The Best Cake for your Cake Smash Session: All About That Cake

All about that cake, ’bout that cake, and frosting!

The Best Cake for your Cake Smash Session, look no further! In this blog post, we’ll discuss all of the different factors that go into choosing a cake for your little ONE’s photo session. We’ll talk about size, frosting, and how to prepare the cake so that it looks perfect in photos. By the end of this post, you’ll know exactly what type of cake to choose for your child’s cake smash photo session.

When it comes to cake smash photo sessions, the cake is sort of a key part of the photos, so it’s important we get it right! Cake smash sessions are a fun way to document your child’s milestone, and let’s be real, we parents are also celebrating that we survived this first year ourselves (we all know this isn’t always an easy task)! This is your child’s chance to really have some fun and get messy, so you’ll want to choose a cake that will make them happy and that they’ll actually want to dig into. There are many different factors to consider when choosing a cake for your child’s session.

-Size

-Flavor

-Frosting

-Design

-Preparation

The Best Cake for your Cake Smash Session: Size

Let’s start with size, because well, sometimes size matters!

Ok, but seriously… You’ll want to choose a cake that is large enough for your child to really get their hands into, but small enough that it doesn’t block the view of them while it’s sitting in front of them. We don’t need a huge three-tier wedding cake for a cake smash session. A great option for this is a six-inch round cake. Double or tipple layered works great! Some parents also elect to go with a large cupcake as well. There are so many options and it is really up to you.

The Best Cake for your Cake Smash Session: Flavor

A little bit of flavor’s what it’s all about!

Vanilla sponge cakes are a great option! They are soft and crumbly, and easy for little hands to break up. Chocolate cakes don’t look the prettiest when they are crumbled and smeared all over. Try to keep it simple. Chances are your little one hasn’t had an overload of sugary things at this point in their life, so try to take that into consideration when you choose your cake flavor. It’s also very important that your child has previously had all of the ingredients that are inside the cake. Egg, dairy, sugar, flour, you know, all that good stuff. We want to make sure that your babe doesn’t have any allergies to any of these. We definitely don’t want to be finding out for the first time that your child has an allergic reaction to something during their photo session.

The Best Cake for your Cake Smash Session: Frosting

Now let’s get to the sweet stuff and talk about the frosting.

When it comes to cake smash sessions, you’ll want to choose a frosting that is easy to smear and will make a mess! I know, I know, as parents we spend a large portion of our time cleaning up messes and trying to teach our children how NOT to make them. But seriously, the messier the better when it comes to these photo sessions. Buttercream or whipped cream frosting works the best. They are soft and smear easily. You will typically want to stay away from fondant, as it doesn’t smear which causes babies to lose interest, it’s hard, and can be a choking hazard for your child. It’s also important to think about the color of the frosting. I strongly discourage chocolate frosting, as when you have brown mush smeared everywhere it can tend to look like pooo. Black, dark blues, and reds are also colors you should consider avoiding. These colors have very strong pigments of food coloring in them, which can leave your child’s skin stained with the coloring. If you’re not sure what type of frosting to choose, just ask your cake designer for help, and be sure to let them know it’s for a photo session! They’ll know just what you’ll need!

The Best Cake for your Cake Smash Session: Design

Design can be everything.

Most cake smash sessions have a theme. In that case, the design and decoration of the cake can really add a special touch to this! I’ve seen some pretty extravagant cakes and they are beautiful! Make sure you select a baker who specializes in artistic cake designs if this is the look that you are going for. Some people opt for a more simplistic look for their photo sessions. Solid colors or a naked cake are a super common choice for these more simple sessions, and they also work great with a variety of themes. If you’re uncertain what look you want or what would look best for your session reach out to your photographer and see what they suggest.

The Best Cake for your Cake Smash Session: Preparation

Finally, let’s talk about how to prepare the cake so it looks perfect in photos.

It’s not uncommon for children to have some texture issues. Some kids will dive right in, and others won’t want to get their hands dirty. There are a few ways to prepare the cake that will increase the chances that your little babe will dig in. Most of the time the cakes are made a day or so in advance, and in order to preserve them, they are kept in the refrigerator. Pulling the cake out of the refrigerator a few hours prior to the session and allowing it to get to room temperature is one of the most important preparation tips. Having the cake be room temperature will soften the frosting and make it easier for the kids to get their hands into and smear around. Also, kids don’t like to touch and play with cold things, so this will help with that as well. Not all kids are thrilled with getting their hands dirty, so be sure to have a large spoon or something on hand to give them so they can use that to help make their mess.

All that’s left now is to let them dig in!

I hope this post has helped you choose the perfect cake for your child’s next cake smash session! If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to us and we’ll be happy to help. Happy smashing!

Megan is a photographer based in the Greater Sacramento Area, serving Northern California for all your photography needs. She specializes in family, graduates, engagements, weddings, maternity, and newborn photography.  Contact Megan today!

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