Birthday Cake Dilemma

[SKS1991]

Hey mummies this may sound like a stupid post.

I'm hosting a 2nd birthday party for my daughter in a restaurant and I'm expecting around 50 guests.

I wanted to bake the birthday cake but I'm freaking out about transporting a huge 2 tier cake on the day in the car. It will be a 12inch bottom tier and 10inch top tier.

My hubby wants me to get it professionally made just for a ease of mind.

I'm thinking of just baking a large sheet cake which should be good enough for 50 people? I was planning on making cupcakes to.

I haven't been to many kids parties but I definitely know all the adults will eat some cake.

Has anyone on here baked or ordered a cake for 50 guests, what size cake did you order?

If you’re not an experienced baker I wouldn’t recommend making a tiered cake for a special occasion tbh. It takes a lot of skill, expertise and equipment to get something like that right. I’m an experienced baker and I still panic having to build and transport a big cake!

I’d go with a couple of big sheet cakes as you suggest - just eye up a decent sized slice and work out how many will fit into your biggest baking tin, or better yet, buy a few Costco cakes which aren’t too expensive and always go down well!

If the restaurant does dessert as part of your meal you’ll only need a small bit of cake each.

If you do go with the tiered idea, transport it as two separate cakes and stack them at the venue. Use plastic straws poked into the cake to support the top one (which will be on a thin cardboard cake board) so it doesn’t sink.

The one pictured had another part on top, so you can see the straws just coming to the top of the icing to act as support for the top.

Party guests eat much less cake than you would imagine. I’d do an 8” and 6” for 50 people but not if I’d never made a 2 tier cake before. I have and I still find them stressful.
10” and 12” won’t look great either as the proportions are so short and wide.
Alternatively sheet cakes or cupcakes are a great idea and much easier to transport.

Costco all the way - make life easy for yourself, people spend such a lot of money on fancy decorated cakes which just get mullered in seconds and most of it gets left uneaten.

Thank you all. I've decided to get a costco cake and decorate it myself.

I'm more concerned about a second birthday party in a restaurant. How many toddlers are going to be there? Is there somewhere for them to run around or are they going to be sat for a couple of hours? (Only checking as if it's a 3 course meal for the grownups it's a bloody nightmare for toddlers and for their birthday i'd rather do something easier!)

@SKS1991 good shout - have a lovely stress free birthday celebration!