The cake masterpieces mums created in the 1980s

If you’ve been a mother, chances are you whipped up a birthday cake or two in your time. (We’re not discounting the dads who are head chef of the family, it just more often tends to be mum!)

And in many Australian households, inspiration was drawn from the Women’s Weekly Children’s Birthday Cake Book. The book first hit shelves in 1980 and went on to sell more than half a million copies, before being re-released in 2011 because so many ’80s kids who had the cakes at their own parties as a child wanted to recreate the sweet treats for their own children.

Fast forward to 2018 and the incredible cakes are still inspiring home cooks and making appearances at parties across the nation. A Facebook group has even been set up for bakers to share their creations with others. 

The original release of the book, which featured a bright red steam train on the cover, included 108 different cakes. One that was always a hit with children, but not always easy to construct in the kitchen, was the swimming pool cake.

Kids loved the masterpiece because it combined chocolate and jelly into one delicious treat. It was up to parents to put their own spin on the design, but most included chocolate finger biscuits as the fence of the pool and colourful jelly as the water. If you were really clever, you used lollies and gum balls as pool toys.

For little girls, nothing was more amazing than a ‘dolly varden’ creation. Some home cooks opted for ice-cream to create the doll’s skirt, while others chose a traditional cake with flamboyant colours and lots of sweets stuck into the icing. It was then usually as simple as sticking your daughter’s favourite doll on top, to make it look as though she was wearing the cake dress.

If you were running short on time, the ‘number’ cake was always a hit. It was as simple as cutting a sponge into the shape of a number – some numbers were, admittedly, easier than others! – and then lathering it in colourful frosting and topping it off with plenty of Smarties or other chocolate buttons. 

For parents who had a bit more time to prepare, the  rubber ducky cake was always popular. While it required a bit more attention to detail in the kitchen, the results were always worth it.

The duck usually had two potato chips as the beak, popcorn on the head and plenty of frosting. People often topped their creation off with a massive bow and chocolate buttons to match.

Another favourite, and arguably the most challenging, was the steam train cake. It featured on the cover of the book and was a cake many children asked for on their special day.

It usually featured the front of a train and a few additional carriages (depending on the cook’s skill and enthusiasm!), complete with plenty of colour, lollies and treats. Some parents used chocolate biscuits as the wheels of the train and coloured popcorn as the coal in each of the carriages.

What do you think of these cakes? Did you ever make one? What was your favourite creation?