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If you’re looking to start a family tradition and you enjoy baking and being creative, I have the perfect suggestion for you — bake your family’s birthday cakes!
When my firstborn daughter turned 1, I made her very own smash cake myself. Prior to that, I made cupcakes for her baby shower myself. At the time, it was purely out of necessity because we couldn’t afford an $80 cake or $100 cupcakes from a professional bakery. There are, of course, more affordable alternatives, such as your local grocery store. However, I wanted to keep costs as minimal as possible. And so began our family tradition.
What started as a means of saving money has since turned into a full-blown tradition. One that my recently turned 3 and 4 year olds look forward to each year, requesting the designs for their personal birthday cakes.
Aside from one mishap in which I abandoned my attempt at a Ms. Rachel/Herbie inspired cake for my son’s first birthday, I’ve otherwise successfully baked the birthday cake for all three of my kids for the past 4 years now.
I have no professional cake baking or decorating experience. I’m just a Mom with a Pinterest and a vision. If I can do it, believe me, you can too.
I don’t use anything fancy (aside from my KitchenAid stand mixer which was a splurge that has paid for itself 10 times over. Not at all required, as any mixer, stand or handheld, will do). All of the cakes I bake are $2 box cakes from the grocery store. I don’t spruce up the recipe with milk and butter or extra eggs. I simply bake it as instructed.
Tip: To keep box cake extra moist, remove it from the pan around 5 minutes after taking it out of the oven and place it directly onto some Saran Wrap. Wrap it up and place directly into the freezer. Not only will it maintain the moisture, but when you’re ready to assemble your multi-tiered cake and crumb coat it, it’ll be a million times easier with the cake(s) frozen.
A few of the items I did purchase included two 9-inch round nonstick baking pans which I use for every single cake. (I have almost exclusively opted for 3-4 tier cakes) I’ve also purchased a set of piping tips, a cake stand, and cake decorating tools such as a cake scraper. As for my piping bags, I pick up a pack from The Dollar Tree.
The most costly expense is time, energy, and the ingredients required to make the frosting. I will say, frosting, in my opinion, is the differentiator in what makes an impressive looking cake. The design and piping really take it to the next level and bring your vision to life.
There are a number of different frosting types including American buttercream, Swiss buttercream, and, my favorite, a stabilized whipped cream frosting. I say that this is the most costly expense because when decorating a cake, especially depending on the complexity of the design or number of cake layers, a lot of frosting is required. This means either a lot of heavy whipping cream or a lot of butter. Neither of which, I would necessarily consider affordable, so I do want to notate that.
I have around 9 different food color options which is also important for bringing the vision for your cake to life. I don’t pick up any brand name or expensive food coloring. The 4 pack for around $5 will do, as long as you’re able to achieve your desired color.
Most of my cake designs are inspired from ideas off of Pinterest. Last year, my oldest two were able to tell me what theme they wanted for their cake, which, of course, adds tremendously to the fun. They now understand that I’ll be personally baking their cakes for them and the excitement on their face when they see it is all the reward I could ever want or need.
Here are a few of my creations over the years:
Cupcakes for my first baby shower
A simple rose styled smash cake for my firstborn daughter’s first birthday
A Bluey themed number cake for her second birthday
A rainbow cake for her 3rd birthday
A dinosaur themed cake for my son’s 2nd birthday
A unicorn cake for my daughter’s 4th birthday
A basketball cake for my son’s 3rd birthday
A software inspired cake for my husband who is a software engineer (although, I decided I wouldn’t be baking his birthday cakes anymore as our entire family of 5’s birthdays fall in March or April and I don’t think my wrist can handle it)
I’d love to hear what traditions you’ve maintained or started with your own family and hope this offers some inspiration. As always, thanks for reading.
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