Are Expectations for birthday cakes getting out of hand?

[Yellowmellow2]

More and more I see threads on social media, of people showing photos of incredible birthday cakes (castles, palaces, Disney characters etc), and asking if anyone can make one for their child? When did this become a thing? Is a normal cake not enough any more? People just put so much pressure on themselves.

@TheYearOfSmallThings I agree, the Methodist ladies give excellent cake! I have always thought so.
@woodhill if there was no china lady to hand, a barbie often appeared in the cake instead!

We normally order a Harry Gows round and my child can choose what colour icing, picture etc he would like on it, it’s around £40, as i’m not a very good baker and I’ve found supermarket ones to be very dry (maybe just not been buying the right ones though?)

Yep. That’s exactly it. Pay for cake. Smash it up. Take pictures.

ive made all of my kids birthday cakes. Last years efforts were a bunny. And a volcano.

took ages. I swore a lot. But the kids loved them.

Yes I think so

Love it!!!

I love seeing a home made attempt. I hate the perfect looking ones that have been made by a professional . There's something so sterile about them, for some reason supermarket ones I don't have the same feeling about, they are nice.

Yes the fort was another one with chocolate fingers for my db😀

In defence of professional cake makers, these cakes take a lot of time and effort, similar to wedding cakes. So, yes, they're expensive but you're not being ripped off

Yes possibly. Mum always had a go, but that was all there was

This is very accurate. You’re paying for the skill involved and the time taken. Supermarket ones are referred to as ‘bog-standard’ because they are in comparison. I have no objection to buying a supermarket cake and have done many times but it’s not a patch on a professionally made cake.

Professional cakes just taste far superior

I don't agree. Sometimes they do taste better than shop bought, but no better than a home made cake. A lot of the kids cakes are style over substance. My nephew had a very expensive hulk cake which looked great on the outside but the sponge was green (intentionally) tasteless and dry.

@Greaterthanthesumoftheparts that's exactly the Rubble one I was trying to describe earlier. I did it with smarties in lockdown and inadvertently baked it with a slope so it worked really well!
When we couldn't go anywhere I just printed a paw patrol banner on my computer with a picture of pups and happy birthday and stuck it to two lolly sticks.

Used the same design to make a paw patrol paper ribbon round it to detract from the poor finish.

My daughter was delighted.

If you have a Thomas fan recommend this

I make them for DS, I find the fondant and rice Krispie/marshmallow modelling quite therapeutic and it's creative and not stressful in a way my job isn't. Not sure how people make a profit selling them.. I'd be earning less than minimum wage once you take ingredients, utilities etc into account

I make my own for family parties (luckily DS actually prefers banana cake, lemon cake etc so is more than happy with my efforts).

We do buy cakes for parties, mostly because we generally have stuff to organise beforehand and I am not used to making a cake to feed 20, or however many are coming (nursery used to suggest taking a cake in and they all celebrated, and this year we had a whole class party). DS had a rainbow sponge from Bluebird Bakery last year, and a vegan chocolate sponge from our local bakery the year before as one of his friends has a dairy allergy. We stick a rice paper topper and a load of our own sprinkles on top, and make sure we have good candles.

I don’t mind spending up to £30 as it would take me forever to make it myself and my time is worth money, and if I was making a big cake the ingredients would cost a fair amount, seeing as I don’t have food colouring/icing equipment etc already available.

My DD is 13 and we have always bought her a ‘special themed birthday cake’ I think the most expensive was about £75 😳 BUT her birthday is early January and she is often over looked because of Christmas, everyone is skint, weather is rubbish, etc etc so it always something we all look forward to having as a bit of a treat. 🤣 she gets to choose and it’s almost included as a birthday pressie as she gets so excited about planning it, collecting it etc.

Contrast is older DC have not always had them, maybe special birthdays - but summer babies always means lovely sunny weather, parties with friends in the garden BBQ’s food etc

My daughter pays a fortune for my GS birthday every year - I've no idea why she does it, he doesn't really care. It's not for insta likes because she doesn't post pics of them anywhere. They always look and taste amazing but a cheapie Asda cake would do the same job. I don't understand it, but it's her money so...🤷🏻‍♀️

They are extortionate. But they are extortionate to make, too. I've recently taken a liking to baking and have baked cakes for my son's/family members'/close friends' birthdays as gifts or because they've asked, and they come in at around £30 to make, and more if they want a fancy cake topper or character cake.

5 blocks of butter - 2 for the cake, 3 for the butter cream - £10

Eggs - £1.50

Sugar - £1.50-£2 (usually 2 bags of brown sugar)

Flour/baking powder/bicarbonate/cocoa - £1

Cake board and box - £5

Cake topper £5 minimum

Then there's whatever you decorate it with, ie a ganache drip (needing chocolate and cream), Lindt balls, macarons, flowers, etc.

That doesn't even account for my time baking and decorating it (around 6 hours), plus electricity costs etc.

I can see why people charge so much for them, but I can't see why people would pay it! I don't think I could afford to. It's so bloody expensive.

Usually it's for people to have a party and rather than eat the cake it's obliterated.

I used to make novelty cakes for my kids, I enjoyed the process but they weren't professional standard by any means.

This is true. My son really doesn't like cake so it usually ends up being eaten by us!

I agree with getting a Costco cake but I don't get the sheet cakes I find them far too sweet. I get either the sticky toffee drizzle loaf cake or the chocolate fudge cake which is the one I got this year and it was so good

I don't think professional cakes necessarily taste any better, although the standard of decoration is probably higher and more elaborate than most people can manage. Plus obviously the cost of ingredients, utilities and need to make a living makes them expensive.

But surely the main motivator isn't about performing on social media? You might have a nice cake if you want one and then show it off, but you wouldn't start from a position of 'I need a cake that looks good on Instagram' if your child prefers a Colin the caterpillar.

Very good cakes. Well done 👍🏽

As for the cake smash, words fail me……

Op, I best not mention there is also a fetish called cake sitting with expensive cakes being used