Choosing a cake for a baby shower or bridal shower

A shower is a gentler occasion than a birthday, and the cake usually is too: soft colours, a simple theme, and a size that matches a room of close friends and family.

Pick the colours first

Most shower cakes start with a colour, not a design. Pastel blue, blush pink, sage, lilac or plain cream all work. If the room has a colour scheme, send us a photo of it and we will match the cake to it.

Keep the theme simple

• baby shower: a few piped flowers, tiny booties, a name or "oh baby"
• bridal shower: fresh-looking flowers, a monogram, or a clean white finish
• either: a short message, piped neatly, reads better than a busy design

Size it to the guest list

A 1 lb cake feeds four to five people, and a 7 lb cake about thirty. Showers usually have other sweets on the table, so you rarely need to go larger than the guest count.

Add something small

Cupcakes in the same colours as the cake make it easy to hand guests something to take home.

Order ahead

Give us a week for a themed or tiered shower cake, and two to three days for a simple one. Send a reference picture if you have one; most of what we bake starts that way.