Grocery store birthday cakes

mrsmikey · January 2011

I'm trying to decide between having Eli's birthday cake professionally done or just getting one from a grocery store. I have several quotes from local bakeries and individuals, but I'm wondering about g-store cakes.

If you've gotten them, where did you get it from? How good was it? And how much was it? They do pretty cute stuff now, it wouldn't be as cute as a professional I'm sure, but for half the price might be what we do.

MrsHughesNC · January 2011

We got ours from the Super Target bakery. It was a full sheet cake (and yes, we had an entire 1/2 of it left over! Oh well..at least there was enough!), with the whipped icing, and it was a chocolate/yellow marble cake. It had a Yo Gabba Gabba design on it (plastic figurines from a kit they had, and a design in icing).. It was $42 (again, for a GIANT cake.. LOL), and I thought it was very tasty.

Was it the fanciest cake ever? No. But it was for 2 year olds, so I think it was fine. :-) I thought it was very yummy, honestly. She was beside herself with excitement about it because it had YGG characters on it. We could have stuck toys on a homemade cake and she'd have been happy. That was just not something I felt inclined to spend a ton on at her age.

We went to a party recently of one of her classmates, and they had a fancy 2 tier Sesame street cake that was clearly from a nice bakery. It was awesome, with a very detailed, sculpted Elmo & Cookie Monster on top. However, I'll be honest, flavor-wise, it was just ok. I wouldn't have been surprised if it was $200+ (based on prices I remembered from looking for my wedding cake)

I will say that last year, I got a cake from the BJ's bakery. It was delicious. However, it looked like a 3rd grader decorated it. I was pretty disappointed. I asked for polka dots (which I thought was pretty simple!), and instead they peppered it with confetti sprinkles of various sizes. LOL. But no one seemed to care (or notice). Except me. LOL.

Oh, just found a pic online (don't have pics of ours handy)... looked like this, but larger, with "Happy Birthday Holly" on it.

mrsmikey · January 2011

MrsHughesNC:

We got ours from the Super Target bakery. It was a full sheet cake (and yes, we had an entire 1/2 of it left over! Oh well..at least there was enough!), with the whipped icing, and it was a chocolate/yellow marble cake. It had a Yo Gabba Gabba design on it (plastic figurines from a kit they had, and a design in icing).. It was $42 (again, for a GIANT cake.. LOL), and I thought it was very tasty.

Was it the fanciest cake ever? No. But it was for 2 year olds, so I think it was fine. :-) I thought it was very yummy, honestly. She was beside herself with excitement about it because it had YGG characters on it. We could have stuck toys on a homemade cake and she'd have been happy. That was just not something I felt inclined to spend a ton on at her age.

We went to a party recently of one of her classmates, and they had a fancy 2 tier Sesame street cake that was clearly from a nice bakery. It was awesome, with a very detailed, sculpted Elmo & Cookie Monster on top. However, I'll be honest, flavor-wise, it was just ok. I wouldn't have been surprised if it was $200+ (based on prices I remembered from looking for my wedding cake)

I will say that last year, I got a cake from the BJ's bakery. It was delicious. However, it looked like a 3rd grader decorated it. I was pretty disappointed. I asked for polka dots (which I thought was pretty simple!), and instead they peppered it with confetti sprinkles of various sizes. LOL. But no one seemed to care (or notice). Except me. LOL.

Oh, just found a pic online (don't have pics of ours handy)... looked like this, but larger, with "Happy Birthday Holly" on it.

Thanks for the info! So, how many people did you have at the party? Based on the sheet HT has, I'll probably only need 1/2 a sheet cake.

FWIW, her classmate's cake probably wasn't $200, depending on where they got if from. I have quotes from a few local bakeries that are known for their fancy wedding cakes and a 2 layer fondant cake decorated like that is <$100.

So I'm really looking at having a cake like this for $75ish dollars, vs. a grocery store cake for $40ish?

MrsHughesNC · January 2011

We had 15 kids, each with a parent (several with 2 parents), and my parents, IL's, brother & SIL. The 1/2 sheet said it served 24, with pretty small pieces. I was afraid that that would be cutting it too close, and of course the only other option was a full sheet. I want to say at Target, that a 1/2 sheet was like $30, with a decoration kit.

ETA: grr... I'll delete the dups when it will let me.

But a 1/2 sheet would have been enough, but I'm glad we went ahead with the full sheet. I sent some home with friends, and we were ultimately left with about a 1/4 sheet cake which DH took to work. :-)

I think the cake you posted is super cute, and $75 isn't completely unreasonable at all. We were already spending a bunch on the actual party at My Gym. If it had been a party at home or somewhere cheap/free, I'd maybe have been more inclined to spend more. But the bottom line to me is, it's for a kid. They'll be happy with anything.

lalabee0425 · January 2011

I LOVE cake from Target! My cousin actually got my baby shower cake from there and it was really cute and was delicious. I think it was chocolate with raspberry filling maybe? Holy heavens. I ate my fair share of it plus some! I had no idea it came from there and was surprised because the decorator did such a great job. I have had plain white cake from there and was not as impressed as I was with the chocolate.

Unfortunately, I can't order any store bakery cakes for Keira because most are processed on equipment with peanuts.

mrsmikey · January 2011

Haha! Bump fart!

OK, that helps alot. I think we'll definitely be ok with a half sheet then, I don't think we'll have more than 30 people. We don't have a super Target here, but I'm going to Walmart today to check their prices. I've heard HT makes good cakes too, I assume the pricing will be similar anywhere though.

DH probably wouldn't understand spending $80 on a cake when I can get one for $30, LOL. We got his first birthday cake from Dewey's, and I made his cake last year, so we've gone from one extreme to the other. But this year I'm not making one. So I'll have to see what the g-stores have for the theme we're doing.

MrsHughesNC · January 2011

mrsmikey:

Haha! Bump fart!

OK, that helps alot. I think we'll definitely be ok with a half sheet then, I don't think we'll have more than 30 people. We don't have a super Target here, but I'm going to Walmart today to check their prices. I've heard HT makes good cakes too, I assume the pricing will be similar anywhere though.

DH probably wouldn't understand spending $80 on a cake when I can get one for $30, LOL. We got his first birthday cake from Dewey's, and I made his cake last year, so we've gone from one extreme to the other. But this year I'm not making one. So I'll have to see what the g-stores have for the theme we're doing.

My friend did a Cars themed cake from Wal-Mart for her son this year, and it was very cute, and tasty. I'm pretty sure HT does a good job too. I'd probably not trust Food Lion's ability. But maybe I'm hatin'. hehe.

And yummy--didn't you say you did a Dewey's lemonade cake for Eli's first b'day? **Dewey's=drool** Big Smile

BackthePack · January 2011

My mom loves HT bakery - she calls them her personal bakers...ha! They do have good cakes.

My BFF had her daughter's 3rd bday cake from Walmart and they did a great job! Even though it was just a sheet cake (or may it was cupcakes with the sheet-cake type icing...know what I'm talking about?), they personalized it with some bizarre character she wanted and it was adorable!

mrsmikey · January 2011

MrsHughesNC:
mrsmikey:

Haha! Bump fart!

OK, that helps alot. I think we'll definitely be ok with a half sheet then, I don't think we'll have more than 30 people. We don't have a super Target here, but I'm going to Walmart today to check their prices. I've heard HT makes good cakes too, I assume the pricing will be similar anywhere though.

DH probably wouldn't understand spending $80 on a cake when I can get one for $30, LOL. We got his first birthday cake from Dewey's, and I made his cake last year, so we've gone from one extreme to the other. But this year I'm not making one. So I'll have to see what the g-stores have for the theme we're doing.

My friend did a Cars themed cake from Wal-Mart for her son this year, and it was very cute, and tasty. I'm pretty sure HT does a good job too. I'd probably not trust Food Lion's ability. But maybe I'm hatin'. hehe.

And yummy--didn't you say you did a Dewey's lemonade cake for Eli's first b'day? **Dewey's=drool**

I didn't get pink lemonade, DH said no. Something about not having a pink cake for a boy, IDK. Confused I asked them if they could do pink lemonade flavor and just make it a different color than pink but they wouldn't

dbertagni · January 2011

This is very weird that this was just posted! I was going to post the same thing! My mom is insisting on cake for Jocelyn's small family party and I guess I am going to head to Super Target to get one! Thanks Ladies!

JennaNAaron · January 2011

I think Kroger has great birthday cakes. Their whippy icing is pretty good and I hate icing. The cake itself is tasty also. I have a few different varities. Their regular icing is DISGUSTING imo. Also the bright colored icing is "pretty," but it tastes nasty. I recently had a parent bring cupcakes for their child's birthday and most of the class scrapped the icing off. It also stains like mad!

elizabethswan · January 2011

I love BJs cakes! They have ones with whipped topping and fillings- chocolate and strawberry- so good! I haven't had one decorated by them though, just pick one up from the case and have them write a quick line.

mrsmikey · January 2011

Thanks ladies! No Super Target, Kroger, or BJs here, but thanks for the opinions. I'll likely be getting it from HT since people around here recommend them.

akspriss · January 2011

i know u said u dont have a bj's near u mikey but for otehrs in the future, BJ's has super yummy cakes and my mom had one made for my bro and sil and had a photograph "printed" onto the case in icing if thats whatu want to describe it as.

sophabelle · January 2011

HT and Lowes Foods both have really good cakes! I esp. love the ones w/the whipped frosting. MMMMMMM! I really want some cake now lol!

unc00ref · January 2011

mrsmikey:
Thanks ladies! No Super Target, Kroger, or BJs here, but thanks for the opinions. I'll likely be getting it from HT since people around here recommend them.

We've had 2 or 3 of the Harris Teeter cakes -- they are good! The look of it all depends on which decorator you get. but we've always been pleased with the flavor!

wesleysgirl1106 · January 2011

I got DS's cakes from a self-employed cake decorater for the last 2 years. $50 for each. Had leftovers both years, but they were ADORABLE, and delicious.

If I could get the pictures on here I would, but apparently I can't figure it out. Maybe there is a woman around you who just makes cakes as a hobby and can whip one up, the same way.

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