So you’re looking for cake ideas for celebrating an adoption? Congratulations! Here are a few cute ideas with adoption themes. Find something here that inspires you.
9 Adoption Cakes You Can Make
An adoption cake is a fun way to celebrate the new addition to your family.
Kristy O'Neal
May 31, 2018
1. The Missing Piece
This adorable puzzle piece cake from Bird On A Cake (via Thirty Handmade Days) was originally created to celebrate Autism Awareness month, but you could easily create a similar cake to celebrate finding the missing piece of your family. The puzzle pieces are made using candy melts, food coloring, and a puzzle candy mold. The matching colored cake layers is a nice touch and very simple to do with gel food colors.
Photo credit: Bird On A Cake
2. Family Tree
This family tree cake from CarolinaCakeArtistry.com (via Pinterest) would be a great way to celebrate not just the child who has been adopted, but the formation of a new family. Or, if you have a good relationship with your child’s birth parents, this would also be a great way to celebrate that. You could add names of family members on the leaves or between the branches.
Photo credit: CarolinaCakeArtistry.com
3. Family Tree: Part 2
This family tree cake from Paper and Pastiche is made of cupcakes and uses paper for the heart on the trunk of the tree and the names on the leaves. This is a great idea if you’re not comfortable with more complicated cake decorating techniques, or if you prefer making cupcakes to a traditional sheet cake. Family member names can be added in the leaves of the tree, and the possibilities for the trunk of the tree are endless - your child’s new last name, the adoption date, or even a phrase about adoption.
Photo credit: Paper and Pastiche
4. It’s "O-Fish-Al"
Most every adoption is a long, involved legal process. This fish cupcake cake from My Cake School would be a fun way to celebrate the child that is now “o-fish-ally” apart of your family! Made of a 6-inch layer cake and cupcakes, the decoration for this cake can be as simple or as fancy as you want to make it. You can find a detailed tutorial and ideas for embellishment here.
Photo credit: My Cake School
5. Love Makes a Family
This heart cake from Craftsy looks very easy to make. All you need is a round and square cake of the same size. Add any number of adoption-related phrases to celebrate the bond within your new family such as the following:
- Love makes a family
- A family is formed by love
- Adoption is love
- Love changes everything
Photo credit: Craftsy
6. Look Who's Adopted
This owl cake from My Inner Need To Create is a fun way to celebrate your child’s adoption. If you want to keep the focus on your child’s new last name, you could always add a phrase like, “Look who’s now a Smith!” And if you’re feeling really ambitious, this standing owl cake (see also part 2) from Cake Journal would almost be too cute to eat!
Photo credit: My Inner Need To Create
7. This Child Is a Gift
Sometimes, the celebration may be less about adoption, and more about the child you’re celebrating. This present cake from Charlotte’s Lively Kitchen is a great reminder that every child, no matter how they come into your family, is a gift.
Photo credit: Charlotte’s Lively Kitchen
9. Superman Was Adopted
For a child who loves superheroes, celebrate the shared connection between adoptees with this colorful Superman cake from Sugar Rush Cakes. If Superman isn’t your thing, try a cake theme based on any one of these superheroes who were adopted. You could even include several characters in one cake, like this superhero cake from Skye’s Delights.
Photo credit: Sugar Rush Cakes
10. Luke and Leia Were Adopted, Too!
A Star Wars themed cake, like this one from Welcome To The Mouse House, is another fun way to tie your adoption celebration to adoptees in popular culture. You can find many elaborate designs if you prefer that approach. This is simple cake that also works well with a crumb topping to resemble the terrain with Lego Star Wars characters on top.
Photo credit: Welcome To The Mouse House
Kristy O'Neal
Kristy is mom to two sweet, funny, wonderful kids and works full time in information technology. During her spare time, she likes to browse Pinterest and thrift stores, create things, and hang out with her kids. As a foster parent, Kristy cares about advocating for the needs of kids in foster care and supporting foster families. You can read her thoughts on these and many other topics at her blog.
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