The popularity of cooking shows like the Great British Bake-Off has triggered a wave of birthday cake wars, between competitive parents, a study has found.
A survey of 1,500 parents has found almost three quarters of mums and dads confess they always aim to make the ‘best in class’ birthday cake for their children.
But it seems its dad who has the more competitive side as 81 per cent of men are looking to get a gold star in birthday baking compared to two thirds of the mums who took the survey.
Furthermore, it’s dad who feels more under pressure to bake an elaborate cake for their kids with 62 per cent admitting this is the case.
The study was commissioned by HomeSense to celebrate their Red Nose Day range of aprons, tea towels and journals.
This then resorts in them buckling under the cake-baking pressure and end up passing off a professional or shop bought cake as their own.
A spokesman for HomeSense said: “A little competition can be really good fun, especially if you can get your family involved too.
“The birthday cake always ends up being the one of the main events at a child’s birthday party so it’s no wonder mom and dad want to make sure it’s extra special.
“There are so many recipes and techniques to baking a great cake now that we would definitely encourage the whole family to get messy in the kitchen and show off their skills at the next birthday party.
“While heading out to buy a ready-made cake is definitely convenient, it takes the fun and sense of achievement out.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re an expert baker or just a beginner, you can be as elaborate or as simple as you like it’s just a bit of fun in the end”.
The study found almost two thirds of competitive parents will attend their child’s friends’ birthday parties and analyze the cake as it appears.
This then leads to mom and dad leaving the gathering with ideas on how to make sure their own cake is the best by far.
Despite stats pointing towards being competitive, more than half of parents choose to bake their child’s cake simply because they ‘just enjoy baking’ and almost a third felt it was just because ‘it’s something a mom or dad should do’.
While close to one in ten mums and dads said they would ‘feel like a bad parent’ if they didn’t bake their child their own birthday cake.
But it seems the competitiveness of the nation’s parents may have come from feeling pressured by other parents to make an elaborate cake for the party.
Dads seem to be getting the hang of baking more recently, in fact one in seven believe they are ‘an expert’ at baking compared to one in eight mums.
And their speciality cakes are cat, dog or ‘person’ shaped bakes while mom will be best as houses, castles and palaces.
But parents don’t bake alone as the children will almost always get involved with the baking and decorating of the cake too meaning one very messy kitchen.
In fact one in ten dads confessed that while they didn’t know how to bake to start with, it’ll be their own children who taught them how to do it.
The spokesman added: “It’s great to see both mom and dad taking an equal interest in getting messy in the kitchen.
“This year, there is a simple way to support Red Nose Day, with the public encouraged to don their aprons and ‘bake something funny for money’. Limited edition aprons, tea towels and journals form part of the HomeSense range, available in stores and at www.rednoseday.com
“The apron has been worn by Dermot O’Leary, Kirstie Allsopp, Paul Hollywood and the winning contestants of the ‘Great Comic Relief Bake Off’.
“Perfect for those wanting to rise to the occasion and get fundraising with bake sales and tea parties, profits from the sale of each item will all go to Comic Relief to help people living incredibly tough lives across Africa and here in the UK.”
ENDS
