Baby shower food ideas: cakes, finger food and drinks

The mum-to-be and all the guests have been invited, the baby shower decorations have been bought, and some great games have been planned. All you need now is a delicious baby shower cake, some finger food and drinks. Try our baby shower food and drink ideas, which are delicious and look fantastic.

Ingredients and everything you will need for a flower baby shower cake

• Sponge cake with vanilla or chocolate flavour. You can find lots of recipes online for sponge cakes, which are also suitable for beginners. However, if you want to be on the safe side, you can also buy plain cake bases from supermarkets.

• Dessert sauces: you can choose a fruity flavour, chocolate or vanilla sauce. If you want to design your own baby shower cake as a drip cake, you will need a chocolate and cream ganache.

• Berries: fresh or frozen (depending on the season)

• Cream: you will need a thick cream for the individual layers and for spreading over the cake. Below, we will show you a recipe idea for a delicious cream cheese icing.

• Cake decorations: enjoy getting creative and use a wide range of cake decorations, such as sugar hearts to chocolate pearls and coconut flakes. Edible flowers are also a great choice if you would your cake to stand out. When using edible flowers, always double check that they are safe to eat.

• Bowls, whisk, cake spatula

• Cake platter for serving

Recipe for cream cheese icing

You can easily prepare your cream cheese icing for your baby shower cake in no time at all:

In a large bowl, mix together the cream cheese:

• 400 g double cream cheese

• 80 g sugar

• 1 small pack of vanilla sugar

• 2 tablespoons of lemon juice

In a second bowl, beat 250 g of whipping cream until firm.

Then carefully add the cream into the cream cheese mixture using a cake spatula.

You can use food colouring to colour the cream so that it matches the colours of the baby shower decorations.

Decorating your baby shower cake

Wash the fresh berries or defrost the frozen berries and drain them in a colander. Prepare the cream cheese and then put a third of the cream in the fridge. You will need this to cover the cake later. Now it’s time to get creative, first place a layer of sponge cake on your cake platter. Then alternate between layers of cream cheese icing, berries, sauces and sponge cake. Make sure that you put a cake layer at the top to make it easier for you to decorate the cake.

Put the cake in the fridge for 1 hour so that the layers set. Next, cover the cake with the remaining cream cheese icing from the fridge. Don't worry if the cream is not even.

If you have opted for a cake with edible flowers, you can now carefully arrange them. Arrange individual petals, whole buds or even dried flowers on the cake and add some floral decorative elements to your cake platter or buffet table.

Below, we have listed some edible flowers:

• Daisies

• Elderberry

• Camomile

• Cornflower

• Lavender

• Dandelion

• Marigolds

• Roses

• Pansies

• Violets

On your cupcakes, you can spread cream cheese icing on them. For a baby shower, you can choose any recipe that the mum-to-be likes. You can add a twist to the following vanilla cupcake recipe by adding cinnamon, lavender or lemon.

Ingredients:

• 200 g flour

• 160 g sugar

• 200 g soft butter

• 4 eggs

• 2 tsp baking powder

• The pulp of a vanilla pod or 1 pinch of ground vanilla

• A pinch of salt

• 12 muffin tins

• 1 muffin tray

• A hand mixer

Piping bag with piping nozzles

Step-by-step instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 180 °C.

2. In a large bowl, gradually add all the ingredients and mix them together with a whisk or hand mixer until creamy.

3. You can simply place solid muffin cases on a baking tray. Soft paper cases are best placed in a muffin tin.

4. Divide the cupcake mixture between the moulds and bake for approx. 20 minutes.

5. You can use a small wooden toothpick to check if the cake mixture in the middle is done. Once they are ready, take them out of the oven and leave them to cool.

If you don't have a piping bag, simply fill the cream into a freezer bag and cut off one of the bottom corners. The cream cheese icing recipe for a baby shower cake is also perfect for your cupcakes. You can use a piping bag or an icing syringe to ice your cupcakes.

Tip: If you hollow out the cupcake slightly with a small spoon, you can add a fruit or icing filling.

To finish off you can add some small baby shower cake decorations, fresh flowers or paint a baby design on the cupcake icing. You can also make little signs out of paper and toothpicks and decorate the cupcakes with a small message or witty sayings for a baby shower. Put the cupcakes in the fridge until the baby shower so that the icing stays firm.

Your cake needs to be in the middle of the table and then you can place drinks on one side and the finger food on the other side. Make sure that the taller trays are at the back and the small bowls are at the front. You can decorate baby food and jam jars and fill them with cutlery and napkins.

Popular sweet finger food for a baby shower:

• Baby shower cake

• Cupcakes and muffins

• Mini marshmallows

• Popcorn (salted or sweet)

• Chocolate lentils

• Chocolates

• Fruit skewers

• Biscuits

• Small pastries or macaroons

Baby shower mocktails

Making a toast to the mum-to-be and wishing her all the best is also an important part of a baby shower. It is a good idea to have a wide selection of non-alcoholic drinks. However, at most baby showers, there aren’t any alcoholic drinks.

We have listed some examples of great non-alcoholic drinks ideal for a baby shower:

• Smoothies: these blended drinks made from puréed fruit are best served cold. Freshly prepared smoothies contain lots of vitamins and often contain less sugar than store bought soft drinks.

• Infused water: this is still (tap) water that has been flavoured with slices of fruit, vegetables or fresh herbs. In addition to pieces of lemon and lime, strawberries, peaches, diced watermelon, cucumber, mint, basil and rosemary are popular ingredients for infused water.

• Iced tea: you can use black tea, peach or lemon and add a little bit of sugar and you will have your own iced tea in no time at all. You can also prepare a sugar-free and/or caffeine-free version for the mum-to-be by using herbal or fruit tea.

• Mocktails: you can still make tasty cocktails without alcohol. Simply follow classic cocktail recipes and leave out the alcohol and replace it with fruit juice.

• Non-alcoholic champagne: if you would like to have a sparkling wine for making a toast, you can opt for a non-alcoholic option. However, most non-alcoholic sparkling wines still contain a small amount of residual alcohol, which is why they are not explicitly recommended for pregnant women.

• 1 baby bottle per guest

• Decorative straws

• Raspberries or blueberries

• Pink lemonade

• Elderflower syrup

• Edible flower petals (check baby shower cake list mentioned above)

• Wooden skewers

Prepare your own ice cubes the night before and leave them to set overnight. Fill an ice cube mould with water and then add a flower to each cube. Chill the syrup and lemonade as well. Just before the party, fill each baby bottle with 2 ice cubes, 1 teaspoon of elderflower syrup, a few berries and some lemonade. Put 3 berries on a wooden skewer and then place them in the bottle together with a straw. Voilà, your mocktails are now ready to be served.

Tip: Instead of mocktails, you can also offer some coffee based drinks and flavoured teas to match the baby shower cake. For the mum-to-be, you should get a caffeine-free alternative.

For your baby shower you will need (non-alcoholic) sparkling wine, prosecco or champagne. You can also provide sparkling water, various fruit juices or lemonades for any guests who are pregnant or breastfeeding or simply for those who don’t generally drink alcohol.

Put the bottles in the fridge the night before. If you want to display the bottles on your buffet table, make sure they stay nice and cold. It's best to use a large beverage tub or a baby bathtub to match the baby shower. Fill it with ice cubes and place the bottles in it.

Write a shopping list in advance. Fresh fruit and herbs are best prepared in the morning and kept cool until the party starts. Frozen fruit adds some extra freshness to the drink, but is difficult to keep cold. Put the chopped pieces of fruit and herbs into small bowls and don’t forget to get some small spoons.

Herbs that you could add to your sparkling wine for a great taste:

• Mint

• Basil

• Sage

• Lavender

The best thing about the making your own drinks is everyone can make something to suit their taste. The more fruits and herbs you offer, the more exotic the drinks will become. Be creative and cast a vote for the best drink at the end!

Conclusion: delicious food and mocktails for your baby shower

Make shopping lists and save fantastic recipes when planning a baby shower. There is a lot to plan and organise for a baby shower and it is easy to forget things, therefore, it is a good idea to plan in advance and use lists to help you keep track of everything. With a nice combination of delicious recipes and colour-coordinated decorations, your baby shower will be a great success!

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The image sources in this text are in chronological order:

Cover photo: iStock.com/Irina_Geo
1. Image in text: C&A
2. Image in text: iStock.com/aimintang
3. Image in text: iStock.com/RuthBlack
4. Image in text: iStock.com/RuthBlack
5. Image in text: C&A
6. Image in text: C&A