Great Ideas for Baby Shower Cakes

Naturally, the artistry in baby shower cakes shows off some of those best-loved baby themes and motifs:

Noah's Ark: an adorable excuse for a cake artist to craft the cutest fondant giraffes and lions, ever!

Peas (or Pea) in a Pod: this classic twins theme always works beautifully in the singular, too.

Moon and Stars: this restful, romantic theme brings to mind classic lullabyes like "Rock a Bye Baby," "Lullabye and Goodnight", and "Hush Little Baby."

Baby Blocks: Those pastel A, B and Cs just beg to be made into frosted confections!

Clothesline or Onesies Theme: What could be a sweeter sight for mom than pastel onesies dangling cheerfully from a clothesline? This chipper theme shows up everywhere from cakes to favors.

Asian: Cool and urban, this theme draws on pretty pink-and-brown cherry blossoms, paper lanterns and fetching fortune cookies.

More Popular Motifs: You'll see cakes decked out with 'shower' umbrellas and footprints, rocking horses and bunnies, teddies and Winnie the Pooh, baby duckies and ladybugs, and baby wagons, bottles and booties.

Cupcakes! Okay, it's a pretty big trend even outside of baby showers, but cupcakes are a cunning way to jam even more cuteness into the cake factor. Who can resist individually frosted and decorated baby cakes?

Of course, these need to be displayed vertically, for drama ... a tiered pastry tray or pre-made cupcake tree will do the trick just fine.

Designing Divas. Nothing wrong with the bakery-section-of-the-grocery-store baby shower cake of old, which has its own familiar charm. But plenty of today's baby showers are going all out with the cake artistry, serving up jaw-dropping gumpaste sculptures of babies in pods, booties, maternity shirts, moons and stars and so much more.

The only catch: make sure you have a crack photographer on hand to capture the achievement before you dig in!

Mod and Hipster Mamas. The high-style sensibility that's infused so many weddings is finding its way to baby showers, too. That's why you see chic geometric and retro designs on pop-pretty baby shower cakes, like bright dots and stripes in color schemes like pink and brown, or a bohemian garden feel.

Those in charge are sometimes perplexed by what to put on the cake. After all, it's complex! Does the baby have a name? Do you congratulate the little one, or the parents?

And another thing. While some of the more elaborate stacked cakes might not need words at all, a sheet cake basically screams for them. Blank canvas? Cake? Help!

But no worries: here are some popular picks when it comes time to choose a message. Let's assume that Mom is named Mary Sanchez, Dad is John Sanchez and baby is Brooke.

Congratulating Baby
Here, you might simply write "Brooke." Or "Welcome, Brooke" or "Welcome Baby Brooke." If the baby's sex and name is unknown, you can say "Welcome Baby" or "Welcome Baby Sanchez."

Congratulating Parents
Here, Mom often steals the show, although some forward-thinking friends give both parents equal air time. Popular choices: "Congratulations, Mary", "Mary's Baby Shower" or "Congratulations, Mary & John."

Getting Poetic
Hey, sometimes the blank space on those sheet cakes is really big. And sometimes, this inspires people to wax a little longer ... even throw in a whole poem. Here are some interesting picks:

Boys
A wonderful gift
Filled with joy
Congrations, Mom —
It's a boy!

Thank Heaven for Little Boys

Girls
Sugar & Spice & Everything Nice

Either
Sent from heaven above:
A baby (boy/girl) for you to love

Someone special, someone dear,
Someone new is almost here!

For a bee or Pooh-themed cake
A little honey is on the way

For Brits!
Goodbye Tummy — Hello Mummy!

Twins
Double the diapers,
Double the pins.
Double the booties —
We're having twins!