£130 on a cake?!

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It’s nearly a big birthday for me and I am having a party. Is it worth spending £100+ on a beautiful cake or do I just bake, or buy from the supermarket.

Anyone spent loads on a cake and regretted it?!

YABU to bake or buy
YANBU to order the cake

This is impossible for anyone to answer.

Do you have the money? Would it mean a lot to you? Do you have a cake maker you have used before and loved their cakes? Do you have a specific design in mind or would you go for something generic?

How many people are coming?

Years ago, I ordered christening cakes from Waitrose. They were traditional fruitcakes iced and decorated with DC's name each time.
Currently similar cakes are about £40.
Alternatively, surely someone you know knows a local cake expert. A former colleague made amazing cakes and decorated them.

Cakes are expensive,sounds pretty reasonable to me.

If I was having a party I might. I can bake nice cakes but I am not very good at decorating so if I wanted something to look special then it would be worth it. However, I would want to see pictures of things the baker had done before or get a personal recommendation. I have seen threads before where people order cake and are then seriously underwhelmed by the results

I always think when it comes to professional cakes, you're paying for the decoration more than anything else. I have never enjoyed the taste of a professionally made cake even a fraction as much as a homemade one, and often even supermarket cakes beat them on taste. Professional cakes are often made with narrow profit margins and to last several days to accommodate the baker's schedule, and those things do not lead to top tier flavour.

I think there is a lot of skill in decorating a cake to a beautiful standard, and that's what you're paying for with a professionally made cake. So if that's what you want in this instance (something that looks amazing and feels celebratory, but maybe just tastes ok) then £130 is fine to spend. But if you want to prioritise something that tastes incredible, I'd go homemade (assuming you're a reasonably competent baker!). You can make a homemade cake look gorgeous with fresh fruit and edible flowers, if you aren't generally used to decorating cakes.

It's probably also worth shopping around a bit, especially if any of your local bakers offer samples (not sure if this is common unless for wedding cakes, but worth seeing if it can be done). There is probably a lot of variation in quality, so you can compare your options and choose the best one.

Decent ingredients are expensive and handmade decorations take a lot of time. If you want an artisan cake, that's pretty much the cost of it.

The two times I've ordered one I was extremely pleased.

This happened to me. Ordered a pale blue cake with vintage piping and maraschino cherries. It arrived bright turquoise, with piping so scruffy I could have done better myself, and no cherries. The baker did at least refund me (minus the cost of ingredients) and let me keep the cake. I scraped it down and re-iced it. It didn't even taste that nice, I could have done the entire thing myself in less time and money that it ended up costing! Now I make all cakes myself for family celebrations.

I was just unlucky, I know there are lots of beautiful professional cakes out there. But I still think you're mostly paying for looks, not taste.

This is not my experience. I had a cake made for a baby shower, similar price to the op. It was fabulous. Not just the decoration but the actual cake. I chose a local cake maker and she got so many orders from the baby shower due to a delicious quality cake

If I’d always wanted a bespoke cake I would see it as a present to myself.

I have not, so I would buy three or four posh supermarket cakes and display them nicely - eh buy some acrylic cake stands of different heights, add fresh flowers, maybe order some cake toppers online and zhuzh them up that way.

If it’s £20 per cake and I’d budgeted £130, I’d have the rest to spend on a longer lasting birthday memento for myself.

Absolutely, I'm sure good ones exist - that's why I think it's worth shopping around or asking for recommendations. It's just that in my experience, the cakes are less delicious than homemade (because less fresh, built to support decoration rather than for flavour, cheaper ingredients etc.) so if I wanted a really incredible tasting cake, I'd make it myself. But if I wanted an incredible looking cake, I'd get a professional. Happy for you that you found someone who could do both!

I’ve bought very pricey cakes about 4 times over the years for big birthdays in the family. I’ve always been delighted by how fabulous they look and how special it makes the parties feel. I don’t eat cake 😂

It’s a local baker, number cake, pictures look very beautiful. I think it probably worth it as I won’t be having another big birthday party anytime soon! I can bake but I think it would take me an entire day to make a cake like the one I have seen. And it wouldn’t look as good. It’s a lot to spend so I was just thinking it through.

Sounds like overall a professional cake might be worth but just check for reviews and what I am ordering. 😊

If you want the cake - if it will bring you joy, add to the sense of occasion, you will enjoy eating it, and can afford it, then order the cake. Honestly, financial prudence is great but so is joy and - like everything in life - balance is important

IMO they are worth the price of no stress, when you've got a party to sort out. I like Costco cake, but they don't do numbers. I'd go for the professional one.

I'm in the same boat as you. My 40th this year and throwing a party. I think I'm going to get a small cake to simply cut and that's it. I'd rather put more money behind the bar than on cake.

My family are definitely more cake eaters than drinkers! 😆

Looks like you better supply cake then :-)

I’ve always found professional cakes to be a bit hit and miss. They look great but the cake itself can be disappointing.

You don’t say how many people but in similar situations I’ve gone for a couple of Waitrose Fiona Cairns lemon daisy cake (delicious!), or for larger numbers Waitrose to order cakes which are for 20+ people.

Honestly? I think people massively underestimate how much it takes to make things like cakes. Plus the economy is difficult. It’s good to be able to support a small, local business.

Please post a photo of the cake on here when you’ve got it.

I made my own wedding cake. It was 3 tiers of chocolate fudge cake ( Nigella recipe) I then just iced it all over with Swiss meringue butter cream then covered it in edible flowers. For my 40th I made chocolate cupcakes iced with buttercream. If you use a good nozzle they look really professional.

Any commercial cake I've tasted isn't as good as a simple homemade cake. But it depends if you want something more complicated looking.

My DH spent quite a lot of money on my 50th birthday cake - which was beautifully decorated to look like my garden - which is my pride and joy. It was delightful and I'm still slightly in awe of the woman who managed to ice it.

Get a nice cake - it's your birthday!

M&S and Waitrose do good standard celebration cakes including numbers, e.g. '40' = £66? If you're not after anything too fancy they look professional. Style it up with a nice cake stand, add balloons etc Or spell out your name and birthday age in cup cakes in different flavours and colours!
If, however, you'd like a life size representation of your dog in cake form then it's a special order from a skilled baker.

Depends what your budget is but I’ve ordered a cake and thought it was great and worth it.