Baby Shower Cake

When a relative or close friend announces she’s expecting, you’ll want to help her celebrate and prepare for the arrival.  The best way to accomplish both of these goals is to have a baby shower for the mom-to-be. 

Whether you are the hostess for the entire baby shower, or have just volunteered to provide the cake, realize that the cake can be the unifying centerpiece of the whole shower.  It should be special, and unlike any cake to be found in the bakery of the grocery store.  When thinking about the cake, consider the shape, color, and flavor.

The shape of the cake might be a sheet cake, a layer cake, several cupcakes arranged to represent a cake, a 3-D cake, or a cake baked in a specialty pan that suggests a baby item.  Surf the Internet, peruse cookbooks, or consult with a professional to decide how complicated you want the cake to be.  Obviously, a sheet cake is the easiest for an amateur to pull off, with a layer cake a close second.  Once you get into the concept of baking cakes in different shaped vessels and arranging them to form a 3-D structure, (like a bottle or a stroller), the process will be more challenging.

If you choose a simple shape, you can still make it fancy or involved with different decorating ideas.  All sorts of baby accessories could be incorporated into the decorations, like booties, bottles, strollers, or storks.  These can be purchased in the form of little plastic decorations, crafted from sugar by a baker, or simply piped on with a frosting tip.  The color of the cake also gives you lots of options.  Picture a chocolate frosted sheet cake with brightly colored frosting “blocks” scattered on it.  If the mom-to-be already knows the name she’ll give to her new bundle of joy, you could have the blocks spell out the name.  This is simple for even the most novice cake baker to accomplish, and is personalized and cute.

The flavor of the cake is really a matter of personal taste.  Nothing dictates that a baby shower cake must be simple white cake.  It can be carrot cake, red velvet, chocolate, lemon, or whatever the guest of honor favors.  If you choose an arrangement of cupcakes, you can have several different flavors.  Similarly, a layer cake can have two or even three different flavors.

The only rule for a baby shower cake is that it should be created with love and personalized in some way for the pregnant woman and her baby.  Once that’s accomplished, anything is allowed.