Your baby is turning ONE.
First of all…how?!
Somehow the tiny baby you brought home approximately five minutes ago is now crawling, walking, babbling, developing a BIG personality, and preparing to celebrate an entire year of life.
And if you're planning first birthday photos, there's a good chance you've considered one of my favorite ways to celebrate this milestone:
A cake smash!
Cake smash sessions are fun, messy, unpredictable, and absolutely adorable. But if you've never planned one before, you may also have a surprising number of questions.
What size cake should you buy? Does the frosting matter? What photographs well? Should your baby try cake beforehand? And does a one-year-old really need a fancy custom cake just to destroy it five minutes later?
To answer some of those questions, I teamed up with local baker Ashley, owner of Dapple Bakery, to bring you both a photographer's and a professional baker's perspective on planning the perfect cake smash.
And spoiler alert:
The goal isn't perfection. It's letting your baby have fun while we capture this incredibly sweet stage of life.
Meet Ashley of Dapple Bakery
Ashley isn't new to the baking world!
She graduated from The Art Institute of Houston with a degree in Baking and Pastry in 2011 and has now been baking professionally for 15 years.
Dapple Bakery specializes in custom sugar cookies and cakes for birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, and other special events. Ashley also teaches sugar-cookie decorating classes in the Kingwood area. But her career actually started with something much simpler: A Betty Crocker cookbook she picked up in a grocery-store checkout line. She started baking recipes and bringing her creations to work for her friends to enjoy. Eventually, she realized that something she loved doing could become a career.
She decided to attend culinary school because having an education behind her skills was important to her—and 15 years later, she says turning baking into her career was one of the best decisions she's made.
There's also something Ashley said that I absolutely love:
"When my customers think back on their special events, my cakes and cookies are part of their story."
As a photographer, I couldn't agree more.
That's exactly why I love milestone photography.
Years from now, you probably won't remember every detail of your baby's first birthday.
But you'll have the photographs.
You'll remember the cake.
You'll remember their little outfit.
You'll remember those chunky fingers covered in icing.
You'll remember whether they delicately poked the frosting with one finger or immediately shoved their entire face into the cake.
These little details become part of your family's story.
So…What Exactly Is a Smash Cake?
If this is your first baby, you may be wondering whether there's actually a difference between a regular birthday cake and a smash cake.
Ashley describes it perfectly:
"It's a small cake made just for the birthday boy or girl to dig into on their first birthday. No sharing, all fun and mess."
That's really the whole idea.
The cake belongs to baby.
There are no rules about how they're supposed to eat it.
Some babies dive straight in.
Some carefully investigate.
Some stick one finger into the icing.
Some smash it.
Some eat it.
Some crawl away.
Some look at everyone in the room like we've collectively lost our minds.
And all of those reactions make fantastic photographs.
What Size Cake Is Best for Cake Smash Photos?
Smash cakes typically come in either 4-inch or 6-inch sizes.
According to Ashley, a 4-inch cake can work wonderfully for a first birthday party because it's a great amount of cake for one little person.
For professional cake smash photos, however, she recommends going slightly bigger.
A 6-inch cake tends to work particularly well for photography.
From the photographer's side, I agree.
That little bit of extra size gives the cake more visual presence in the setup and gives baby plenty of room to grab, smash, poke, and explore.
And that's exactly what we want.
Buttercream Is Your Friend
When we're talking about cake smash photography, the prettiest cake isn't necessarily the cake that's going to give us the best smash.
We want something baby can actually get into.
Ashley recommends buttercream or whipped cream frosting.
Why?
Because there's very little resistance.
The second those little fingers touch the cake…
Boom. Frosting-covered baby.
And that's when the fun starts.
Soft frosting lets babies immediately start exploring instead of having to figure out how to break through a hard outer layer.
Think Twice About Fondant
Fondant can create some absolutely beautiful cakes.
But for a cake smash?
Ashley recommends skipping it.
Fondant creates another layer your baby has to get through before reaching the softer buttercream and cake underneath.
And there's another consideration parents may not think about:
The first bite matters.
Many babies don't politely grab a fork and take a bite.
They're one.
They may lean forward and put their entire mouth directly onto the cake.
If that first experience isn't particularly tasty or easy to eat, they may decide they're completely finished with this strange activity the adults have arranged for them.
For cake smash photos, Ashley's philosophy is essentially:
The less resistance between baby and cake, the better.
As the person photographing the resulting chaos, I fully support this philosophy.
Keep the Cake Design Simple
This is another place where a professional baker's advice can save parents some money.
Remember what we're planning to do with this cake.
Your child is going to destroy it.
Beautifully.
Photogenically.
Enthusiastically, hopefully.
But destroy it nonetheless.
Ashley recommends considering the aftermath when deciding how elaborate your cake needs to be.
A highly detailed cake with numerous design elements may cost significantly more—and five minutes into the session, those details may be completely smooshed between two tiny hands.
That doesn't mean the cake can't be beautiful!
Instead, think about creating a cake that complements the photography setup.
Colors, frosting texture, simple piping, and thoughtful details can make a huge impact without creating an elaborate cake that you're almost afraid to let your baby touch.
Because we definitely want them to touch it.
Choose Your Cake Color Carefully
Here's something parents don't always consider:
Whatever color is on that cake is probably going to end up on your child.
Hands.
Face.
Arms.
Hair.
Possibly feet.
Maybe somehow behind their ear.
Nobody knows how it gets there.
So when you're choosing flavors and frosting colors, think about what you'd like to see in the final photographs.
Ashley gave the perfect example:
Red velvet cake = potentially red cake all over baby's face and hands.
That doesn't mean you can't choose it.
If you love it, go for it!
Just know what the end result may look like.
The same consideration applies to deeply saturated frosting colors.
Remember: we're not only photographing the cake.
We're photographing what happens after baby discovers the cake.
What Cake Flavor Should You Choose?
According to Ashley, three of the most requested cake smash flavors are:
Vanilla, Funfetti, and Chocolate.
There isn't necessarily one "correct" cake smash flavor.
Think about what your baby might enjoy—and again, think about what you want the final images to look like.
A light-colored vanilla cake will obviously create a different finished look than chocolate cake smeared from forehead to toes.
Personally?
I think a little mess is part of the charm.
Be Careful With Cake Decorations
This is an important one.
That gorgeous Pinterest cake may have been designed for adults to admire—not for a one-year-old to grab with both hands and immediately put into their mouth.
Ashley recommends avoiding decorative elements that aren't safe for consumption, including things such as:
Real florals
Plastic decorative pieces
Large sprinkles
Other non-edible embellishments
Remember that babies explore with their mouths.
During a cake smash, they're supposed to touch, grab, taste, and investigate the cake.
The cake needs to be designed with that in mind.
This is one of the benefits of working with a professional baker and explaining that the cake is specifically being made for a first birthday cake smash photography session.
Match the Cake to the Set—Not the Other Way Around
One of my favorite parts of planning cake smash sessions is creating something personalized for each child.
Your baby's session doesn't have to look exactly like everyone else's.
Maybe you're envisioning something simple and timeless.
Maybe there's a first birthday theme you're already using.
Maybe there's a particular color palette you love.
Maybe there's something connected to your family or your baby's personality that you want incorporated.
That's where communication between your photographer and baker can make such a difference.
Once we have a vision for your personalized cake smash setup, your cake can be designed to complement the scene rather than compete with it.
The cake is part of the story.
Baby is still the star.
But What If My Baby Doesn't Smash the Cake?
Parents, hear me on this one:
Your baby does not have to perform.
Cake smashes are unpredictable.
That's part of why I love them.
Your baby might absolutely demolish the cake.
They might carefully eat frosting with one finger.
They might stare suspiciously at it.
They might decide they'd rather crawl away.
They might make the funniest face you've ever seen after their first taste.
That's okay.
The purpose of a cake smash session isn't to get one specific Pinterest photograph.
It's to document your baby at this exact stage.
Their curiosity.
Their expressions.
Their personality.
Their little hands.
Their smiles.
Their serious faces.
And yes—the mess.
I'm there to work with whatever personality your little one brings me that day.
You don't have to make them smile.
You don't have to force them to touch the cake.
And you definitely don't have to apologize if they aren't reacting the way you expected.
Trust the process.
Sometimes the completely unexpected reactions become the photographs parents love the most.
Why Professional Cake + Professional Photography Work So Well Together
There's something really special about bringing local small businesses together to create an experience for a family.
Ashley isn't simply making "a little cake for pictures."
She's bringing 15 years of baking experience and professional training into something created specifically for your child's milestone.
And when you book a cake smash with Brooke Madl Photography, I'm not simply putting your baby in front of a generic backdrop and handing them a cake.
We're creating a session around your child and your vision.
We'll talk about the colors, theme, styling, and overall look you want.
I'll create a personalized setup.
We'll capture beautiful milestone portraits.
And then…
We let baby get messy.
Because your baby's first birthday deserves to be remembered as more than a cell phone picture of them sitting in a high chair.
They're Only This Little Once
That's the bittersweet thing about first birthdays.
They're exciting.
They're fun.
They're worth celebrating.
But they're also the end of baby's very first year.
The newborn scrunch is gone.
The tiny baby clothes have been packed away.
Their personality is exploding.
They're learning new things seemingly every day.
And before you know it, this stage will be gone too.
A cake smash gives us an excuse to pause for a minute and celebrate exactly who your baby is right now.
The cake will disappear.
The decorations will come down.
The frosting will eventually come out of their hair.
But the photographs?
Those stay.
Planning a Cake Smash?
Brooke Madl Photography offers personalized one-hour milestone and cake smash photography sessions designed around your child and your vision.
We'll work together to create a setup that feels special to your family, and I'll guide you through preparing for the session so you can simply show up and enjoy watching your little one experience it.
For a professionally made cake to complete your session, Ashley at Dapple Bakery creates custom cakes and sugar cookies for birthdays and special events and brings 15 years of professional baking experience to every celebration.
Because when baby's first birthday only happens once, it's worth making it sweet.
Ready to start planning your baby's cake smash?