Lazy, boring, narcissistic – can you tell how much we hate the photo cake trend?!

There are a few cake trends that really have us rolling our eyes. Cake smash photo shoots are awful for one, and don’t get us started on gender reveal cakes. Shudder. And another one to the add to the list is photo cakes. Everything about this trend has us despairing. Basically you get a boring, basic sheet cake – usually a white-iced rectangle. Boring on the outside, boring on the inside too. Then you get your photo – of your face – printed on a sheet of icing and lie it on top of the cake. It’s beyond banal and unimaginative.

There are so many fun things you can do with a birthday cake - croquembouches, cakescapes, even drip cakes. Yet, people come back to this cake trend year after year. Imagine being arrogant enough to think people want to eat your face. We’re all for celebrating the birthday person, but we draw the line at munching on their eyeballs. We already know whose birthday it is as we’re here – AT YOUR PARTY. And yes, the whole event is about you. But do you really need to hammer it home with a photo of your face on the cake itself?

The other thing that really gets us is that photo cakes look terrible. Like, however good looking you are, you’re not going to make a cake look better than buttercream, piping, sprinkles, and the eleventy billion other cake decorations. We’ll be honest with you, photo cakes scream laziness and they look cheap and tacky. No, they are cheap and tacky. Everyone deserves better than a photo cake.

Photo Cakes: A Celebrity Trend

Drew Barrymore

When she was old enough to know better. On her 43th birthday she blew the candles out on a cake with a photo of her as a child. There's something so ominously creepy about a cake with a child's face on that's about to be cut into. She said it was the most perfect birthday ever. IDK, it would've been, save for that scary cake.

Kylie Jenner

Of course the Kardashian/Jenner crew are all over this trend. The ultimate narcissists who've never heard the word “no”. Kylie Jenner had her face plastered over her birthday cake for her 20th birthday. Apparently, Travis Scott, her on-off boyfriend got her this. I wonder if the off followed soon after? Worse still, it was a photo of her with her tongue out. Imagine having to eat a piece of her tongue?! No thanks. The eyeball is bad enough. Also, surely the Kardashians can do better?! All that money, and zero cake-class.

Harry Styles

Haz Styles can normally do no wrong in our eyes. We’re into the sparkly jumpsuits, floppy hair don't care. But for his milestone 21st birthday...he had a giant photo cake with his mug on. It was a random photo of him as a kid too with a backward baseball cap on.

We don't get it - at a star-studded party with celebrities like David Beckham, Cara Delevigne and the other 1D band mates in attendance...what was the significance of that photo on such a basic cake?! Mega strange choice for someone who normally is so creative.

Fergie

Remember Fergie? No, not the one associated with a dodgy royal. We mean the Black Eye Peas singer. She once had a cake with her face on it. Not content with just a flat cake, she had her photo propped up on it so no one could miss it.

We’re not sure if the extra creativity here is better or worse though. But it is peak narc behaviour.

How to Do Photo Cakes Well

Now that you know how NOT to do photo cakes, let us show you how to do them well. 

Caricature Cakes

Your photo, but made into non-cringe artwork. A caricature cake tastes less narcissistic than a straight up photo cake, and is SO COOL. It is 100% personalised yet shows you're not so up yourself. We love making them for our customers.

Burn-Away Cakes

The Tik-Tok trend that won't go away...and we like that. Picture this, a pretty unassuming cake to the unsuspecting, set on FIRE, that then reveals YOUR FACE on the cake. If you're going to have a photo cake, best add a heady dose of drama to it with a burn-away photo cake. It is the only proven way to make an impact with a photo cake. And thankfully, the celebs are catching on.

Got a cake trend bug bear? Let us know. Love a photo cake…? Well, you can argue its case if you want in the comments, but you’ll be wrong.