Coffee in children/baby cake?

I would be. It’s a handful of teaspoons for the whole cake and a child is only having a tiny slice. It’s more for flavouring than anything, there’s more caffeine in Nutella and Oreo’s than a mouthful of a diluted coffee cake.

It's not 40ml per slice! I really wouldn't worry.

For a bit of context the cake also has five bars of dark chocolate too. The kids are three and there’s pregnant women at the party too.

You can tell I’m tired (clearly need that coffee) as I’ve written too twice 😅

It doesn't sound like a cake kids will even like but I wouldn't refuse them a slice if they asked.

Yeah when pregnant I drank coffee and enjoyed chocolate so I definitely wouldn’t worry. As for my toddler, she’d give it a go but the dark chocolate would proper put her off before the coffee taste did. Totally fine for caffeine levels though as it’s the whole cake not a slice.

I wouldn’t, but I’d thoroughly enjoy it lol, sounds like my kind of cake

The coffee is only there to bring out the flavour of the chocolate. It’s a tiny amount when you portion out the cake, I wouldn’t worry about it.

That quantity is not much caffeine for a small bite of cake.

Thanks everyone for voting & commenting. Interesting to see such a split decision! When I was pregnant I avoided caffeine completely and I’m not keen on kiddo having any either really. He does have a bit of chocolate every now and then but not loads. This cake has a huge amount of caffeine in and there’s no way he will be eating a small slice. I’ve also asked some friends (as they’ll be eating it) and they don’t want to feed it to their kiddos if I used caffeinated coffee. So it’s either decaf or water I think. Do I think it will harm his development? No, not at all. If he had alcohol it probably wouldn’t harm him, but he doesn’t need either in his diet at three years old (just my opinion). I ran the poll because a) I want to make the cake b) my parents already made it and didn’t inform me about the coffee so I could make the decision. We’ve already discussed them using alcohol to cook with for us (I was pregnant then) and how they need to tell me 🙄 clearly didn’t listen.

If it is about a need, neither children nor adults need to eat it. But food is more than a way to provide nutrientes. Food is a crucial part for cultural and social reasons. In gatherings and celebrations food is always present, it is a way to make people feel included and be part of something. It is not like a slice of cake with caffeine is part of their regular diet. Then it would be a problem, even if the cake didn't have caffeine 😅 but once every year it is not harmful. Of course this is your personal call as a parent. If they can't have something, I would make sure to offer a similar alternative they can eat and enjoy. Bring their own cake. It is more than food, it is about sharing the moment and making them feel included.

I’m making the cake myself for my husband’s birthday tomorrow. Was just curious to see how many parents would be happy or not giving their kiddos coffee in a cake. So don’t worry, no one will be excluded! I’m keen for the boys to avoid coffee and alcohol in food. Probably until they’re at least at school possibly longer. Will see when we get there. There’s nothing right or wrong with either choice. Simply curious as to people’s opinions!