Help me find a birthday present for my wife. She bakes cakes.

November 5, 2012 3:23 PM

I need a gift idea for my wife's birthday. She is a nurse and mom to five awesome kids, but her passion is making awesome cakes.

My wife will be 35 next week and I can't think of anything cool to get for her birthday present. I'd like something that feels personal, not like something I just picked up off a shelf and paid for on a whim.

She works a lot, doing night shifts as a nurse. In her downtime she helps take care of our five kids and bakes cakes. Lots of cakes.

They are on Facebook if you want to take a peek (she shares this hobby with my sister, so some of the cakes are made across the country in Kansas, thus Sister Sweets KC). This is a labor of love for my wife - an expensive hobby - so please don't think I'm trying to solicit cakes. She only makes things for family and co-workers, and she has plenty to keep her busy, thanks.

I'm trying to think of a unique gift that speaks to creativity and baking, but I haven't had luck so far. Do you know of anything I might have missed? Something that will show that I understand how much her hobby means to her and want to support her in it?

She has talked about getting a baking-related tattoo in the past (possibly a rolling pin behind her ear), but she's never done it. I'm not sure I'd want to buy her a tattoo, but something similar to commemorate her baking would work. Help!

posted by tacodave to sports, hobbies, & recreation (19 answers total)

I have a baker in my family as well, and she loves getting gift certificates to local shops where she can buy cake-decorating supplies and decor. The price for these things can add up and it's fun to have some "fun money" to go crazy with in one of these stores. If you're a bit creative yourself, maybe you could buy her a bunch of cake decorating supplies (ones that she doesn't have) and different decor things, and make a gift basket out of all of it.
posted by emily37 at 3:34 PM on November 5, 2012 [2 favorites]

Or, if she wants to take her craft to the next level, you could buy her a gift certificate to a pastry or cake-decorating class, and offer to watch the kids during the times when she goes.
posted by emily37 at 3:35 PM on November 5, 2012 [1 favorite]

I love jewelry, so how about a charm of a cake? There are so many different ones. Enamels with silver (or gold, depending on your budget) is nice because it can be colorful. Worn on a chain around the neck (since baking and nursing isn't friendly for bracelets.)
posted by Yellow at 3:46 PM on November 5, 2012

Gift certificate for Sur La Table or Williams-Sonoma.
posted by Dansaman at 3:50 PM on November 5, 2012

I love to make cakes too and one of my favorite tools is a professional cake stand. Makes makes the "finishing" (icing) part so much fun!
posted by idest at 3:56 PM on November 5, 2012 [2 favorites]

Does she have a fondant sheeter? The industrial ones are wicked expensive (unless you luck into a second hand model), but there are models that double as a pasta maker. Note: I chose a random example for illustration purposes, but the wider the sheet the more useful to tool.
posted by carmicha at 4:00 PM on November 5, 2012 [2 favorites]

I want a cupcake charm now! (Google turns up a lot of nice ones.)
posted by BibiRose at 4:01 PM on November 5, 2012 [1 favorite]

How about a caketop publishing system? it's edible inkjet ink, and frosting paper
posted by anon4now at 5:15 PM on November 5, 2012 [1 favorite]

Go here. https://wantful.com/ This will take all the pain out of it.
posted by viconius at 5:21 PM on November 5, 2012 [2 favorites]

I was also voting for the professional cake stand. (I'm assuming she has a good stand mixer and a good food processor already.) Does she do sugar paste stuff? Marzipan figures? Would she like books with images for ideas, or a subscription to one of the cake decorating magazines? Is there someone who does high level classes?

Your facebook link doesn't work.
posted by jeather at 5:29 PM on November 5, 2012

If you have the money, get her a new better awesome oven.
posted by Confess, Fletch at 5:31 PM on November 5, 2012

Vanity license plate?
CAKEBKR
SISCAKE
YAYCAKE
posted by lakeroon at 6:24 PM on November 5, 2012

Mr. gudrun is the baker in the family and agrees that a revolving cake turntable for decorating is a fine idea. Some additional fun stuff, for her birthday or the holidays, would be things like pastry crimper earrings, a cupcake ornament, another cupcake ornament, piece of cake ornaments, etc..
posted by gudrun at 6:42 PM on November 5, 2012

Everyone needs a memento mori.
posted by bswinburn at 8:41 PM on November 5, 2012

A Cricut Cake Cutter? Pro tip: use with your own fondant, not the sheets you can buy for it.
posted by xyzzy at 8:57 PM on November 5, 2012

A gift certificate for the King Arthur Flour shop would be great or browse around and find a gift there.

You could also go on Amazon and look up the top rated cake recipe books. Look through her collection and see what she is missing and get a few of those. I love cookbooks! There's a new book called Vintage Cakes that just came out this summer that she might like.

Also, might be cute to get her little sticker/labels or stamps that say "made with love by X" for when she gives a cake away.

You know what I would love, love, love? One of those lifts that goes inside your cabinet that lifts your mixer out! Here's a link to a DIY one but I have seen them for sale pre-made too. If only we had room to put one in.
posted by dottiechang at 1:03 AM on November 6, 2012

If you could find a nice pendant or earrings with baking theme, that would be really cool.
Also: gift certificate to good quality stuff like pampered chef, Demarle, sur la table, etc. Does she own a kitchen aid or Breville stand mixer?
posted by Neekee at 6:38 AM on November 6, 2012

Thanks for the great suggestions. She makes her own fondant, but doesn't have a fondant roller or cutter, so I'm sort of leaning toward one of those. She has several cake stands, so she already likes that suggestion. :-)
posted by tacodave at 8:31 AM on November 6, 2012

After chatting discreetly with her about these options, I'm going with the printable cake sheets anon4now recommended. Thanks again!
posted by tacodave at 2:35 PM on November 14, 2012 [1 favorite]