Cake smash...

[SleepingStandingUp]

I know I am. But if people can convince me I'm not I'll be much happier 😁😁

When DS was 1 I was opposed to cake smash photoshoots because it was a waste of cake. And he was tube fed all wouldn't have touched it and was actually in the middle of a 4 month awful hospitalisation for his birthday and when he came out he ate even less than when he went in and he had/has sensory issues that just would have made it not viable.

Now I have twins who would devour a cake shop between them, who don't seem to have any issues touching messy stuff or eating ANYTHING and I really want one.

But I know they're terrible.

Would I be unreasonable to bury my principles for some cute photos of fat babies covering in icing and cream?

I suppose it's that I think making a mess with food on your head is something that happens by accident rather than on purpose.

I mean obviously each to their own and all that. I'm just expressing my own initial thoughts on hearing about it. Have whatever photos you want in your own house of your own kids! You don't need to justify it to others - only yourself.

Isn't there a game on sale called Pie Face where the entire point is that someone gets a face full of whipped cream? And presumably people play the game more than once if they own it? Though I see one can use a wet sponge instead, it's not how it's marketed.

I don't understand the food waste comments. A cake doesn't have any nutritional value so it IS a waste in-and-of itself (though a delicious waste). It makes zero difference if you eat it or smash it.

It makes zero difference if you eat it or smash it.

Exactly

If you look at the hashtag 'cakesmash' on Instagram there are some adorable photos. Babies with cakes but not even smashing them really, just in photos with a cake.
I think if it's something you think will be fun then just do it op.

Huh? A cake is full of calories - that is nutrition, it gives you energy, which you can use to move around. You need to eat less of something else if you're full of cake.

Cakes are made of flour, eggs, fat and sugar which all have nutritional value and could be used to make other things.

Cakes may be not packed with vitamins, minerals and be the perfectly nutritionally balanced food but that does not mean they lack any nutritional value.

It's a bit beside the point and I understand that people mean something like 'empty calories' i.e. lots of energy, high fat and sugar, lower protein and not many vitamins but that is not the same as the phrase 'no nutritional value'.

Cake provides nutrition i.e. energy, as part of a balanced diet and is especially ok for people who move around a lot.

Huh? A cake is full of calories - that is nutrition, it gives you energy, which you can use to move around. You need to eat less of something else if you're full of cake.

Literally no one in the UK actually needs the calories they get from cake though.

It’s eaten entirely for pleasure.

Isn't there a game on sale called Pie Face where the entire point is that someone gets a face full of whipped cream?

There is. Does it require actual cream though?

Well yes it's generally eaten as treat food but it displaces something else. So if I buy a cake from the supermarket bakery bargain shelf and make myself a little afternoon tea, along with my bargain bread and jam, then I'm not going to a need a cooked dinner too. Or I have cake as a snack instead of a banana etc.

Or if I go to a birthday party and stuff myself with cake, I won't need a full dinner later.

So I didn't need cake to be the thing that provided the calories but I do use those calories and feel sated, just as would with any other food.

So yes, 'let them eat cake' misses many points about easily available, nutritionally balanced diets. But 'cake is not a filling and often surprisingly affordable food' does too.

I am now seeing a LOT of Betty Crocker adverts.

@TheKeatingFive

Isn't there a game on sale called Pie Face where the entire point is that someone gets a face full of whipped cream?

There is. Does it require actual cream though?

I looked it up. Ideally yes, but you can use a wet sponge instead. It's not marketed that way though. There are adverts and demos available from Hasbro showing it in use, doubt it all got eaten or that there was only one take for each one. Plus other videos that people have taken of themselves playing it, including one where the dog got there first. And one where Holly Willoughby and Philip Schofield played it at a party, phone footage that then got broadcast on their TV show.

In fact, looks like it's been around at least since the 1960s? I had no idea it was that old. And it won the UK Toy of the Year in 2015.

Well yes it's generally eaten as treat food but it displaces something else. So if I buy a cake from the supermarket bakery bargain shelf and make myself a little afternoon tea, along with my bargain bread and jam, then I'm not going to a need a cooked dinner too. Or I have cake as a snack instead of a banana etc.

I’m not sure you’re entirely typical there.

However, no matter. The vast, vast majority of people could take the ‘cake calories’ out of their diet and not require any kind of replacement for them. It is pretty much superfluous to requirements calorie wise.

Oooooh, am I in the cultural elite for hating staged cake smash photos then?!

I have an inflatable hot tub, and I like grey paint. Put that in a Venn diagram with cake smashers and the cultural elite

Pie face is a bit different though. It's a game where the whole point is tension/anticipation and having fun as a group. You keep clicking the mechanism not knowing when exactly you will be 'pied'. The kids find it hilarious when the sensible grown ups get pied. It's the same whether you take a photo or not. Although taking the photos is an excellent way to avoid having to take part

They're chavvy.

You've got to admit I could use the same flour, eggs and milk to make pancakes though (and top with the sugar / chocolate sauce). That's a pretty filling breakfast.

Whether people typically eat cake on top of everything else, or it displaces other foods is also beside my point though. Which is simply and factually that cake does have nutritional value.

If people choose to eat too many nutrients, excess energy, that's up to them. It doesn't alter the nutritional nature of the cake.

@fruitpastille

Pie face is a bit different though. It's a game where the whole point is tension/anticipation and having fun as a group. You keep clicking the mechanism not knowing when exactly you will be 'pied'. The kids find it hilarious when the sensible grown ups get pied. It's the same whether you take a photo or not. Although taking the photos is an excellent way to avoid having to take part

It's "wasting" food for fun, just by a slightly more sophisticated means. From a food waste perspective, I truly cannot see how it's any better than a cake smash. Especially as a smash is generally a one off, and if you buy this game then presumably you'll play it quite a few times.

And photos are immaterial from a food waste perspective too. If I give my baby a cake to mess up, it's not any more of a waste if I take photos. If anything, taking pictures gives me something to keep from it.

Nothing divides Mumsnet like a cake smash thread!

That's a pretty filling breakfast.

I don’t put milk in cake. Do you?

Butter/sugar/eggs/flour. They could be used in other things, sure.

We’re talking about cake though, which is not something people suffer from not eating either calorie wise OR nutritionally.

We eat it for pleasure. I don’t see why it matters if that pleasure comes from eating or smashing except that one is culturally strongly established and the other isn’t.

Distasteful

OP - the only thing you really don't need is validation from complete strangers on the internet.

Yes, cake smashes are naff, twee, ick, 'Instagrammy'.

My Christmas tree's also very over the top and naff. And it makes me happy, so I couldn't give a badger's bum.

Who cares what other people think?

@Pelleas

Nothing divides Mumsnet like a cake smash thread!

Go on, start a thread about SAHMs and WOHMs who do cake smashes. I dare ya!

ShebaShimmyShake I don't want to risk breaking Mumsnet!

I don’t put milk in cake. Do you?

Well that depends on the recipe, obviously! Some include milk, yes. The last one I made included yogurt, chocolate and beetroot.

I am simply making the point that is it wrong to say that cake has no nutritional value. It has nutritional value, both as the sum of its ingredients and when those ingredients are considered separately.

Cake is not air, floating about, freely available and calorie free

How people choose to utilise its nutritional value is a separate point.