Baking a cake versus buying

[TaterTots]

A former colleague has posted on FB about a bake sale at her children's school. Some parents have brought in shop bought cakes and she has taken exception to this. Her argument is that a crap homemade cake is still better than a shop bought one.

Predictably, it has kicked off. Some responses are simply pointing out that it could be a time issue rather than lack of baking skills. However, others are a bit more vitriolic - 'How can you judge someone's parenting skills based on whether they bake or not?!?' etc. - which strikes me as a bit extreme.

What do you think? I regularly bake for bake sales at work and would never buy cakes for them - defeats the object for me. However, this is strictly voluntary - if I was a parent and it was a school thing I might feel 'obliged'; in which case if my rock buns were actually like rocks, I might be heading to Greggs

I'm a good baker. For a work bake sale, I made a really gorgeous three tier salted caramel chocolate fudge cake. Ingredients cost close to £15. I had to get my husband to drive me to work as I usually walk and the cake was too cumbersome to carry.

Brought it to the sale and asked what price of put on it per slice, only to be told that contributions were voluntary and for ALL the goods. People just popped money into a tin and help themselves to anything they want.

I nearly cried when I saw a guy (who I know is on a very high salary) slip 50p into be tin and took half my cake plus loads of other buns and cakes away in a Tupperware container, presumably to bring home.

Since then, I turn up with a £5 Tesco sheet cake, stock £2 on the tin, and pig out.

I nearly cried when I saw a guy (who I know is on a very high salary) slip 50p into be tin and took half my cake plus loads of other buns and cakes away in a Tupperware container, presumably to bring home.

That's disgusting. We have a 'suggested donation' of £1 - and that's per item.

I hope these bake sales are on the way out.

I don't bake, I don't eat cake, neither do my family. Mostly sickly sweet and vile. Who wants to stuff their faces with all that junk food. Cupcakes are the worst- with all that butter icing- like eating lard. Yeuch.

I hope these bake sales are on the way out.

I don't bake, I rarely eat cake, and no one in our family eats it either.. Mostly sickly sweet and vile. Who wants to stuff their faces with all that junk food. Cupcakes are the worst- with all that butter icing- like eating lard. Yeuch.

I had a lightbulb moment with DC2 when the cake I'd made came out embarrassingly badly.
I put £10 in the collection box and bought nothing.
Saved everybody a lot of trouble.

And snippy comments from the organiser are way out of order.

I hate bake sales. They always remind me of how little time & energy I have compared to other women. I also don't like the competition... Although, if you can't beat them, join them...my pack of mini rolls always seem to fly off the table ahead of the organic carrot and chia seed muffins with their dairy free frosting...