/08/2014 08:06

No because I can't bake.

I don't like eating cake either so I think that's part of it.
ASDA do a brilliant line in pre made birthday cakes.

Gileswithachainsaw · 30/08/2014 08:15

Go buy a cake and throw some sweets/glitter etc over it

Or do a brownie tower

ShelaghTurner · 30/08/2014 11:18

Oh the memories of my mother trying to make a spherical football cake for my brother. After several attempts to ice it, she opened the back door and kicked it out into the garden...

Original poster
Billynomates71 · 30/08/2014 22:22

Thanks all for your tips and tales of woe! I rescued the cake from the bin (thankfully an empty bin brand new bin), scraped off the icing, re-butter creamed it this morning, then rolled together all the left over bits of icing I had into one big lump, rolled it out so it looked like a psychedelic oil spill (was rather cool) and stuck some tinselly bits in it, piped name and age on it a stuck a number sparkler in it. Disaster averted. Kids were so high on haribo and the mums on chocolate fountain I don't think anyone gave a hoot what the cake looked like!! Definitely was overthinking it last night at 1am!

OP posts:
maddening · 31/08/2014 00:16

Ice cream pyramid with chocolate sauce dribbled over and sparklers (indoor ones obvs) lots of different flavours and and ice cream scoop.

maddening · 31/08/2014 00:17

Oops well done on salvage effort! :)

JustDontWantToSay · 01/09/2014 08:03

Cake from the bin?? No matter how clean, I just could not get past that!

londonrach · 01/09/2014 08:12

Cake from bin...even if clean etc i wouldn't. All the supermarkets do cakes...(best tasting is marks..this needed research so you can thank me for this. Worse waitrose as their cakes are so dry)

Seriouslyffs · 01/09/2014 08:17

So pleased for you Billy!
Love Shelagh's Mum's cake! Grin

ShelaghTurner · 02/09/2014 12:22

It was very funny. Tin went to the charity shop the next day :o Brother had a rectangular football pitch cake instead!

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