Could someone one on here please explain what the purpose of a "Smash" cake is? I thought it was just a smaller cake (mine was 6" & decorated really well) to give to the baby (for a 1st birthday) so that child had their very own cake to go along with the bigger cake for everyone else to share. Well, the birthday boy of 1 put his fingers into it & looked like he enjoyed what he was doing...lasted all of 2 minutes. I was shocked when the mother then took the cake, put it on the floor & told her 5 year old to show her 1 year old how to smash it. The 5 year old just started pounding & grinding her hands all in it destroying the whole thing. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. All that work just to have THAT happen to it? I honestly did not know people actually did this with those cakes....I will never take the time or use my talent to do another "smash" cake if that i the case. Thanks for letting me vent, but I really would like some feedback if anyone wants to share.

I think it is exactly what you thought, a cake for the baby to enjoy all to his own, and called a "smash cake" because a baby usually ends up devouring it and it looks smashed. Go figure.

I also think of smash cakes as a babys first cake to get nice and messy with and enjoy. But once your cakes leave your hands it shouldn't matter what your customer chooses to do with them. It may be your hard work and time but if the customer is paying for it then it's right to do as they wish.

Wow I have never seen anyone actually smash it! I agree with everyone else the 1 year old is suppose to have it to himself. He or she is suppose to eat some of it not just smash it to bits!
I really dont think what you saw is the norm.

I guess everyone has their own interpretations, lol. I just made a smash cake for my daughter's first b-day this weekend and it was just so that she had a cake all to herself to eat with her hands or whatever. I expected her to make a much bigger mess than she did actually. She was having a blast just picking off the buttercream swirls and hearts and eating those. Everyone thought it was cute how she was being so dainty about it, so then daddy smushed her hand into it, but she still was just preoccupied with the decorations.

I figured the name says it all: SMASH.
As said already, they paid for the cake -it's theirs to do with as they please. If it bothers you - don't watch.

The smash cake (in my photos) I made for a one year old girl was made just for that reason..."to smash"! I made a 4" round single layer iced very simply in buttercream with just a few fondant flowers on top to match the "main cake". The idea is for the child to have it to kind of mess around in...lick their fingers and discover this new food that up until now they probably haven't tasted. Then pictures are taken to memorialize the child's first birthday and the messier they are, the better! (Then they usually need a quick bath to get cleaned up.)

The first "smash cake" I made was 30 years ago for my daughter's 1st birthday. It was the Wilton teddy bear pan that had to have stars piped all over it. And yes, my hand was still aching from the piping as I watched her make a huge mess with it. It was then I then realized the simpler the better!

My explanation of a smash cake is "the baby's own cake to keep their baby germs all to themselves. They can dig into it, slobber all over it (if the baby is a drooler), after all it's their party so they can SLOB if they want to; make a big ole mess and eat it". That's great news for the people eating the main cake.