First Birthdays · Cake Trends · Strong Feelings
Cake Smashing: Cute Milestone Or Cake Crime?
In today’s edition of “Things That Make No Sense”, people are buying cakes specifically to obliterate them for the gram. Because nothing says “happy first birthday” quite like wasting a perfectly good cake while a baby looks mildly confused under a cloud of buttercream.
For real, it is a thing. It is called a cake smash. And if you are anything like me, the thought of a celebration cake being smashed, smooshed, squished and generally sacrificed for content is pretty horrifying.
Nobody wants to own up to inventing this mess, probably because they know deep down it is ridiculous. But somehow, over the last decade, cake smashing for baby birthdays has become a first birthday photoshoot trend in the US, and it is gaining ground here in the UK too.
A smash cake is a small cake made for a baby, usually on their first birthday, to prod, grab, smear and destroy during a photoshoot. It can make cute pictures, yes. It can also be wasteful, sticky, stressful and a tiny bit absurd.
What Is A Smash Cake?
A smash cake is a cake made and bought specifically so a one-year-old can wreak havoc on it. The idea is simple: put the cake in front of the baby, wait for them to plunge their tiny hands into the frosting, then photograph the glorious chaos.
The result is meant to be delightfully cute: baby with frosting on cheeks, sponge in fists, parents squealing nearby, everyone pretending this is completely normal human behaviour.
And look, I do understand the logic. Babies are adorable. Cake is adorable. Messy babies with cake are, allegedly, Instagram gold. But there is something deeply unhinged about baking a cake with the sole intention of destroying it.
Professional photographers now offer cake smash packages to capture a baby’s first big encounter with refined sugar. Forget first steps. Forget first words. Apparently, the real milestone is watching your child go feral on a sponge.
Cake Is For Eating, Not Pulverising
Cake is for eating. Not for pulverising. Not for content. Not for creating a buttercream crime scene that needs its own clean-up package.
Baby not into cake? Just bring cake to baby. Pic via themommyproject.com
There is no denying that cute babies and cute cakes can make a very sweet photo. I am not immune. I have eyes. I have a heart. I also have a fairly intense emotional attachment to cake being eaten rather than obliterated.
The oddest part is that lots of babies are not even that into it. Some stare suspiciously. Some cry. Some pat the frosting once and immediately regret every life choice that led them there. And then the adults start encouraging the smash because the photo needs to happen.
I am not entirely sure when engineering Pinterest-worthy scenes of a child destroying dessert became a normal part of turning one, but here we are.
Maybe, just maybe, a cupcake could do the job. Mash one cupcake. Take the picture. Keep the other eleven intact for actual humans to eat. Radical, I know.
The Better First Birthday Cake Idea
Instead of buying a cake purely for destruction, choose a cake that both baby and guests can enjoy. You can still give your little one a slice, let them get messy, take the adorable photos and then, crucially, serve the rest of the cake to people who want to eat it.
Number birthday cake by Anges de Sucre
For a first birthday, our number one birthday cake makes much more sense. It still feels playful, colourful and properly celebratory, but it is not designed to be a disposable prop.
Our vanilla sponge is sandwiched and frosted with smooth, silky vanilla Swiss meringue buttercream, glazed with Belgian chocolate drip and decorated with a pastel buttercream piped mosaic. Swirly, whirly, florally and far too nice to be launched into the carpet.
Put a slice of this in front of your baby and I am fairly confident you will get the same cute messy cake pictures, without sacrificing an entire cake to the social media gods.
Give the baby a slice, not the whole cake. You still get the frosting face, the sticky fingers and the adorable photos, while everyone else gets to enjoy the birthday cake like civilisation intended.
So, Is Cake Smashing The Dumbest Cake Trend Ever?
I will be generous and say this: the pictures can be cute. First birthdays are emotional. Parents want a memory. Babies covered in icing are objectively funny.
But as a cake person, I cannot fully get behind a trend built around destroying something beautifully baked and frosted. Ingredients, time, skill and deliciousness all went into that cake. Watching it get flattened for content feels, frankly, like a tiny tragedy in buttercream form.
So yes, I understand the cake smash. I simply do not support full cake annihilation when a slice would do the job perfectly well.
If your little one’s first birthday must involve cake, as it should, choose something worth eating. Smashing is for piñatas, not dessert.
Browse our number cakes and birthday cakes for first birthday celebrations that still give you the gorgeous photos, without wasting the cake.
Love,
Reshmi xoxo
I think smash cakes are ridiculous! First of all what are you teaching kiddies? Secondly it is such a waste. I was at a one year old birthday party where the parents shoved the babies face and hands into the cake and there were a group of 5 – 7 year old kiddies at the party and they decided that they would do the same thing and proceeded to shove their fingers and hands to all the other cupcakes.
Oh boy… Eating gets messy with babies who are learning to feed themselves. “Playing” with their food is an important part of learning about new textures and how to get food into their mouths to swallow. Sure, many (if not most) people do smash cakes because it’s a trend but I don’t see anything wrong with celebrating your baby’s birthday by doing something special for them and allowing them to explore and enjoy their food.
Put a cake in front of a 1 year old and things will get messy; which is mainly why I would make the cake myself (also because babies don’t need added sugar at 1) instead of buying a $40 cake to get destroyed.
I gave my children who are now 43 and 39 a small sponge cake covered with cream and strawberries of their very own. Toddlers are very much into exploring the feel and taste of food and this was a fun way to celebrate their birthdays while honoring their need to explore their food. The term smash cake is new to me, but the idea is basically what I did years ago.
I’m almost 30 years old and my dad did this for my first birthday. Its still one of his fondest memories he is so proud of the cake he made himself just for me. My twins will be 1 in a couple weeks and I’m going to make them each a small cake and then cupcakes for everyone else. It’s cute and fun and a family tradition for many I think social media just put it in the forefront for us.
I am 64 years old & before I moved to Michigan 14 years ago I had never heard of a smash cake. And as far as I’m concerned, it is the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen. Yes. Babies do smash & mush around their food. That is a normal everyday thing. But to buy a cake (& people here actually often hire photographers) to be used specifically to be smashed into a million pieces & to cover the baby & make an absolute mess? I’m with you. I just don’t get it. Seems rather idiotic to me. And a waste of perfectly good cake. Most parents, I would think, would be glad when their child is old enough to eat without needing to be bathed afterward. Sheesh!
I realize that this post and it’s comments should not be upsetting me as much as they are, but for some reason I’m highly annoyed! First off, what do you mean by you don’t know when this trend started?? I’m…how about from the time birthday cakes were invented. Babies have always smashed up their cakes if you put it infront of them. And why shouldn’t they? It’s their birthday in the first place! Second, whoever said that this is a terrible way to teach table manners, you’re kidding right? Babies are supposed to mess with their food, it’s how they learn. Plus I’m pretty sure that ONE day is not going to imprint bad table manners on your child for all eternity. Third, the whole point of a second ‘smash’ cake is to make it simple and small and from healthier ingredients that are better suited for babie’s tummy. Lastly, not all parents do this for a photo op. I did it with mine because, crazy thought here, they loved it! Of course I took pictures to show them later in life and to remember it by. The only thing I agree with you on is that it’s outrageous to force it on a baby for photo ops. And it’s silly to pay tons of money for an expensive “smash cake” when it can be quickly and cheaply made at home. Let’s not forget who’s birthday it is and the baby we are celebrating. Their enjoyment should be number one priority. So if my one year old wants to destroy her cake and make a mess and it brings a smile to her face then have at it little baby! And if she has no interest in “smashing” her cake then cool. That’s alright by me too. It’s your birthday little baby. YOU enjoy it whatever way you want!!!
You realize that no matter how delicious your cake is, babies actually can’t enjoy it? Babies have very delicate stomachs, and more often than not, smash cakes are baked with whole wheat flour, banana, and very little sugar. they’re made to be destroyed and enjoyed in small occasional nibbles, not eaten by the slice. and it’s not mainly about getting pictures like this article leads to believe. Children, especially 1 year olds, have a tendency to play with their food and understand what they’re putting in their mouths. However, this is frowned upon in everyday household activities. The idea of giving them a whole cake just to wreck is supposed to be a celebratory thing for them, a special day for messiness! You clearly don’t understand how much fun it is for toddlers and children to smash what shouldn’t be smashed. And for the record, even if you put a big, beautiful #1 cake in front of them, all cut up for their enjoyment (mainly the adults enjoyment), they would still love to smash it to bits.
Babies are a tricky thing, I know. But you should try to understand that they’re not little adults.
This reads like satire – a post written by someone pretending to be judgemental. Then I read the comments and people really are angry about people taking photos of their toddler messily eating cake on their birthday. It’s “privileged” and “for chavs” and “unhealthy”. Wow, people get angry and judgemental about everything. It’s a “trend” in that parents are getting higher quality photos than the ones they had taken of them in the 80s and 90s. People have been taking these photos for decades.
I guess we all know what not to buy from you.
A smash cake?! Never heard of it. Don’t understand it. Seems like the epitome of privilege. It’s obviously not about the child either. If your one year old isn’t happy with one cake…I don’t know what you’ve done to them. Seems like something people do just to post a picture. Eye roll
Smashing cakes have gone back to when I was a kid and I’m 36. The only difference is it was a gigantic cake and smash cakes are not. Smash cakes are a heck a lot smaller than normal cakes. A cupcake doesn’t do it. Imagine a big candle on a cupcake. Yeah that would look wonderful 🙄🤦♀️.
Kids are meant to play with their food. It’s how they understand what they are eating.