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Original poster

Do you all make birthday cakes or are you a shop bought hussy like myself?

81 replies

oliveoil · 05/10/2006 13:41

I did once and it looked like someone had sat on it.

Feel the need to make one for dd1.

But she wants a fairy/princess/ballerina/pink one and it would be v easy to toddle into m&s and buy one.

OP posts:
MamaGhoul · 05/10/2006 14:31

my cookie

Original poster
oliveoil · 05/10/2006 14:32

I saw that, are you going to eat it all yourself?

OP posts:
MamaGhoul · 05/10/2006 14:33

no! I've just eaten 2 of the small ones and feel slightly sick. Will cut the big one up into cookie-pizza wedges

oxocube · 05/10/2006 19:43

make, deffo. But then, I need to get a bloody life

CalifornifamousFANGjo · 05/10/2006 19:44

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

LemonTart · 05/10/2006 19:49

my mum made all our birthday cakes and I remember every one - princess castle, grinning cat, a pirate boat on a lake of jelly etc etc
Determined to do this for mine, nervous about the actual baking (bake a lot just not big party cakes for large scale village parental observation and tasting).
My solution is to buy a load of plain madeira cake blocks, whizz up a batch of butter icing, buy a batch of roll out icing and sculpt away. Easy to do. Thinkk of the overall shape, use jam and butter icing as "cement" and build it up. Cover with the rolled out icing and decorate however you want. I buy a few cheap plastic paintbrushes and paint on the design with food colouring. It is a lot easier than you could imagine - piece of cake

HRHQueenOfQuotes · 05/10/2006 19:50

Last year I made one - but this year we went for one of those you can get at Sainsbury/Tesco where you have a photo scanned onto the cake using edible icing - DS1 had an Elephant (taken on holiday in August) on his and loved it.

maggiesmama · 05/10/2006 19:51

make them and decorate em too - this years tally - a prirate galleon (complete with bunting, sails, jumping fish etcetc), thomas tank, a green and white polka dot M, 24 differently iced fairy cakes, a doll and a wedding cake...

eidsvold · 05/10/2006 19:51

this year bought sponge and iced and decorated myself for family one, made the one for dd's birthday party - usually make them all.

women's weekly birthday cakes for kids - fab book - easy ideas....

portonovo · 05/10/2006 20:24

Make them, it's part of the family ritual. Although my children are old enough now to play a significant part in the making/decorating.

I've just worked out that since having our first child, I've made 33 birthday cakes for them altogether! Everything from pirates to Thomas to butterfly to Hedwig the owl - some more successful than others, but the birthday child has always been impressed!

I've just made my Dad's cake today - very sinful chocolate one...

naughtymummy · 05/10/2006 20:31

oh no. Just buy it. DH and i were up until 1am the night of DS 1st birthday making a dog cake (including 3 different coloured icing for a 1 year old fgs). This year having sworn not to do it again was relaxing at MIL 's house saw a recipie for a train cake. Cue me on night shift before DS 2nd birthday party having conversation with DH on phone about how to roll swiss rolls up at midnight-just total nightmare. Sooo going to buy one this year.

Pinkchampagne · 05/10/2006 20:38

Oh no, I don't make birthday cakes, they would be a disaster!!
I either buy them from the supermarket, or rely on good old MIL!

jasnDISMemBERED · 05/10/2006 20:40

I cheat, as I'm not good at making cakes, and my oven is rubbish. I bought 2 value swiss rolls and a plain madeira, and did this to it for dd2.

HuwEdwards · 05/10/2006 20:43

jas, I said it on your prev thread (or something like it)and I will say it again - that is beautiful.

pointydog · 05/10/2006 20:44

Usually make because we enjoy it, thinking of a theme and trying to figure out a way of represntiung it in cake form.

Sometimes mum or aunty makes them and I've bought a few times if we've been rushed.

jasnDISMemBERED · 05/10/2006 20:44

Thankyou. Easy but effective, and the 6 yr old was impressed, so well worth the 1.5 hours it took.

MamaGhoul · 05/10/2006 23:01

Jan I'm very impressed

handlemecarefully · 05/10/2006 23:02

Shop bought...I already seem to spend most of my waking hours in the kitchen as it is

cat64 · 05/10/2006 23:24

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

ilovecaboose · 05/10/2006 23:26

Made ds and dp's birthday cake this evening (will ice it in morning), while cooking roast dinner.

Didn't check recipe though (did get all ingrediants), but don't own electric whisk or food processor and had to whisk egg whites 'to soft peaks' by bloody hand - with a fork!

My arm hurts.

Worth it though

ilovecaboose · 05/10/2006 23:27

should point out they share a birthday (its tomorrow) but I'm only making 1 cake.

hana · 05/10/2006 23:32

make myself - also had mum who made fantastic cakes for us growing up and would like to do same!

dd know sthat I make birthday cakes - but one her fave aisles at Tescos is the cake aisle - she loves choosing one ' I KNOW you make my cakes mummy but if you didn't please buy this one for me, please please please' sort of thing!

hana · 05/10/2006 23:33

did anyone els have a mum who hid coins in their birthday cakes? remember mum wrapping up coins in waxed paper and putting in cake pan - was always fun looking for the coins when we ate the cake.
prob a health and safety thing now ...

joelallie · 06/10/2006 11:23

Make - apart from DS#1's 6th b'day when I was very pregnant with DS#2.

For a fairy cake try making a castle. Square madeira cake. Pink icing with ice-cream cones on the corners. Stick lots of lovely e-numbers all over it in the shape of dolly mixtures, perhaps do mini marshmallows as castellations. You can put little icing flowers around the bottom. etc etc.

expatinscotland · 06/10/2006 11:25

Bake. All the way!

There's a baking specialty shop down the road that hires out specialty tins.

I love to bake, though.