Should I bake or buy a birthday cake for DS's 1st birthday?

[ILikeYourSleeves]

I quite fancy baking one and decorating it, but then I haven't baked a cake for years and don't want it to be crap! What did you do for your kids? If you baked one do you have a good recipe and decoration ideas? And if you bought one where did you get it and how much was it?

Thanks!

Def bake one. 1 year olds don't need fancy cakes covered in sweets. He won't care what it looks like, just if it tastes nice!

I have been baking, but my LO is still small. I recommend the Delia Smith all in one sponge cake recipe. It all goes in the bowl, whizz, put it in a tin and bake. It comes out very light and fluffy.
If you want to make a shape, like a castle or frog or whatever, you make two cakes and cut them into bits and reassemble - at least that's what I have been doing.
Often, I have found those shop cakes are too sickly with all that thick fondant icing [bleuch face] and the sponge can be a bit dry.
You can buy really cute sugar or marzipan cake toppers in bakers or good confectioners.

Hey mumma2cjh, DS was given this exact cake yesterday! It was beautiful. Chocolate, right?

Thanks, AnotherFineMess. I'll try that. Also, I happen to see today some lovely muffin stands in Upper St, Islington. I'll come back later in the week to this great shop, as the kids were with me today and this was the kind of shop where children are bound to break something.

Good luck, ILikeYourSleeves!

I made this for dd's 1st birthday - mindbendingly easy, with plain chocolate sponge baked in a roasting tin, yoghurt and fruit puree mixed (though you could use chocolate ganache/frosting type thing), cut up and glue together with yoghurt/frosting, cover with fruit. It was good fun, and involved no complex icing.

I would say bake a cake as you know exactly what's going into it - and I'm sure it will be nicer than any bought jobbie.
My Dh and I both baked a choc cake one for our Ds's first birthday. It was delicious. We did choc icing but it wasn't overly fancy. It only needs to be simple for that age.
And if you;re qworried about how it'll turn out, do a trial run about a week before - and try it out on your friends/family. I did that and brought it in for work colleagues. It tasted yummy and I was very proud!

That cake looks gorgeous habbibu, I will give it a go for ds' 2nd birthday!

Thanks, meandmyjoe. I posted the recipe on this thread - cannot make a link to the actual post, but it was on 14 Feb, at 12:27 - I think. The fish one went to toddlers - did a parrot one for her actual birthday (had a Lot of fruit to use).

I baked one - basic rectangle then cut into a number one shape. (When dd was 2 it had to be Peppa Pig! Such fun... )
It was something I wanted to do as my Mum always asked us what cake we wanted and managed to come up with something and it is one of my best childhood memories.
Receipe below is easy peasy but you can type in ' all in one sponge' on google and find lots more versions. Basically you just chuck it all in a bowl, mix and bake - never fails.
www.deliaonline.com/cookery-school/how-to/how-to-make-all-in-one-sponge,13,AR.html
Good luck

I bought one - a victoria sandwich from Asda chiller section, really simple, just stuck Happy Birthday on it and a pretty candle - she yummed it up.

Now i have discovered how easy cakes can actually be, if i were to go back in time i would make my own basic sponge (I use a recipe from '1000 Classic Beginners Recipes'), and fill it with jam (DH doesn't like cream so i don't use it). Simple buttercream makes an easy icing, and choc buttons are nice to decorate.

Mind you, in our house we don't have very demanding standards

You could instead do the chocolate version - i found out DD3 is a BIG fan of chocolate sponge when she was a little bit older and i was 'experimenting' with baking!

Jackstini - high five! I agree with you on that cake, it takes nooo time to make and it is really light and yummy.
I made mine with a couple of teaspoons of coffee in water and coffee buttercream. It was delicious.
I hasten to add this for my DP not my LO who would still be awake weeks later if fed coffee sponge.

I made a cake for DS, partly like Gateau says, I knew what was going into it, and partly I really wanted to feel that I still could. He didn't actually have much of that one but he had a butterfly bun which I also made of the same stuff - chocolate Victoria sponge with buttercream icing. A friend also made a chocolate cake for the same occasion and was a bit miffed that I'd made my own I think, but while hers was nice enough (we took quite a bit of it home) I think the one I made was a little bit nicer despite being out of practice. Next year I'll make sure I have a mixing bowl and a sieve - I bought cake tins but I had to improvise or borrow everything else.