Baby's 1st Birthday Cake... Celebrate!

The 1st birthday cake in your child's life may not be something they will recall later on but it will be a memory you cherish forever.

At this age, children are filled with such wonder and delight at even the smallest of things and a birthday party in their honor is almost enough to cause an overload of delight.

Buying (or making) a cake for this birthday has some unique aspects not found at the other ages. Below, we will cover what things to keep in mind when selecting the first birthday cake in your child's life.

Double Trouble

First and foremost, you're going to want more than one cake. One large cake will be what serves the adult (and older children) guests.

Since this the 1st birthday cake, chances are the child is going to want to "play" with their cake by either sinking in their fingers or diving in face first, it's better for hygiene and display for that destroyed cake not to be the serving one.

A small cake, often called a smash cake because of what fate it usually meets, is available from most bakers.

This cake is the perfect size for the birthday child to destroy and/or eat from. The two cakes are coordinated to one another by color scheme and can have similar shapes. Keep in mind that the smash cake is going to end up everywhere when selecting what icings and toppings go on top of it.

Ahoy, Allergies!

By the time the child's 1st birthday cake is needed, you most likely already have an idea about whether they have allergies. If you are selecting ingredients for the cake that the child has never tasted before, it may be a wise idea to do a test run with small portions of those ingredients to see how the child's system reacts.

Nothing could be worse than having a child smash a chocolate and peanut butter cake into their face only to find out the hard way that they have a nut allergy.

If there are going to be other small children dining at the party, ask their parents for any allergies they may have. You might not be able to cater to all allergies, but you could at least let the parents know that the cake contains something their child is allergic to.

If there are already allergies you know your child has, make sure to inform your baker and they can tailor the recipe to suit your needs.

Delightful Décor

The theme of the first birthday cake can be tailored to an interest of the child or a general scheme that is associated with children of that age.

If there is a certain cartoon or movie that the child loves, ask your baker what they could do with that theme.

If you are planning on making this 1st birthday cake at home, search the Internet for cake pans associated with a certain cartoon character. Spongebob Squarepants, Dora the Explorer and Scooby Doo are just a few of the beloved characters available in cake pan form.

The pan creates a stencil on which you can paint the icing. Some general themes that dominate the genre of first birthday cakes include teddy bears, bunnies and child's toys (such as blocks).