Baby Shower Cake Ideas

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Freya became interested in party planning and decorating after she had her daughter in 2007. As a mom, she loves planning parties for her own children and her nieces and nephews. Along with her love for DIY, her parties and the decor are always a hit! She loves to bring that knowledge to you and make sure that your next party is decorated perfectly.

My Bottom Line Up Front

A baby shower cake should be a show-stopper or at least lovely and meaningful enough considering that it will set the tone for all the other elements of your baby shower. The cake should reflect the theme of the party, including the colors and the inspiration, the parent’s style, and perhaps even the baby’s gender, and then tie all of these together.

Your Baby Shower Cake Checklist

There are a few things you need to consider before you pick a baby shower cake design and call in your order.

1. Theme and Style

Deciding on a theme is always the first thing you need to do when planning a party. Having a theme in mind will help you narrow down your baby shower cake choices so you don’t get overwhelmed with the smorgasbord of ideas available to you.

A theme can be based on a color palette, a beloved character, or something that the parents-to-be share a love of, such as books or the outdoors.

2. Budget

How much are you planning to spend on a cake? Cake prices vary, depending on how elaborate the design is going to be, the ingredients and the materials it’s going to use, and the cake shop making it. For instance, you can expect that a cake using fondant is going to be more expensive than one using buttercream. And while buttercream is more delicious, fondant or gumpaste would make more sense if you have a complicated design. The more elaborate the cake is, the more fondant sculpting skills will be needed.

3. Size and Flavor

Most baby shower cakes are sponge cakes, as they are light, firm, and better for stacking one layer on top of another. Sponge also accommodates more decorating, whether in fondant, buttercream, or even chocolate. However, you can pick the flavor for your sponge cake and the cream in between layers. It could be chocolate, vanilla, lemon, or whatever your baker has available. You can also specify the type or the flavor you want for your frosting. Your baker will know what flavors go well together, like chocolate ganache frosting for a chocolate cake, and swiss meringue for a fruit-based cake.

Think about how big you want your baby shower cake to be. It would depend on whether you’re having a small and intimate gathering or a full-blown party. However, if you have invited many people, you don’t necessarily have to get a cake big enough to feed everyone. You can always get matching cupcakes for this purpose.

Baby Shower Cake Ideas: What Are My Criteria?

Aside from making sure that the ideas I am sharing with you only include cakes that are suitable for a baby shower, I also made sure they are lovely to look at and are not difficult for any competent baker to execute. In other words, there are no ridiculous and out-of-this-world cakes concepts here.

I have also sorted out the cakes into different categories, such as baby gender. Some baby shower cake ideas are also organized according to certain theme suggestions.

Gender-Based Cakes

Let’s admit it, getting a baby shower cake that is based on the baby’s gender makes everything easy. Tradition says that you go for light blue if it’s a boy, or light pink if it’s a girl.

Here’s an example of a cake with “baby boy” written all over it. The pastel blue and the fondant teddy bears are baby-inspired, so even without the words “Baby Shower” in front, you’d know it is most likely for a baby shower. (Cake by Fatma)

This cake is a classic baby girl cake, with its white and pink color palette with touches of gold. Of course, the teddy bear and the alphabet blocks are very common symbols for a baby. The peonies, the buntings, and the pink, white, and gold balls give the cake a more feminine look. (Cake by Cupcake Mama)

If you want to veer away from the usual fondant and teddy bear cake, here’s a white and blue buttercream one. This baby boy cake showcases a modern cake decorating trend called buttercream painting, which uses a palette knife to replicate oil-on-canvas art. (Cake by Nuii Cakes)

Adding macarons to your cake is another modern decorating trend. This cake uses buttercream frosting, topped with dripping white chocolate, sprinkles in different tones of pink, pink macarons, pinkish-white roses, and a “Baby Girl” topper. (Cake by Cake & More by Helga)

Using balloons as a cake topper is a pretty neat idea. This baby girl buttercream cake is simple and fuss-free, which is perfect if you are baking the cake yourself but don’t have expert cake decorating skills yet. (Cake by Baked With GRA)

Gender-Neutral Cakes

Baby shower cakes don’t need to be pink or blue. You have a wide selection of gender-neutral colors if you want a stylish cake that doesn’t give your baby’s gender away, especially if you want it to be a surprise.

This cake, with white textured buttercream frosting and gold beads, is actually a flexible cake because it works for any occasion. In fact, the only thing indicating that it is a baby shower cake is the rustic cake topper. It is decorated with dried eucalyptus leaves, bunny tails, and reed pampas grass. (Cake by Amy’s Delights)

You can use several colors to achieve an overall gender-neutral look. One example is this cake, which features buttercream splotches in coral, navy blue, and beige, plus gold flakes. Finish it off with a gold cake topper and you’re all set. (Cake by Simply Divine Occasions)

Another gender-neutral color combination is green and yellow. This cake with green buttercream frosting has green and yellow cake balloons, with fondant teddy bears. The cake topper says “Twins,” which tells you it’s a baby shower cake. (Cake by Little Funky Bakes)

Gender-Reveal Baby Shower Cakes

Some parents-to-be hold separate gender-reveal parties and baby showers. But there are also those who want to do a combination of both at the same time. These combination parties are more convenient, practical, and cost-efficient for everyone, so they’re great for those who don’t want to impose on or oblige their friends and family to attend and give gifts twice.

A combination of pink and blue automatically tells you that it’s a gender-reveal cake. This cake has gold accents and baby symbols, too, like alphabet blocks, milk bottles, and booties. (This cake is by Lucy Lou’s Cakes)

This gender reveal baby shower cake features yet another cake decorating trend known as the fault line, and it is typically done in buttercream. A fault line cake has a visible under-layer that peeks through the mid-section in a different color, pattern, or texture. In this case, the white underlayer peeks through a blue and pink outer layer. (Cake by Make My Dessert)

Your gender-reveal baby shower cake doesn’t have to be pink and blue. It can be green, yellow, and gold, like this cake. (Cake by Cakes N Candies)

Rainbow Cakes

Babies conceived after a miscarriage are called rainbow babies. And what’s more perfect than a rainbow cake to celebrate a rainbow baby? Here are a few lovely rainbow baby shower cakes:

This pastel-colored cake features meringue rainbow, clouds, and balls, plus dried flower accents. (Cake by Fancy Little Bakes)

Here is a small and simple buttercream cake with rainbow pipings, ideal for an intimate baby shower. (Cake by Creamy Creation by Insiya)

Sometimes all you need is just a burst of many different colors to make a rainbow cake. You don’t exactly have to draw or create a rainbow. This one, for example, has a multi-colored buttercream frosting, topped with a smorgasbord of fruits and edible flowers. (Cake by Ani Cooks Vegan)

Cakes Inspired by Well-Known Characters

Your baby shower cake can also be based on beloved cartoon or children’s book characters to make it more fun, interesting, and relatable.

This beautiful Winnie the Pooh cake features an abundance of elements. There are life-like flowers on top, a printed quote surrounded by sugar flowers and bees, a Winnie the Pooh topper, and matching blue and yellow cupcakes. (Cake by Platinum House of Sweets)

The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends is a classic book and will make a wonderful theme for any baby shower. Since Peter Rabbit and other characters are hard to replicate in fondant or to draw in icing, I think it’s always a better idea to hand-paint or just print them, and then put them on the cake. This cake, for example, has a hand-painted Peter Rabbit, with fondant carrots and cabbages, and buttercream flowers and leaves. If this were my cake, though, I’d probably add Jemima Paddleduck and Squirrel Nutkin somewhere in there. Also, I think it’s very apt that this one is a carrot cake. (Cake by Darla’s Cakery)

The Little Prince is another well-loved book and character, and it would make a lovely theme for a baby shower, especially to announce the impending arrival of a little prince. This cake is unique in that it uses black for the buttercream frosting, which almost always never happens in baby shower cakes. The black background actually makes for a beautiful starry sky, and it makes every element pop out. The little prince and the fox are made of fondant. (Cake by Bakery Studio)

For a Harry Potter fan who’s having a baby, nothing would beat a Harry Potter-themed baby shower. So, naturally, the cake follows suit. You have a wide array of HP characters and symbols to choose from, like house crests, house colors, and Harry’s wand and eyeglasses, to add as decorative elements to your cake. (Cake by Mitten Raised Bakery)

Animals on Cakes

Cute little animals are a recurring decorative element in baby shower cakes. Most of the time, these animals are made of fondant or gumpaste. Here are a few examples:

Elephants are a baby shower cake favorite. Perhaps it’s because they are cute and are generally gentle? (Cake by Joliens Zoete Goed)

This cake features honeybees and honeycombs. And how witty and apt is the “Mommy-to-Bee” sign? (Cake by The Sweet Escape)

How about using dinosaurs for a “Hatching Soon” cake? (Cake by Daddy Cakes Bakery)

Penguins are one of the cutest, cuddliest animals on the planet. And they have an amazing sense of family. So, I’m actually glad I found this cake with a family of penguins on it. (Cake by Baker Maz)

Raccoon cake. I honestly would never have thought of raccoons since they’re not something I’d want to squish and hug in real life. But this cake is working it. (Cake by Petits Amours)

Flamingoes are very posh and trendy these days. Just like unicorns. So here’s a tropical flamingo cake for your baby shower. (Cake by La Dolcerie)

Safari cake. Because why settle for just one animal when you can bring together a whole bunch of them, right? (Cake by Ms. Bakes)

Now pandas are just the cutest, softest, cuddliest creatures on earth. I think pandas are also among the easiest animals to make in fondant. So a panda-themed baby shower cake is always a smart choice. And I think that using wafer sticks, like what this cake did, as a substitute for bamboo is a brilliant move. (Cake by B Sweet Bakeshop)

Baby-in-Bloom Cakes

Usually, baby showers are more of a celebration of the mom-to-be. This is why a lot of intimate baby showers are held between just the mommy and her girlfriends, sans the dad. In such cases, themes become unnecessary. Without a theme, you can simply go for a baby shower cake that’s feminine and pretty, which is all a girl squad needs. And you can achieve this by just adding fresh, dried, or fake flowers.

Here’s a small naked cake overflowing with flowers of various kinds and colors. (Cake by Blossom Bar Cakery)

You can go for a small and elegant all-white buttercream cake with white and green floral accents. (Cake by Charlotte’s Cupcakery)

This beautiful petal cake showcases palette-knife artistry, with real flowers tossed in. The rose, peach, chocolate, latte and rust color motif makes this cake look delicious. (Cake by Miss Maples)

Frequently Asked Questions

Question: When is the right time to serve the cake at a baby shower?

Answer: Baby shower cakes don’t just serve as the centerpiece for your table or as a mere dessert item. They also serve as a signal that your party is winding down. In other words, baby shower cakes, or cakes for any occasion for that matter, set the timeline for the party. You can, therefore, serve it to your guests after all the games and entertainment, as a way of letting them know that you’re wrapping up.

Question: What should a baby shower cake say other than “Baby Boy” or “Baby Girl?”

Answer: It really depends on you as the parent-to-be or the one hosting the shower. Your creativity is the limit. If you are going for a book- or character-inspired theme, such as Winnie the Pooh, you may want to look for a relevant quote. You can also write a short poem, a pun, or a witty phrase, if it’s something that fits with your cake. Of course, you need to consider how you will add the words and how much of it can be accommodated on the cake. Will you custom-order an acrylic cake topper? Will you get it printed on paper? Will you have it hand-painted? Or will you write it in pipe icing?

Question: Who customarily pays for the baby shower cake?

Answer: The host is usually the one who pays for the baby shower, and that may include the cake. But it doesn’t really have to be just one person. Other friends or family members can pledge or promise to take care of the cake, as well as of certain other party needs like the food, the restaurant, the games and prizes, the party favors, and the decorations.

Conclusion

Cakes are a staple in any baby shower, regardless of how small the party is. Other than the person being celebrated or honored, the cake is the true star of the show. As such, it is important to pick a baby shower cake that is not just aesthetically pleasing and good-tasting, but also one that is meaningful or relevant to the mom- and dad-to-be. After all, when they look at the photos several years down the road and when they look back at this exciting time of their life, the cake is going to be one of the first things they will see and remember. And it should make them smile.

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