Kristina Wyatt

Looking for the Perfect Birthday Cake? Here are 5 Tips for Choosing the Best Whether it’s for your child’s fifth birthday or your husband’s fiftieth, picking out a birthday cake is one of the most important parts of planning a party, as it is often the centerpiece of any birthday bash. Awesome birthday cakes can be purchased from grocery stores like Kroger and Wal-Mart, or from private cake makers and decorators; you might have to simply do some research and see where you want to buy your birthday cake from. Depending on how big you need the cake, what ingredients you want it to be made of, and the theme you want it decorated, all will determine where you will buy your cake. But first, here are five tips for choosing the best birthday cake for your next birthday bash. 1. Look at the baker’s website. Even if it’s just Wal-Mart or Kroger, check out the cake services part of their website to see what themes they offer (you might also have to call your local Wal-Mart bakery to make sure they carry a particular theme you want, like Hello Kitty or Cars). If you are looking into a private bakery or cake maker/designer, definitely check out their website and take a look at their cake portfolio (most bakers have a page on their site with past cakes or other goodies they’ve made). How well made do their cakes look? Do they look professional? 2. Check out the customer testimonials on the baker’s website. This next tip is just as important as looking at the baker’s cake portfolio, if not more so. Making sure the baker’s past clientele were satisfied with their cakes is an important part of choosing the right baker to make a birthday cake for your next party. How many positive reviews have they gotten? Are there any negative reviews or experiences by past customers? If so, how did the baker respond to or fix the problems/issues? 3. Visit local bakeries to try a sample. Plan a trip to a few local bakeries to get a sample of their most popular cake flavors. This step will ensure that the cake you order is perfect, and will be exactly what you want; for example, try out their classic chocolate and vanilla flavors, as well as one or two different ones, like red velvet cake, carrot cake or plain yellow cake. Often you can make your decision just by sampling one of the baker’s cake flavors, especially if one really stands out from the others. 4. Make sure the cake is made with quality ingredients. And this is definitely important if the birthday girl or boy has food allergies. Although many commercial bakeries have cross-contamination issues, there are a few private, smaller bakeries that offer special cakes, such as gluten-free, nut-free, and/or dairy-free. You will have to do your research here to find out which of your local bakers offer special ingredient cakes, but it’s definitely worth it to find the perfect cake that is perfect for someone with food allergies. 5. Choose your baker and set a pick-up date. Once you have followed the above tips, you should have enough to make a decision about which baker to choose, which flavor, theme and any other details pertaining to your birthday cake. So go ahead and order the cake from the selected baker and set a date to pick up the confection; one last important tip is to check on the progress of the cake a few days before you’re due to pick it up. This will ensure that any problems or issues are taken care of promptly, and before it gets down to the wire and it’s too late to fix any issues that might pop up. EDITS: Hi Kristina, thank you for your work. It appears that your post was originally about 125 words under word count and after the editor rewrote the post to be in third person, which is required, is is now 275 words under. Please update your post to be at least 775 words, include 10 links to eBay, and include a how to buy on eBay section. The how to buy section can go over how to buy accessories like candles, decorative knives for cutting cakes, plates, etc, since users cannot buy cakes on eBay. Thank you!