Birthday cakes for kids used to be one of the easiest parts of pulling a birthday party together. All the cake had to be was of a favorite character, superhero, or simplistic color or two that the party was themed around, and all was well. But, when kids transition from being younger to becoming tweens, they are in a window where they feel too old for birthday themes that are geared toward kids and too young for those of teenagers. As such, coming up with a birthday cake that fits the bill can be difficult. But with a bit of imagination, it is possible to come up with birthday cake ideas that do not make tweens feel like "babies."
Because tweens feel an immense amount of pressure to "fit in," according to VeryWell Family, they want to make sure that when it comes to events like birthday parties, everything is just so. But because each tweens' maturity level is different, gauging what that might be for parents can be difficult. As a result, it is best to get tweens' input on all things birthday to make sure that they do not feel like they are being treated younger than they feel. And with a birthday cake being the center of most birthday parties, making sure that it gets the tween stamp of approval is part and parcel of making that happen.
Here are tween birthday cake ideas that do not make them feel like "babies."
6 Age Number Cake
When creating a birthday cake that is in the shape of the age of the tween, the cake can easily become something very childish. As such, care needs to be taken when making these cakes.
With younger children, a cake in the shape of their age was generally covered in lots of piped frosting and perhaps fun characters the little ones enjoyed. Obviously, that will not do for tweens. As such, adding things like fresh flowers, candies, cookies, fruit, and the like will elevate it to the next level where it no longer feels like a cake for young children. Instead, it becomes a creation that anyone, from tweens to young adults would be happy to have at their birthday parties.
5 Favorite Color Cake
Just because kids are a year older and have bumped into the tween category does not mean that they no longer have a favorite color. Therefore, creating a cake that displays favorite colors in unique ways makes for a great cake for a tween.
The key to a favorite color cake is to ensure that there is a good mix of decor on the cake that gives it interesting elevations, which changes the cake from that of a little kid one where it simply read, "Happy Birthday" on top, to that of a masterpiece tweens will love.
4 Favorite Flavor Cake
Sometimes, simple is better. Therefore, if tweens are having a hard time coming up with a theme or if they are very minimalistic in their tastes, just having a very delicious cake in their favorite flavor makes for the perfect tween cake.
The standard sheet cake for kids' birthdays comes in white or chocolate cake with a large amount of nearly flavorless frosting on top. Letting tweens pick a flavor to their cake that is more sophisticated not only makes them feel like they have graduated from being a child to almost a teenager but it changes the whole feel of the party from that of young to more grown-up as well.
3 Social Media Cake
Tweens spend a lot of time on their smartphones. Most of which is spent on social media. As such, take one of tweens' favorite pastimes and turn it into a birthday cake.
With so many different social media outlets that tweens frequent, making a cake to represent them all may prove to be difficult. As such, choosing a few of the favorite platforms to do so will help to get the message across as to the theme of the cake without making it feel crowded or messy.
But with just the images of the social media outlets, the cake could feel drab. Therefore, adding some beautiful confections to the mix will make the cake something to post about for all to see.
2 Surprise Cake
It does not matter if a person is five or 50. The surprise birthday cakes are a hit with just about any age group there is.
The surprise cake is fun because as soon as the first slice is cut from the multi-layered cake, it spills out candy and is a fun experience for all to enjoy watching. And because most tweens have a favorite candy, it is easy to have that be what cascades out of the cake.
For those whose favorite candy may not work with this cake, sprinkles make for a good alternative and still allow for a "wow" factor.
1 Favorite Sweet Cake
Because tween cakes do not have to follow the theme of the birthday party, opting to create a cake that incorporates tweens' favorite sweets makes for a deliciously sweet birthday dessert.
From favorite cookies, candies, donuts, chocolates, and more, options abound for creating a cake that is centered around a favorite sweet. And if one cannot be decided on, opt for two. The only thing that stops this type of cake from being amazing is the limiting of imagination that is used to create it.
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