To think this isn't great for £55?

[SilverPicnicHead89]

We ordered 20 cupcakes from a local cake shop for my child's 6th birthday to give to her friends at the end of the day at school. Paid when ordering (no images available or book to choose from and the staff member serving just told us to go online to look at examples on their social media profile, but we were in a queue and didn't even have WiFi). Picked them up today. I'm not going to complain and I'm sure they're going to taste nice but at £55 for 20 of these, were my expectations not reasonable?

Lola's cupcakes are £23.70 for 6! So £3.95 each, which is nearly 50% more expensive.

They are also full of shit and use more oil than butter. "Finest ingredients" my arse. This is the ingredients list for their chocolate cupcake with chocolate icing and curls.

Icing Sugar (Sugar, Calcium (Tri-Calciumphosphate)), Caster Sugar, Sunflower Oil or Rapeseed Oil, Butter (Milk), Eggs, Sour Cream (Skimmed Milk, Cream (Milk), Starter Culture), Cocoa Powder (Acidity regulator (Potassium Carbonate), Cocoa Cake), Margarine (Salt, Acidity Regulator (Citric acid), Water, Preservative (Potassium sorbate), Palm Oil, Coconut Oil, Natural Flavours, Sunflower Oil, Whey Powder (Milk), Emulsifier Mono and Di-glycerides, rapeseed oil, Colour (carotenes), Vitamin A, Vitamin D2, Buttermilk powder), Plain Flour (WheatFlour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Thiamine, Niacin), Milk Chocolate Curls (3.39%) (Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Cocoa Mass, Whey Powder (Milk), Lactose (Milk), Emulsifier Soya Lecithin, Whole Milk Powder, Vanilla Flavours), White Chocolate Curls (3.39%) (Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Whole Milk Powder, Whey Powder (Milk), Lactose (Milk), Emulsifier Soya Lecithin, Flavouring), Whole Milk, Milk Chocolate (0.55%) (Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Whole Milk Powder, Cocoa Mass, Emulsifier Soya Lecithin, Flavouring, Natural Vanilla), Dark Chocolate (0.43%) (Cocoa Mass, Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Emulsifier Soya Lecithin, Natural Vanilla), Baking Powder (Sodium Bicarbonate, Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate, Wheat Flour (Contains Calcium, Iron, Niacin, Thiamine)), Chocolate Essence (0.05%) (Propylene Glycol, Natural flavour, Water)

I think they look okay. I wouldn’t spend that much on cupcakes but small businesses have to make a profit.

Bespoke cupcakes are expensive these days OP. That price is similar to the bakery I use. The cakes look nice in the photo and I am sure they are yummy.
I hope she has a lovely day x

Yep they are definitely nothing special and I'd be disappointed too.
I just get a few packets of haribo mini bags from B and M.
Kids barely notice the difference.

Ridiculously expensive for a child's birthday, especially to hand out after school.

But, as others have said - ingredients + energy costs + labour and maybe other incidentals (packaging, advertising, tax, pension). I would much rather make my own, but I'm happy to pay someone to service my car, plaster walls, lay carpet etc. I have done all these things myself, but not any more. And so, I think well, these people have to earn a living.

So, yes, unreasonable, I think. Fine to want better, but I'm guessing that would cost more.

Yabu to waste £55 on cupcakes for school classmates. It’s not even for a birthday party.

They look fine to me. Not the most high end bakes I’ve seen, but cheerful enough. What did you expect?

6th birthday just buy Colin caterpillar cake & slice job done. I paid a lot more for personalised cupcakes when a close friend had civil partnership. Was approx £3 a cake! Were lush & I don’t eat cake though & did mix between vanilla & chocolate. Hope your child had a very happy birthday. Ax

YABU for not getting Colin the caterpillar

I'm no Mary Berry but they do look a bit naff.

Just unprofessional and badly decorated.

Nevermind, they'll get scoffed either way.

Ours always got a 10p bag of Haribo. And they were grateful 🤣

Sorry I think they look about right for that price.

20 of the super-decorative highly luxurious ones would have been £90 minimum - google for hand made luxury cupcakes and the prices range from £25 to £40 for a box of 6 - but they look posher than your photo

20 factory-made supermarket cupcakes would have been more like £20
(e.g https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/product/sainsburys-chocolate-cupcakes-x2)

These are clearly hand-made and decorated with some variety and care but at a half-way point between those high-value and lower-value options.

I think that's just what they cost now. Luckily for us, my childrens school asked par to stop bringing birthday treats haha.

Without knowing how they taste it's difficult to say. It seems quite expensive.
Surely you'd be better off just getting a cake mix and frosting and got your daughter to help you make them? I guess you need time for that which you didn't have.
But either way it was a nice gesture so I don't think any of the kids will complain!

👍

Seems a bit steep for what they are. You would have got similar from a supermarket for less than £20. Some kids lick off the icing and don't touch the sponge (mine)

I usually wouldn't have an opinion on little cakes, except that this very day, I had to order some. I was completely blown away by some of the artistry - I've ordered 6 shaped like genuine summer flowers for £9.99. They're gorgeous.

After my intensive research this afternoon, I think the OP's are a bit basic, but not terrible.

Remember OP, a lot of people on this thread will live in London & surroundings. What they pay down there for anything and everything is extortionate. So they’ll no doubt be the ones calling it a good price. Here it would’ve been about £25-£35 for those at the absolute maximum.

Cba reading through to see if someone has already said - sure they will have - not much kids love more than free rein in the baking/sweets aisle and then decorating pre-bought fairy cakes at home, all for a fraction of that price. Sorry op.

Just off to start myself a cupcake business 😂

What's the titchy approved spend?

Little fairy cakes with a coating of water icing are enough for kids this age, or a Swizzels lollipop. My two would have still been bouncing off the walls at bedtime having a full cupcake with a pile of icing after school aged six.

What happened to sending them in with mini bags of haribo?

Sounds like you overpaid in a last minute rush to get something and we’ve all done that at some point. I wouldn’t spend £55 on anything I hadn’t seen first. Next time pop over to the supermarket and get ones you can see for half the price!

Also not sure how practical it is giving cake at the end of the school day? Are they supposed to eat them there and then - just before their tea? Haribos or something similar would be ideal - with a note saying instead of cake you donated £50 to a children’s charity, 6 is plenty old enough to start thinking of others not so lucky.

with a note saying instead of cake you donated £50 to a children’s charity, 6 is plenty old enough to start thinking of others not so lucky.

Don’t send the note. Who would you address it to? The teachers? The 6 year olds? Donate it you want. Tell your child if you want. But really there’s no need for a note explaining lack of after school cake, which springs up as a habit in schools, but the school certainly doesn’t expect it.