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Mister Monster. Mister Monster. Without a doubt the most memorable cake from my childhood. Perhaps not the most predicable cake choice for a pre-teen girl, but I didn’t care. There was something venerable about Mister Monster that appealed to me. Looking at the image of the cake as I type this, gives me a warm sense of belonging as I remember a time when I felt incredibly special and loved.
As was tradition during my growing-up years, in the upcoming weeks before each birthday, I would spend hours flicking through the pages of the iconic 1980 Woman’s Weekly Birthday Cakes Book in search for the cake to express myself for that year. And Mr Monster was it for me. To this day, it’s the cake I remember loving the most. Ah, the memories!
From my own experience, cakes play a special part in creating special memories for marked events in time like birthdays, Christmas and family get-togethers on Mother’s/Father’s Day, and I continue the tradition of picking cakes with my own family. We rarely eat dessert so this makes a sweet masterpiece even more special!
When it comes to choosing a dessert for family get-togethers, like Mother’s Day, I look for a dessert to (hopefully) please everyone. If it were up to my husband, he would be overjoyed (ridiculously thrilled) with a big tub of good quality ice-cream. The kids like the prettiness of a gorgeous cake; that wow factor. And me? I like a proper dessert, so not just ice-cream, and not just cake, but a combination of both…and a bit of cream too please?
Our family LOVES Baskin-Robbins ice-cream, so when I was offered the opportunity to try one of their new premium cakes, I thought it would be interesting to road test it as a dessert idea for our next big family get-together. Not the most difficult thing I’ve had to do in my life…and my family were very willing participants in this review. You’re welcome.
You know, I hadn’t thought about ice-cream cakes before to be honest. Often, a cheesecake is the fall back when we have many people to feed. Well goodness me…my-oh-my-oh-my I’m so impressed. Seriously, it’s like an all-in-one crown pleaser! I picked out the Praline Berry Spleandour cake and it was a winner on every level: there’s the definite wow factor (I mean, just look at it!), and there’s chocolate, and berries, and rich thick icing, and cake, and ice-cream! Plus it’s huge! Plenty to feed a crowd!
Two words: SIMPLY SMASHING!
May the cake-picking-tradition to celebrate the togetherness of family and friends long continue. It feels like I should put an Amen at the end there. So, Amen.
Giveaway
I couldn’t put this delicious review up without offering a giveaway! Since, it’s Mother’s Day soon, this is what’s up for grabs:
1 x premium cake from Baskin-Robbins valued at $50
10 x $20 Baskin-Robbins gift vouchers for the runner ups to enjoy on ice-cream at their local Baskin Robbins restaurant
So that’s 11 prizes!
To Enter
Share with me your own favourite cake memory in the comments below.
Terms & Conditions: Giveaway open from 4 May 2013 to 10 May, 2013. Read the full set of T & Cs here.
Check it out & Share
To view the full range of Baskin-Robbins Mother’s Day ice cream cakes, check local restaurant details or order your very own signature, premium or custom ice cream cake visit www.baskinrobbins.com.au
Share pictures of your own cake using the hashtag #mums4cake
81 Comments
Jane Mitchell
May 9, 2013 at 12:41 pmI’m not a baker but decided to try and make a Dorothy the Dinosaur cake for my daughter’s 5th birthday and was very proud of myself. Unfortunately before we had even put candles on I tripped over our dog and the cake went splat!
Alicia
May 9, 2013 at 12:54 pmAs a child, I used to get a Barbie icecream cake. I just loved them. Icecream cake and a new Barbie to add to my collection.
Rebecca Smith
May 9, 2013 at 2:43 pmI have been very proud of each cake that I have made for my daughter’s birthday (as I am usually a bit of a disaster in the kitchen), but my favourite memory is making bub number two’s first birthday cake – my five year old helped me to decorate it with lollies (one for the cake, one for me…) and we had a fabulous time.
sam
May 9, 2013 at 7:42 pmNo parties, no cake memories – sad but true, I’d love a cake for my 45th birthday.
Kirsten W
May 9, 2013 at 8:15 pmStaying up all night with my husband to make the perfect first birthday cake for my daughter (a Women’s Weekly creation of course). We had to get it exactly right and we did. It took till 4am in the morning for us to realise that we were doing this cake for our benefit and our 1-year old daughter couldn’t care less what cake she had.
Why is it my favourite memory? Because I realised the lengths that my husband and I will go to, for our daughter and we loved every minute of it.
RACHAEL
May 9, 2013 at 9:54 pmI remember Gran always making me a gorgeous cake from the woman’s day books when I was little so I love to do the same for my girls but last year was nuts when we spent 4 days making an awesome mermaid cake with my daughter’s photo as her face. It was beyond awesome 🙂
Han E
May 10, 2013 at 1:18 amI made a Butterfly cake for my daughter’s 1st Birthday … it looked spectacular and I was very proud of myself … And she likes to show it off on a photo, even if she can’t remember her 1st Birthday, she always grabs the photo album when we talk about cakes …
sharron
May 10, 2013 at 8:01 amGrandson was helping me bake for his party he had not learnt about his nanny yet we mucked around made a mess put this blob thing (cake) in oven (not on) and went to set up ballons etc for party i went to check on cake and did quick swap for store brought one sitting in pantry he was thrilled and still talks today about our cooking parties
www.wattpad.com
February 19, 2014 at 1:23 amThis is the ideal answer. Everyone should read this
natalie foster
May 10, 2013 at 8:51 amMy favourite cake moment was my sister and I trying to make our husbands a joint birthday cake. We decided on a pool table and trying to construct this was blast however things did not go on “CUE” and when we put the table onto the sponge legs with all the icing the whole thing collapsed..It was a funny moment….
Amy
May 10, 2013 at 11:01 amDelicious! My favorite cake moment was the year my Mum made the Easel and Paintbrush cake from the Womens Day Cookbook (popular book, that one!). Funny, I turned out to be a horrible artist, so it didn’t bode well for my future….
Kerri Megens
May 10, 2013 at 11:06 amMy favourite cake memory is the toadstool cake my husband made for me. It was a fairy house. He bought the cake pans, made the cake and even used the royal icing. It was a little lopsided and the chimney kept falling off but it was perfect in my eyes. Xx 🙂
Kirstie
May 10, 2013 at 11:17 amWhen I was 8 my Grandma made me a black cat cake out of two round cakes, so it was also the ‘8’ shape. It’s the only cake I remember from my early days and I still remember how special I felt <3 my Grandma.
Effie Bakkalis
May 10, 2013 at 11:17 amI remember that for EVERY birthday that my sister and I had, my mum would bake her own cake and decorate it for us. Never bought a cake from the shops, ever! She would always use lots of whipped cream and sprinkles and coloured candles and it was a tradition I loved. Now I’m doing the same for my kiddies 🙂
Carmen
May 10, 2013 at 11:23 amMy Mum always use to let me choose my birthday cake from the Womans Weekly Birthday book, I would ponder it for weeks leading up to my birthday, such a big decision.
Johanna Ciechan
May 10, 2013 at 11:28 amMy favourite cake was our wedding cake. Closely followed by each of our home made kids bithday cakes. .. caterpillar, dora playground, toolbox, princess dora castle, batman, and butterfly
Sandra Parker
May 10, 2013 at 11:39 amMy youngest daughter only like ice-cream cakes and for one particular birthday (might have been her 12th Birthday) i forgot to order her favourite ice-cream cake. So at the last minute i decided to walk into a cake shop and buy her a Black forest cake, which i love and thought would be a hit. When it was time to sing Happy Birthday i proudly place the cake in front of her and she looks at me with a puzzle face, doesn’t say a word and blows the candles. Now she is 23 yrs old and to this day, she tells the story Mum bought her favourite cake on my Birthday 🙂
Marnie
May 10, 2013 at 11:41 amI too have very fond memories of my childhood flicking through the Women’s Weekly children’s cakes book! I’ve tried to allow my children the freedom to choose whatever their hearts desire, and it’s truly amazing what they can come up with (sometimes I have thought IMPOSSIBLE to bake but I’ve tried)! I probably put far too much pressure on myself now but I just love the look on their little faces when their dreams come true on their birthdays :-). Happy Mother’s Day!
Karen Brandt
May 10, 2013 at 11:56 amMy mum was never a cook and I used to dream about a cake from the Women’s Weekly book… For my 10th birthday mum gave me a copy and I made myself the flower basket cake! From then on there was no stopping me and I made cakes for every possible special (and not so special) occasion until I had made literally every cake in the book. I am now working my way through again for the next generation!
Robyn Dowley
May 10, 2013 at 11:57 amWhen my now-husband’s birthday rolled around the first year we were dating, I decided to be a bit silly and playful and make him a ‘novelty cake.’ I found a great design and made him a 3D caterpillar. And just like that, a tradition was started. Each year for our birthdays, the other has to choose and make a surprise ‘novelty’ cake. Eight years later and we have had penguins, geese, a dalek, a 3D Xbox, a pixelated Mario made out of cupcakes, anything you could think of. We both look forward to finding out what the other has planned for us! But this year, we celebrated our first child’s first birthday, and have continued the tradition with her, making her a rubber-ducky in the bath cake. And this cake was the most special of them all, a cake that my husband and I worked together on, pouring our love for our daughter, and each other into.
Suz
May 10, 2013 at 12:00 pmI was 6 and we were poor but my mum still managed to make me a barbie doll cake for my birthday. I was so happy and excited that I didn’t even care that it was a cheap dodgy doll from the $1 store and not a “real barbie” inside. 🙂
Sabina
May 10, 2013 at 1:07 pmthe cake that my kids absolutly love is a tub of vanilla icecream turned upside down and covered in what ever I could find in the chololate aisle. sometimes I add long choccolate sticks or pretzels or mini M&M’s or big ones or whatever is left over and stick a candle on the top. We once had a party fr 25 kids so i had 2 tubs 1x 4 litres and 1x 2 litres( one little girl was allergicto everything so i took a couple of scoops out of the 2 litre put in in a bowl for her before the decorations went on. it is not the easiest bc you need to time it, but it is definately the most fun
Carol C
May 10, 2013 at 2:00 pmMy Mum made me a Butterfly cake for my 5th birthday with a Mars Bar in the middle. I was so excited and still remember it!
Fiona Arthur
May 10, 2013 at 2:43 pmMy favourite cake memory was mum making me the ballerina cake from the aww classic original book. We read it cover to cover before every birthday! Now my kids do the same and i completely understand why my mum poked so panicked when i requested the ginger bread house!
Carly
May 10, 2013 at 4:32 pmMy husband answer to “what type of cake would you like for your birthday” was a red and black Chinese style dragon cake (kind of jokingly). I decided to actually make his wish and spent 14 hours with mum baking and decorating the cake by rolling and painting 100s of mini marshmallows to make scales. It looked amazing in the end and was very unique as I will never do that again 😉 His answer from then on is back to “chocolate”.
Melissa Jones
May 10, 2013 at 5:20 pmI still remember the cake my husband bought from Bread Top for my 30th birthday. I don’t like too sweet cake and he bought it as a surprise. Now I have my little one and start learning how to make yummy cakes. I hope I could make the same delicious cakes as those from shops one day.
Courtney Brideson
May 10, 2013 at 6:41 pmI am also a graduate of the yearly Woman’s Weekly birthday cake- my brother and I chose a cake from that book right up until out 21st birthdays, and we only stopped because my mum was over it, not us. My favourite was the duck cake because it was covered in chips. A cake covered it chips? My five year old mind was blown!
Amy Hannah
May 10, 2013 at 8:26 pmBombe Alaska- flames a leaping,
Smoke alarm loudly beeping.
Kitchen disaster, cake destroyed,
Emergency trip to the shops deployed!
ros mayes
May 10, 2013 at 10:58 pmI made a farm cake for my nephew’s birthday and left it on the table to cool before I iced it. Popped down to the mailbox to post an entry into a “Best Dog in the World” competition. When I got back, the cake had disappeared!! Found it hidden in all kinds of funny places around the house! The “Best” dog had taken it and stashed it his favourite hiding places! I did have time to make another one..Just!! LOL
Carole Meyer-Rieth
May 11, 2013 at 6:44 amThe favorite birthday cake for me while growing up was always Baskin Robbins’ white cake with mint chocolate chip ice cream and that delicious white buttercream frosting with a rainbow on top. To this day, I always prefer a rainbow to flowers on my cake. I’m so grateful that they still do the buttercream frosting on request!!!!