Over the past 12 months, savvy men and women have been taking to social media to show off their weird, wonderful and wacky budget hacks.
But there is a clever foodie fad on the rise that is arguably one of the most resourceful and time-saving one yet.
Enter the ‘mud cake hack’ – a trend that has seen thousands of Australian home bakers transform $4.40 mud cakes from Coles and Woolworths into stunning desserts served at birthday parties, christenings and even weddings.
Thousands of Australian home bakers have transformed these $4.40 mud cakes from Coles and Woolworths into stunning desserts
One woman, Brenda, recently turned three mud cakes from Woolworths into a Cookie Monster creation by stacking them on top of one another
One woman, Brenda, recently turned three mud cakes from Woolworths into a Cookie Monster creation by stacking them on top of one another using chocolate ganache and completing it with blue fudge icing.
Another woman, Carly, made a first birthday cake using two white mud cakes and one chocolate mud cake while another used three Coles square sponge cakes and a sponge roll to make a Dr Seuss themed cake for her daughter’s 21st.
One time-strapped woman took to Facebook to show off her own creation which she put together last minute for a friend’s birthday.
Another woman, Carly, made a first birthday cake using two white mud cakes and one chocolate mud cake
Another used three Coles square sponge cakes and a sponge roll to make a Dr Seuss themed cake for her daughter’s 21st
This woman shared how she iced three cakes and turned it into a tasty elaborate cake
‘This is my end result, that I quickly whipped together after work and before dinner,’ she wrote alongside a photo of her floral-themed dessert.
Some of the most impressive cakes to grace social media so far have included a four layer builder-themed birthday cake, a Star Wards Lego themed cake for a six-year-old and a Minion cake that took ‘hours and hours’ to finish.
Unicorn cakes have also been a hit, with clever home cooks using the mud cakes as a base for the popular themed desserts.
‘This is my end result, that I quickly whipped together after work and before dinner,’ she wrote alongside a photo of her floral-themed dessert
This woman created a Star Wards Lego themed cake for her six-year-old
‘Four white mud cakes and artificial flowers. So easy,’ one of the unicorn cake creators wrote alongside her own creation.
While the trend is fast on the rise on social media, one of the most memorable supermarket ‘cake hacks’ took place in 2017, when Australian bride Jade Neil was left without a cake on the morning of her wedding.
However, fast-thinking friends and family were able to whip up an on-trend dessert between entrées and mains using three Woolworths mud cakes, Betty Crocker icing and a hessian cutlery holder.
This Minion cake and builder cake were both stand out creations
‘Two white choc muds …icing removed. Strawberry Jam and cream filling covered in white chocolate ganache,’ a woman captioned this cake
Unicorn cakes have also been a hit, with clever home cooks using the mud cakes as a base for the popular themed desserts
The 26-year-old, whose $500 wedding cake failed to turn up on the big day, sent social media into overdrive with her photo of the makeshift creation after posting it on the Woolworths Australia Facebook page.
Speaking to FEMAIL at the time, Mrs Neil, from Queensland, said when she found out her expensive wedding cake was a no-show, she was livid.
‘When we arrived at the reception at 6.30pm the caterers said the cake hadn’t arrived and asked me whether I was sure I had ordered it correctly,’ she said.
‘I spoke to the bakers weeks prior about the flowers I wanted on it and had paid them the $500. What made me the angriest though was that when I called them they told me they had no record of me at all.’
While the trend is fast on the rise on social media, one of the most memorable supermarket ‘cake hacks’ took place in 2017, when Australian bride Jade Neil was left without a cake on the morning of her wedding
However, fast-thinking friends and family were able to whip up an on-trend dessert between entrées and mains using three Woolworths mud cakes, Betty Crocker icing and a hessian cutlery holder
Then, between entrées and mains, the duo put together the dessert and completed the impressive creation by tying a hessian cutlery holder around the middle
Mrs Neil’s sister-in-law Candice and family friend Aunty May made their way to Woolworths while the couple were having their photos taken and purchased three mud cakes, vanilla icing, fresh flowers, a knife and a wooden board for the display.
Then, between entrées and mains, the duo put together the dessert and completed the impressive creation by tying a hessian cutlery holder around the middle.
‘My wedding was rustic country theme and it just fit in perfectly,’ Mrs Neil, a mother-of-two, said.
‘The cake was an absolute hit too – I believe one bridesmaid actually had three or four slices it was that good.’