Ideas for Making Your Own Baby Shower Cake

A cake for baby

One aspect of a perfect baby shower is finding the perfect cake. Of course, you can visit a local bakery, but sometimes it helps to already have a cake idea in mind. Or, if you love baking, why not try to create your own baby shower cake?

Creative Cake Ideas

A few favorite baby shower cakes are:

  • Umbrella Cake - Try a light blue or light pink cake with white trim and add an umbrella handle coming out of the bottom. Make the umbrella shape by cutting a round cake in half and stacking the two halves on top of each other. Frost them as one cake in the color of your choice (or cover in fondant for a polished look), and make the lines of an umbrella in white for a nice color contrast. Make the handle of the umbrella out of fondant. A few additional baby items around the cake can enhance the look, such as baby booties or a bassinet or stroller.
  • Bassinet Cake - This cake is adorable in blue, pink, yellow, or green pastels. It's shaped to look just like a bassinet, so the cake is actually 3-D in shape, and requires quite a bit of frosting to hold it together. Use two 9 X 13 cakes for the base, and then create a headboard on one side by cutting a round cake in half and 'gluing' these two halves on one end of the 9 X 13 cakes with frosting. Place a baby doll in the bed and frosting a blanket over her, or simply frost it and then place a baby on top. Tie bows on the four corners to accent the bed.
  • Baby Buggy Cake - To make a stroller from cake, make a large round cake (14 inches is best), and once it has cooled, cut out one quarter of the cake; the area below this cut is the stroller, and area beside where you made the cut is the sun shade. From the quarter you cut out, cut two small circles to place below the stroller, and a small handle to place next to the cut-out part (attached at the bottom of the cut-out area). Frost the entire cake, including the wheels and handle, and use contrast colors to accent the shape. For example, make the stroller light pink and use white frosting to line the stroller and the sun shade, as well as make spokes in the wheels. You can also write a fun message in the stroller part if you desire.
  • Baby Blocks Cake - Cut rectangular cakes into squares (two layers high) and frost on five sides. Write one letter on each block to spell 'Welcome Baby' or put small baby items on each block, such as booties or a bottle.
  • Diaper Cake - Making something that looks like a cake, but is made out of rolled up diapers is a great way to make a beautiful centerpiece that is also a useful gift for the mother-to-be to take home.

Cake Molds for Baby Showers

If you are looking for an easier way to get the right shape, try some of these popular cake molds, which can easily be made into baby shower cakes:

  • Teddy Bear
  • Bunny Rabbit
  • Duck
  • Flower
  • Heart
  • Balloon
  • Butterfly
  • Winnie the Pooh
  • Noah's Ark
  • Rocking Horse
  • Elephant

Baby Shower Cupcakes

Another simple cake idea is cupcakes, frost them with white, pink, blue, or yellow frosting, and then use baby embellishments. Popular choices are baby booties, pacifiers, baby blocks, bibs, and babies themselves.

Simple Cake Recipe

This recipe is easy to make and only requires basic ingredients; use your creativity to decorate it.

Simple Shower Cake

Ingredients

  • 1 box of Betty Crocker® SuperMoist® white cake mix
  • Water, vegetable oil and egg whites in amounts specified on the Betty Crocker box
  • Food coloring
  • 1 1/2 containers Betty Crocker® Rich & Creamy vanilla frosting

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F (325°F for nonstick pans or very dark ones). Grease or spray (bottoms only) three 8-inch or 9-inch round cake pans.
  2. Mix cake mix with water, vegetable oil and egg whites. The batter yield is 4 1/2 cups; separate into three equal portions to go into the pans for baking; color all three, or mix and match.
  3. For each 1 1/2 cups of batter, use five to ten drops of food coloring; pastel baby colors are achieved with just a few drops.
  4. Bake each pan for 17 to 22 minutes (19 to 26 minutes for dark and nonstick pans), using the toothpick test to see if they're baked. Cool the cakes for about ten minutes in the pans before moving them to cooling racks.
  5. Cool cakes completely before trying to frost.
  6. Frost side and top of one cake, place a second layer on, and do the same until all three layers are frosted. A variation of this frosting pattern is to place jam in between the three layers and use frosting on the top.
  7. For a variation on colored cake with white frosting, try keeping the cake white and coloring the frosting instead. If you love color, use the food dye on both the cake itself as well as the frosting.
  8. Use gel to write a message on the cake, or use basic decorations from the supermarket to liven up the cake. Try pastel hearts, polka dots, or colored sprinkles for a fun look. Alternatively, purchase real baby items to put on top of the cake, such as a pair of booties and a pacifier. You can also purchase toppers through baking stores or online from ShopBakersNook or BabyKakes.

Great Ideas for Baby Shower Cakes

From traditional cakes to diaper cakes and cupcakes, baby showers are full of creative displays.

Fondant

For a virtually limitless array of possibilities, learn to work with fondant. Because you can shape it into anything at all, and color it nearly any color, it is a versatile tool for cake decorating. Check out these fondant cake ideas before getting started with your next cake.