Aussie mums are getting the ultimate nostalgia hit from the Australian Women’s Weekly Children’s Birthday Cake Book but this time, it won’t require an oven.
The Royal Australian Mint has released a limited edition coin collection celebrating the most iconic creations from the Australian Women’s Weekly Children’s Birthday Cake Book. The treasured staple has been in family homes across Australia for the past 45 years.
Whether your childhood favourite cake was the jelly-filled swimming pool, the unforgettable choo-choo train or the elegant Dolly Varden, this collection brings the cakes that made birthday dreams come true into a stunning coin series designed to delight multiple generations of cake lovers.
A delicious tribute to an iconic book
The Australian Women’s Weekly Children’s Birthday Cake Book first appeared in 1980 and has been responsible for generations of unforgettable birthday memories. Known affectionately as “the cake book”, this iconic volume has been passed down like a family heirloom, with food-stained pages, handwritten notes and dog-eared corners that tell the stories of birthdays past.
The original book was packed with colour, creativity and sugar-dusted imagination, offering up recipes for everything from a lolly-laden candy castle to a cheerful rubber ducky cake (forever immortalised by Bluey).
To mark this milestone, the Royal Australian Mint has released a collection of 12 coins, each capturing one of the most beloved cakes in beautiful, coloured detail. It’s a delicious tribute to an era when cake meant more than dessert. It was magic, love and mum staying up until midnight gluing jelly snakes onto a chocolate sponge.
The release by the Royal Australian Mint is more than a novelty; it’s a cultural moment. I have wondrous memories as a child of Mum asking me to choose which cake I wanted from the cake book. Nowadays, kids are looking on the internet, and we’re losing or shifting some beloved traditions. This launch reminds us of the joy of simple things: cakes, celebrations and a mum’s love baked into every slice. For generations, these cakes were not just sweet treats but acts of devotion and symbols of care.
It’s no surprise that this set is trending fast among Aussie mums —it’s the intersection of unforgettable birthday memories, timeless design and national pride.
Coins that capture childhood joy
Each coin in the collection features a different cake design from the Women’s Weekly Children’s Birthday Cake Book, including:
- The popular swimming pool cake, complete with jelly and a plastic ladder
- The cheerful Humpty Dumpty perched on his chocolate brick wall
- The majestic train cake reimagined as the special choo-choo train coin
- The elegant duck cake, with its buttercream feathers and marshmallow beak
The coins are available individually or as part of a 10 individual coins pack, with an additional two coins exclusive to the full coin collection, totalling 12 coins. Designed to stir up fond memories for mums and grandmothers alike, the set also appeals to the kids who are now adults and remember the fabulous cakes mum baked for their birthdays.
Whether you remember flipping through the recipe book as a child or you’re now the one wielding the icing bag, this collection offers a heartwarming connection between past and present.
A special hardcover edition
In addition to the coin collection, a special, limited-edition hardcover children’s birthday cake book is being released, featuring many of the original recipes alongside beautiful photography of the coins themselves. It’s a celebration of both culinary creativity and collectible craftsmanship, and the perfect gift for any mum, baker or lover of Australian nostalgia.
This new book edition brings back the same joyful designs found in the original cake masterpieces, from the Australian Women’s Weekly cakes that started it all to the colourful, candy-crusted creations that defined a generation.
Where to get your Australian Women’s Weekly cake coins
The coin collection and accompanying book are available through the Royal Australian Mint’s official website and select retailers. With only a limited number available, collectors and cake lovers alike are encouraged to act fast before this piece of Australian Women’s Weekly history is gone.
Because some memories are too sweet to forget.
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Royal Australian Mint releases Australian Women’s Weekly cake coins
