After the ultrasound, the happy couple invites family and friends — usually including the baby’s grandparents — to a party where they unveil the baby’s gender.
It can look a good bit like a baby shower, minus the presents. There are usually cutesy pink-and-blue decorations, and sometimes the partygoers play games to try to guess the gender before the big moment of revelation.
The centerpiece of the party is often a “gender reveal cake,” which can come in a variety of designs, from neutral colors to a mix of both pink and blue. The baker typically writes a cute saying on the outside, such as “He or she? Open to see!” or “He or she? What will it be?” Or there’s always the minimalist approach – a giant question mark.
The important part is the inside of the cake. When the cake is cut, the cake itself — or sometimes the filling between the cake layers — is tinted pink or blue, and that’s how the guests find out if it’s a boy or girl.
Sometimes the couple has already found out the baby’s gender at the ultrasound appointment, but they’re making everyone else wait until the party. Occasionally, one parent knows at the ultrasound appointment, and the other waits for party day.
But the bakers we consulted said that about half the time, even the baby’s parents don’t know ahead of the cake cutting. They’ll show up at the bakery with a sealed envelope from the ultrasound technician, or they’ll have the doctor’s office call the bakery directly.
That’s one order the bakery had better not mess up.
Both moms we spoke with said they found out about gender reveal parties on Pinterest, but one knew the gender of her baby ahead of time and one didn’t.
Elizabeth Perkins of Middletown waited until the party to find out what she was having, but “my husband was too impatient — he had the ultrasound tech tell him,” she said.
They did have the party on the same day as the ultrasound, so she didn’t have to wait too long.
“I don’t think I could have waited much longer,” she said.
Her cake, made by Tina’s Sweet Treats, a gluten-free bakery in Franklin, featured a pink football helmet and a blue helmet because the Perkinses are football fans. In fact, both Tina’s Sweet Treats and The Cakery in Dayton have made gender reveal cakes with pink and blue helmets; party guests are asked to pick a team to root for before the cake is cut.
Perkins’ cake turned out to be blue; her son Abel was born in January.
By contrast, Steve and Sheri Powers of Belmont both found out the baby’s gender at the ultrasound appointment.
“We really wanted that moment together to find out,” she said.
But they made the remaining family and friends wait extra days. The ultrasound was on a Wednesday, and the party wasn’t held until the following Sunday.
They invited about 15 friends and family members for a basement shindig with pink and blue punch and a banner with boy and girl baby decorations. Each guest was asked to guess boy or girl and then choose a corresponding button to wear.
The baby’s maternal grandparents, Bob and Sue Trennepohl of Fairfield, cut the cake while the paternal grandparents, who live in New York, watched on Skype.
The cake, made by Ele Cake Company in Beavercreek, was pink inside; the couple’s daughter Karissa was born earlier this month.
“I thought it was a fun way to get people together to celebrate her arrival,” Mrs. Powers said, noting she “needed a pick-me-up” and something else to focus on because she endured a lot of morning sickness throughout the pregnancy.
Whether the parents know ahead of time or not, the bakers we spoke with said it’s fun to make gender reveal cakes. But Brittney Tyler, owner of Brittney’s Cakes in Troy, said there’s something special about being the only person to know besides the doctor, if only for a few hours.
“I like knowing secrets,” she confessed, adding she sometimes asks the parents whether they want a boy or girl.
She said she made five or 10 gender reveal cakes in the first half of 2013.
Benjamin Stuckey, front counter assistant at The Cakery, said gender reveal parties have exploded in popularity in the last several months. In fact, the bakery made three gender reveal cakes in a single week this summer.
Kristy Reis, owner of Sweet by Kristy in Tipp City, has also made gender reveal cupcakes. The difference between a gender reveal cake and gender reveal cupcakes is that the cupcakes need to be injected with pink or blue filling because the cake itself is visible on the outside.
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