How to Make a Baby Shower Cake for Boys

Stop Googling 'baby shower cake ideas for boys' and rather choose to gift someone a baby shower cake that you have made yourself. This post is dedicated to walking you through How to Make a Baby Shower Cake for Boys at home, with simple tools and ingredients.

Gifting cakes is my favourite way to show some love to the people who are closest to me. Now if you haven't ever made a celebration cake for someone before, you will need to follow the tips outlined below very, very carefully. This recipe is for a blue cake that is actually a carrot cake with cream cheese icing on the inside and can be decorated to suit any baby shower theme whether it is for a little girl or a little boy.

Equipment Needed to Make a Baby Shower Cake

·     3x 15cm cake pans

·     Cake straws

·     Cake smoother

·     Piping bags

·     Baby shower cake topper or decorations of your choice

·     Cake turntable

Round Cake Pans

I always choose to use 15cm diameter cake pans when designing baby shower cakes. This is because I like taller, slimmer-looking cakes. However, you can bake this recipe in x2 22cm cake tins. This will just mean the cake will be a different shape and height. If using different cake pans, adjust the bake time accordingly.

Plastic Cake Straws

When baking cakes that are taller than two layers, use a cake straw to help stabilise the cake. I use plastic cake straws that can be inserted into the centre of the cake for support.

Cake Smoother

You will need a cake smoother to achieve the finish of this cake. Cake smoothers can be metal, Perspex or even plastic. I found that trying out a few shapes and brands helped me find the one I liked using the most.

Cake Toppers

The basic design of this cake is very simple, and it is the cake toppers and decorations that add character. For this cake, I used the same design as the invitation for this baby shower which included a crescent moon and a little star. Buying these decorations, or getting them custom-made from Perspex makes achieving this baby shower cake much easier than worrying about fondant decorations for fondant cakes.

Of course, you can make fondant decorations for this cake, but how to do this would need a blog post of its own. Other decorating cake toppers you can use may include the name of the new baby, a teddy bear, a hot air balloon, or even toppers for a themed celebration like a jungle-themed baby shower or gender-neutral theme. Pinterest is a great way to search for popular trends for a baby shower party as it is filled with baby shower ideas for cakes, cake pops, and other sweet treats to fill a dessert table.

Turntable

If you'd like to take cake decorating seriously, invest in a cake turntable. It makes frosting cake so much easier. If you don't have a cake turntable you can frost this cake on a normal cake stand but will need to do a section at a time and keep lifting and turning the cake stand. This piece of equipment really takes your cake decoration skills to the next level.

Ingredients Needed for a Baby Shower Cake

Homemade baby shower cakes are easy enough to make, and the ingredients you'll need are simple. As always just make sure the ingredients are at room temperature. This cake recipe is a carrot cake with a cream cheese frosting.

Ingredients for Carrot Cake

·     Brown sugar

·     Extra-large eggs

·     Sunflower oil

·     Vanilla extract

·     Self-raising flour

·     Salt

·     Ground cinnamon

·     Ground ginger

·     Ground cloves

·     Grated carrots

·     Walnuts, chopped 

·     Cranberries, raisins, and sultanas are optional

Brown sugar - Choose to use muscovado brown sugar or tightly packed light brown sugar for this recipe. Depending on what I have in my cupboards! Both sugars work really well and the flavour that the brown sugar gives to the cake better is far better than regular white sugar.

Sunflower oil - Sunflower oil is a type of vegetable oil and is great to use in bakes as a substitute for butter. It ensures a light and moist cake. All vegetable oils have different properties and therefore tastes so be sure to pick sunflower oil when making this cake batter.

Self-raising flour - I like using self-raising flour because it helps save time! But if you don't have access to self-raising flour, use a combination of cake flour and baking powder.

Walnuts - I prefer using walnuts in this recipe but if you can't find walnuts, pecans work really well too.

Cranberries, raisins, sultanas - More often than not, I choose not to add dried fruits to this cake batter. Mostly because I have a love-hate relationship with them! If you are wanting to add dried fruits to the batter, add about a cup at the same stage as adding the nuts.

Ingredients for Cream Cheese Frosting

·     Unsalted Butter

·     Icing sugar

·     Cream cheese

·     Vanilla extract

·     Food colouring, white and sky blue

Unsalted butter - When making frostings, it is best to use unsalted butter. Salted butter can be too salty and there is very little you can do to balance this out.

Cream cheese - There are lots of different brands of cream cheese, I usually use Philadelphia cream cheese when making frostings. It has great taste and consistency.

Vanilla Extract - Make sure you are using a quality vanilla extract for this recipe, since there are very few ingredients in this frosting recipe it is best to ensure each one is top quality.

Food colouring - Choose to colour this cake with hues that suit the color scheme. A neutral colour for a gender-neutral cake, soft blues for a baby boy or gentle pinks for baby girl cakes.

How to Bake a Baby Shower Cake

Step 1

Start by preparing the cake tins with oil and baking paper, lining the bottom and the sides of the cake tin. Preheat the oven to 180C.

Step 2

Add the eggs, oil and sugar to a bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat on medium speed until well combined.

Step 3

Sift together all the dry ingredients and add this to the sugar and egg mixture. Mix on low speed until well combined.

Step 4

Fold through the grated carrots and the chopped walnuts using a spatula or a wooden spoon. Add any dried fruits at this stay if you are using them. Pour the batter into the prepared cake tins, dividing the batter equally between the three tins. Bake the cakes in a preheated oven for 35 - 40 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.

Step 5

Once baked, remove the cakes from the oven and allow the cakes to cool in their tins for about an hour. Remove the cakes from the tins and cool completely on a wire rack. When cooled, wrap each cake individually in plastic wrap and place the cakes in the fridge overnight. Be sure not to stack the cakes on top of each other in the fridge. Cooling the cakes overnight in the fridge is the most important thing to do to ensure a straight and perfect baby shower cake.

How to Make the Frosting for a Celebration Cake

Step 1

Place the room temperature butter in a bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Beat on high speed until the butter is light and fluffy, this can take up to 10 minutes. Be sure to scrape down the sides of the side as you do to ensure the butter is whipping evenly.

Step 2

Add the icing sugar and beat again on medium to low speed until the two ingredients are incorporated. Once incorporated mix again at high speed for about 3 minutes.

Step 3

Switch the whisk attachment to a paddle attachment and add the cubed cream cheese to the frosting mixture. Beat on low speed until combined. Once combined, scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix again. Mix again at high speed for about 10 minutes. Add the frosting to a piping bag.

How to Assemble a Baby Shower Cake

Step 1

Place one cake layer on a cake plate and set it onto a cake turntable. Secure the cake layer with a bit of cream cheese frosting. Pipe a layer of frosting over the surface of the cake, and smooth out the frosting using a knife.

Step 2

Place the second cake layer on top of the first and then the third. Insert the measured cake straw into the centre of the cake and frost the top and the sides of the cake with a thin layer of frosting. This is called the crumb coating. Put the cake in the fridge for about an hour before continuing.

Step 3

Colour the remaining frosting with white and blue food colouring to achieve the desired hue. Place the frosting into a piping bag and pipe the sides and top of the cake, smooth out the frosting with a cake scraper. Once the cake is smooth and the top edges sharp, place the cake in the fridge until you are ready to decorate.

If you are looking for recipes to help you finish off this cake try these mini meringues or this recipe for a chocolate drip.

Step 4

Remove the cake from the fridge and clean up any frosting that might be left around the cake. Top the cake with your chosen decoration like mini meringues, macaroons, fresh flowers like white roses and lastly insert the cake toppers into the top of the cake. Try placing your chosen decorations at different heights for the best visual effect. Serve and enjoy!

How to Make Celebration Cakes at Home

This is a special recipe and blog post dedicated to helping you sharpen your cake decorating skills. Getting the basics right is the most important part of successful celebration cakes. So keep practising! Adjust how this creative cake is colored and decorated to make it suit any special occasion. Use this blog post as the first lesson of cake school to get you to create unique baby shower cakes for any food table.

If you feel the decorating of this cake is a little too daunting, try naked-style cakes instead! This recipe for a Chocolate Naked Cake is super simple, as is this Naked Carrot Cake.

More Easy Celebration Cake Recipes

I hope you give this themed cake a try instead of choosing to buy a celebration cake because it is so much fun to decorate! And if you do please tag me in your creations on social media or comment below with your feedback! Looking for other special celebration cakes? Try this One Bowl Banana Cake or this Chocolate Birthday Cake.

Happy Baking

With Love,

Kitty

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