A Hail Mary: trying to find a specific (probably) 80s book on birthday cakes, can someone help?
Posted by The_Sown_Rose@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 25 comments
I remember it being a hardback book and laid out similar to the DK published books (it may not have been a DK book, just very much like it), I can’t remember if it was exclusively children’s birthday cakes but if not a lot were aimed at children, I can remember a specific cake which was shaped like a dinosaur (a green triceratops to be precise) and it was shown filled with Smarties.
It was the only cake I ever wanted for my birthday and my mum refused to make it on the basis of she didn’t think she’d get it right and then I’d be sad; now I’m an adult I want to make/ruin it myself but the book is long gone and my mum can’t remember what book it was. Does anyone recognise it?
WiseMenFear@reddit
Usually it’s this one, but I don’t recall it having a dinosaur cake.
A selection of the recipes is chere
Sensitive-Question42@reddit
As an Aussie kid, this book was a staple in our house. We’d browse through it for weeks before our birthday to pick out the perfect cake.
My mum made some beauties from it too, including the castle, the ladybug and the witch (her pièce de résistance, because back then you couldn’t find purple food colouring so she had to fiddle around with cochineal and blue to get the right colour)
The_Sown_Rose@reddit (OP)
That’s the one it’s definitely not, because it was inspired by a dinosaur cake but oddly didn’t have a single dinosaur cake in it.
Breakfastchocolate@reddit
Happy Birthday?
The_Sown_Rose@reddit (OP)
That’s a handsome dinosaur but not the one I’m thinking of. :)
Breakfastchocolate@reddit
Breakfastchocolate@reddit
DimensionalDiff@reddit
Maybe this one: Vintage Cake Decorating Book - the Art of Cake Design. the Complete Book of Cake Decorating Baking Book. Cake Book. Bake Off. Cake Recipes - Etsy
Hippadoppaloppa@reddit
I'm sure we had this book at home, there might have been a handbag shaped one too? I do have a load of our old cookbooks so I'll check my shelves tomorrow.
The_Sown_Rose@reddit (OP)
The handbag does sound familiar… Thank you so much for checking!
Hippadoppaloppa@reddit
Ok was it any of these....
Hippadoppaloppa@reddit
earthgold@reddit
This is the one I was going to suggest.
Hippadoppaloppa@reddit
Hippadoppaloppa@reddit
The_Sown_Rose@reddit (OP)
I definitely recognise the handbag cake too though. And I think a princess/fairy as well? Maybe a treasure chest too?
The_Sown_Rose@reddit (OP)
Maybe the last one..? I’m not sure, sorry! The last one seems more familiar on the title but I don’t recall it having a gingerbread house.
Katietori@reddit
Are you my mum? We had EVERY one of those books growing up, and I'm sure they're still on her shelves.
Tosaveoneselftrouble@reddit
I had a search and I’m 99% certain this is the one we had - published 1991? https://ebay.us/m/mOSHL6
They seem to have been called “Children Party Cakes Book” if you wanted to give googling a go and see if you recognise any covers.
The_Sown_Rose@reddit (OP)
None rang a bell sadly, although I’m hindered by my memory of it being patchy at best (apart from the triceratops cake, I can see that clear as anything!)
Funktious@reddit
Is it any of these OP? Children's birthday cake books on archives.org You May need to create an account to look inside the books.
The_Sown_Rose@reddit (OP)
It doesn’t seem to be, most of them are too recent (it’s mid 90s at the latest) and it’s none of the ones that are the right age.
Loose_Acanthaceae201@reddit
At that time the queen of children's birthday cakes was Jane Asher, so that might narrow it down?
The_Sown_Rose@reddit (OP)
None of them looked familiar, admittedly my memory of it isn’t great but I think the book cover was mostly white with pictures on it in a grid pattern.
AutoModerator@reddit
Please help keep AskUK welcoming!
When replying to submission/post please make genuine efforts to answer the question given. Please no jokes, judgements, etc.
Don't be a dick to each other. If getting heated, just block and move on.
This is a strictly no-politics subreddit!
Please help us by reporting comments that break these rules.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.