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Parties/celebrations

Whether you're planning a birthday or a hen do, you'll find plenty of ideas for your celebration on our Party forum.

Original poster

Serving cake and cake jars to take home?

94 replies

Zoomom · 16/10/2023 15:51

Planning my DC’s birthday party and have the most ridiculous conundrum. Is it acceptable to have a cake on display for him to blow out candles on and then little jars with cake inside for guests to take home (or eat at the party if they have time)? The plan would be to not slice or eat the cake at the party. We would then eat the cake with close family the next day (his actual birthday).

Wondering if people will expect to get the cake we had on display. I have been to parties where cake is put in napkins in party bags and I didn’t care which cake it was from.

I just find the cake jars so cute and a nice way for guests to transport cake home. But also want a real cake for his candles.

OP posts:
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5
kingkongs · 16/10/2023 20:44

I really fancy a jar of cake now.

But no, you don't need to give them the same cake. Any cake wrapped in a napkin will be fine, jars unnecessary.

LulooLemon · 16/10/2023 22:12

Never heard of cake jars

MartyFunkhouser · 16/10/2023 22:17

I think the cake jar idea is a bit ott and utterly wasted on children.

Just get any old cake to slice up. Birthday party cake portions would languish in the kitchen for a day or so and end up in the bin when mine were small. They had no interest in them.

ElleCapitaine · 22/10/2023 15:45

I did this. I spent ages baking a massive chocolate dome cake but then burnt the hell out of it, so I iced it and stuck candles in it and it looked amazing even though it was completely inedible. I then served chocolate tray bake from Tesco to take home.

Hermione101 · 22/10/2023 16:02

I think bringing the cake out and not cutting it at the party is really tacky.

One of the best things at a birthday party is seeing them all circled around and waiting in anticipation for the cake to be cut. Just get two.

theduchessofspork · 22/10/2023 16:05

I think cake jars are just more bloody tat from a parents POV

But by all means slice a different cake, but if they want to take it just put it on a napkin as normal

lost78300 · 22/10/2023 16:05

At my daughters birthday I made the main cake but it didn't go to plan so couldn't serve it. I iced it though and used it for the candle blowing and made cupcakes to hand out.

Was it noticed by the kids? YES...!! 'Where's the cake?' 😂

SM4713 · 22/10/2023 16:15

I don't understand OP. I too had to google 'cake jar'- sorry but they look revolting and messy! Were you going to buy commercially made cake jars or shove a piece of cake in an empty jar? Either option is ridiculous IMO.

As others have suggested- use a 2nd cake to blow on and cut up at the party, have cupcakes to give out or just cut the 'special cake' to blow on, then give away the 2nd cake cut up or served there.

villagelife1992 · 22/10/2023 16:40

No one wants to eat the cake that the child has blown (spat) out the candles on. Just put a different cake into the party bags.

CowboyJoanna · 22/10/2023 21:27

Seems a bit tight to make a posh cake for the singing and cake cutting ceremony only to take it away and give the other children slices of cheaper cake.

At my DC's parties, we do it the Australian way. Everyone sings happy birthday and once the sparklers have fizzled out, everyone watches the birthday child cuts the first bit of cake. I could not imagine letting the kids watch this and then learn they're not going to eat that cake.

CowboyJoanna · 22/10/2023 21:31

Also if my DC's party is on a seperate day from their actual birthday, we make two seperate cakesSmile

Papillon23 · 22/10/2023 21:32

I don't think it's a problem to serve cheap cake at a children's party but serving an obviously different cake from the one with the candles seems very odd to me. Something similar maybe but completely different is odd.

Parakeetamol · 22/10/2023 21:34

Any child with allergies will also need a separate cake

BoohooWoohoo · 22/10/2023 21:37

I send home different cake to the happy birthday cake because i want to save myself a job in day. If you're likely to have extended family over the next day then you can eat the fancy cake then.
I wouldn't send home cake jars based on cost. You can better cupcakes or traybakes that would be much cheaper.

OrderOfTheKookaburra · 23/10/2023 02:17

Cake in a jar? As in a glass jar that if dropped/kicked/sat on will shatter everywhere? And you want to give that to a child?

Right....

As long as the cake you give them roughly resembles the party cake (so don't have a gooey chocolate monstrosity with candles to blow out and then give a plain vanilla Madeira cake) then it's not really an issue.

I once bought 3 of the same Thorntons chocolate cake - 2 of them were pre sliced up, wrapped and in the party bags. Third one had extra decorations and candles and was 'used' at the party and then came home with us.

Forgottenmypasswordagain · 23/10/2023 03:13

Personally I'd bake or buy a cake and serve that one at the childrens party.

nearlywinteragain · 23/10/2023 03:21

Just buy a cheap supermarket cake for the party.
The fancy cake might well get damaged and cake jars are a totally unnecessary.

Whowhatwherewhenwhy1 · 23/10/2023 04:49

I did the big cake and then made cupcakes which the kids could eat at the party and one each to take home. We had the big cake at family celebration the next day. It made it so much easier and meant the take home cakes could all be bagged and ready to go ahead of time. The kids were happy and it was convenient for me.

TeenMum87 · 23/10/2023 05:49

I don’t understand what a cake jar is? I have imagines of a slice of cake in a jam jar and the mess kids will make trying to eat it.

Kids won’t care what cake they eat.

ForfarBridie · 23/10/2023 06:03

I think children like a piece of the actual birthday cake and not something that’s been kept in reserve.

ForfarBridie · 23/10/2023 06:05

Forgottenmypasswordagain · 23/10/2023 03:13

Personally I'd bake or buy a cake and serve that one at the childrens party.

I agree. I’m not understanding at all why guests would be given a second best cake. It’s quite insulting.

Yourebeingtooloud · 23/10/2023 06:11

Cake jars = total waste of time. And people will notice they aren’t getting ‘the’ cake.

Pre-slicing a different cake for party bags (as long as it looks similar to the display cake) = totally fine.

Fitrix29 · 23/10/2023 06:46

I did similar, I spent soooooo much time on making his cake and I wanted to have it for his home family gathering as well as for his party which was friends only at an inflatable arena (so not suitable to have all the family without kids come there). I baked separate cupcakes that went in the party bags and the main cake came back home with us for round 2.

Serving cake and cake jars to take home?
Serving cake and cake jars to take home?
Serving cake and cake jars to take home?
howdoesyourgardengrowinmay · 23/10/2023 06:53

Put disposable paper table cloth on table

Buy a Colin the caterpillar cake for the children's party.

Stick candle in cake for birthday child to blow out.

Cut and distribute cake onto paper plates at the party table.

Wrap the whole sugary mess in the table cloth and dispose straight into the outside bin

No dishes

Have a separate naice cake for family party.

Everyone gets cake

Win. Win. Win.

ForfarBridie · 23/10/2023 07:01

@Fitrix29 thats a lovely cake. How did you do the planets running through it in different colours?