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Original poster

Children’s birthday cakes from 80s

52 replies

Yahoowahoo · 03/09/2021 20:49

Hi! My mum used to have a wonderful recipe book for children’s birthday cakes, probably from the 1980s. All I can recall is that it was a white cover. Recipes I remember are- tractor cake, figure of 8 racetrack cake, cuckoo clock, hedgehog. I would love to figure out what this book was so I could get a copy for my children’s birthdays! Does anybody remember this book!? Thank you!

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irresistibleoverwhelm · 03/09/2021 22:02

@MayContainNits

Was it a Marks & Spencer one - my mum had it, I think?
My mum had this one - a St Michael one. I used to love looking at all the cakes. She made the hedgehog one, the football one, and a few others by the end of our birthday parties!

The highlight was the Barbie doll cake - she used a beloved Sindy but put the candles too near and poor Sindy and her hair went up in blackened flames Blush

A friend who lives in a particularly “Motherland” big of north London told me that she went to a kids party very recently with a Barbie cake - but the parents had wrapped the Barbie’s legs in cling film, just in case any non-BPA plastics leeched into PFB’s serving of cake from Barbie’s knees Grin

HyggeTygge · 03/09/2021 22:06

It's not the WW one?! Grin It's a classic though!

Lordamighty · 03/09/2021 22:08

[quote Yahoowahoo]@Lordamighty oh my goodness that’s the one! 😍[/quote]
As soon as I read your description I knew it was the one I had. I’m no cake maker but the ones I made from that book all turned out really well.

TheGirlWithGlassFeet · 03/09/2021 22:11

We had Polly Pinder. God I loved that book.

starfishy · 03/09/2021 22:14

@HyggeTygge I loved looking through that book as a child! Thanks for sharing some pics!

SillyBub · 03/09/2021 22:14

No mention of the ladybird cake here? We had the choice of hedgehog or ladybird in the 80s

teddybearsbear · 03/09/2021 22:24

My mum had the Cadbury novelty cake book which sounds very similar it been passed down to me and I love to look through it for the nostalgia

teddybearsbear · 03/09/2021 22:25



Pucarbuile · 03/09/2021 22:32

Oh god, we had that St Michael's one, and a couple of Jane Asher. Happy memories Smile

My friend had the Barbie cake for her birthday when we were about 9. I always wanted one but never asked so I made it for myself for dd's 1st birthday.

Wafflehouse · 03/09/2021 22:36

Oh I’m gutted these all came from a book and everyone else had the same cakes we did, my mum still has photos of our cakes as kids that she made. I just thought she was really creative. Except the hedgehog, I knew that one was from a magazine but the rest Sad

Oblahdeeoblahdoe · 03/09/2021 22:43

@Happyhedgehog20

Did it have a train cake, farm cake and guitar?
I made all of them for my DC! Grin
Sunnydaysarethebestdays · 03/09/2021 23:22

I’ve got this one that my mum had and has given it to me for my children’s cakes.

Children’s birthday cakes from 80s
Babamamananarama · 03/09/2021 23:39

We had that book!

My mum made me that duck cake for my first birthday. Apparently she put it on the table and its head promptly fell off.

idontevenknowanyonecalledblurb · 03/09/2021 23:44

Ooh was the last page a swimming pool cake? My mum had this and we used to read through it all the time! We always got the barbie dress cake!

NinjaExodus · 03/09/2021 23:49

@Bollockingfuck

]]
I had the humpty dumpty cake one year!
SingingSands · 03/09/2021 23:55

@HyggeTygge The clock! My mum made that one year, can't remember if it was for me or my brother. The race track looks familiar too!

My best birthday cake was a Poochie dog cake - anyone remember Poochie the pink and white dog?

SunSeaSurfGin · 04/09/2021 00:33

@Chiliprepper

Was it the women’s weekly birthday cake book?
I came to say this. My mum still has that book. I remember the boot and a butterfly
SnarkyBag · 04/09/2021 01:47

Cakes from the 80’s that I remember my mum making were a tea set one for my sister and a computer and keyboard for my brother. They were very popular at at a lot of parties.
The best one I remember was my 7th birthday and was Roland Rats head.

FatLarrysBand · 04/09/2021 06:37

@Sunnydaysarethebestdays

I’ve got this one that my mum had and has given it to me for my children’s cakes.
That's the one I remember! I'm going to buy it. Amazing.
MayContainNits · 04/09/2021 09:06

@PeanutButter82

I immediately thought of this one, which I'm sure contained all the cakes you mentioned above. Might have to ask my DM if she still has it actually, so I can make them for my DDs' birthdays!
Yes! that's the one I was thinking of. I'm pretty sure there's another Rosemary Wadey/St Michael one (a chocolate edition?) with birthday cakes including a farmyard with dyed green dessicated coconut, a very basic boat with a stripy paper straw mast, and a mermaid with a tail made from painstakingly cut-out-with-a-metal-icing-tip fondant scales.
Sunnydaysarethebestdays · 04/09/2021 10:21

It’s on eBay at the moment.

CallMeRisley · 04/09/2021 10:27

We had the Jane Asher one (attached) which contained the classic mini roll train carriages on a track, the barbie with a cake skirt and many many others. I bet my Mum still has it. I now have the Woman’s Weekly one which I believe is popular in Australia.

Children’s birthday cakes from 80s
NinaGonk · 04/09/2021 10:27

I loved poochie @SingingSands! Had a big cuddly poochie.

I remember the swimming pool cake!

Original poster
Yahoowahoo · 04/09/2021 14:46

I am so happy we are all experiencing this trip down memory lane! I have ordered a copy of the one my mum had, delivered to her house as a surprise! Maybe she might even offer to bake the cakes for me 🤣

OP posts:
GoWalkabout · 04/09/2021 15:11

Was everyone else's hedgehog cake fairly alcohol soaked or just ours?