Come one, come all, come on! This week we are featuring one of the world’s most popular birthday party ideas for all ages: circus-themed birthday cakes.
You’ll have fun checking out decorations, favors and activities from moms and vendors who have successfully used party supplies and imagination to create the most delightful celebrations.
A circus birthday party just wouldn’t be the same without a cake so that’s our focus today.
1. Circus-Themed Birthday
From Moondance Photography via Spaceships and Laser Beams
Isn’t this birthday cake so sweet for a little boy’s birthday party? It looks like a miniature carousel with its striped straw poles and little circus animals. I love how simple the base of the cake is. With simple white frosting and piped outline, you could recreate this cake yourself! Also take note of the adorable clown cupcakes made with sugar ice cream cones and printed cupcake wrappers.
2. Big Top Circus Cake
From Astonishing Cakes via A to Zebra Celebrations
This blogger built their whole Big Top Circus Party around this darling cake, and we can certainly see why! A plain white cake wrapped with fondant is topped with an adorable circus tent featuring a tiny balancing elephant. The amount of detail in this cake is just perfect and I love all of the bright colors the designer used!
3. Circus Cake
From I’m Topsy Turvy
Ashlee from I’m Topsy Turvy is full of innovative ideas and this circus cake creation is no exception. Made for a circus themed baby shower, this cake is filled with gorgeous details and a super unique design that guests will fall in love with. An adorable fondant elephant, lion, monkey, and zebra hold up a carved big top tent.
4. Big Circus
From Invento Festa via Hostess With the Mostess
Bold colors, festive patterns, and perfectly on theme details make this big circus birthday cake one of our all time favorites. Cobalt blue, black and white checked, flaming red, and golden layers are stacked high and then topped with a ring master’s top hat complete with a feather. This cake is sure to be the center of attention on any circus themed dessert table.
5. Circus Carnival Party
From Sweet Candy Couture via Kara’s Party Ideas
This beautiful two layer birthday cake looks so festive and is easy enough to recreate at home! The extra tall bottom layer is coated in multicolored confetti sprinkles and a badge with the birthday boy’s name. A tiny top layer boasts a bunting banner with a bold number one sitting on top made from fondant covered rice krispy treats.
6. Circus Party
From Where the Green Grass Grows
Simple yet colorful, this festive circus cake is the perfect cake design to take on yourself for a circus themed party. Bake up your little one’s favorite flavored cake, ice with plain vanilla icing, then decorate with simple fondant circus animals. Roll out red, green, blue, and yellow fondant then use cookie cutters to create tiny circus animals and the letters of the birthday boy’s name.
7. Dessert Feature
From Eye Candy Cville via Amy Atlas
Everyone knows that you must have a ticket to enter the circus and this super fun cake has enough for everyone! The beautiful and elegant three tiered cake is covered in admit one tickets customised with the children’s names and then printed on edible paper in soft pinks, oranges, and reds. It is perfectly displayed with an array of other treats including candy apples, funnel cake cupcakes, and monogrammed ferris wheel cookies.
8. First Birthday
From Rebecca Sutterby via Flickr
An adorable elephant and friendly clown make the perfect partners on this brightly colored circus themed cake. Each tier is decorated with vibrant colors and bold patterns, along with those adorable fondant molded characters! I also love the little first birthday cake off to the side that is just perfect for those classic first birthday cake pictures.
9. Circus Party
From One Charming Party via Pottery Barn Kids
Making your own cake for your little guy’s special day? Add a cake topper that will amaze your guests! We are loving the downloadable template from One Charming Party that includes a few of our favorite circus acts. Just print out these graphics of a tightrope walker, trickster seal, and balancing elephant to spice up a plain white frosted cake. Add some fondant balls and a piped banner for added adorable detail.
10. Circus Party
From De La Rosa Cupcakes via Party Inspirations
I love this simple yet elegant three tiered circus cake from De La Rosa Cupcakes. The top tier of three has gorgeous golden curtains pulled back, as if inviting you to enter the circus. An adorable fondant monkey and lion welcome you from the sidelines. This cake would be perfect for a birthday party or baby shower with a modern circus theme.
11. Circus Work
From Studio Cake Design via Indulgy
This indulgent big top circus birthday cake is filled with wonderful details that you will be dreaming about for years to come. Three topsy turvy tiers are decorated with detailed carousel animals, a big top tent, and a little train carrying all of the circus treats you can think of. Think about cotton candy, circus peanuts, and fresh popped popcorn.
12. 1st Circus Birthday
From Tabletop Treats via Hostess With the Mostess
Come one, come all to the fabulous backyard big top circus! The centerpiece of this fun backyard bash was a beautiful big top smash cake set atop a glass cake stand and surrounded by peanuts. The cake is decorated to look just like a circus tent with bold red and white stripes, fondant circus animal cutouts, and a little flag topping it off!
13. Brayden’s 1st
A simple birthday cake with a twist! Bright aqua elephants and cherry red accents really pop against the white background of this beautiful fondant cake. The design is simple but completely adorable, with red and blue scallops along the bottom of the cake and little elephants walking along the sides. I also love the red and white starred ribbon wrapped around the white cake plate.
14. 1st Circus
From KLM Events via Catch My Party
Clowns, stripes, and polka dots are guaranteed to inspire a great big grin from the birthday boy with this sweet first circus cake. The bright colors in this cake make for such a fun celebration and the name badge on the front is the perfect way to personalize a cake. The adorable clown sitting on the ledge of that second tier only adds to the adorableness!
15. Circus Feature
From Jayme Marie Designs via Amy Atlas
A harlequin design full of beautiful color and pattern is a novel take on a circus cake. I love it! This modern take on a circus themed cake is such a fun centerpiece for a birthday party dessert table, especially topped with the birthday boy or girl’s first initial. This harlequin cake was perfectly presented with glass jars filled with various candies and some sweet cupcakes topped with mustaches.
16. Circus Birthday Party Ideas
From Spaceships and Laser Beams
I had to include these darling clown cupcakes on this list because they use our own printable clown cupcake wrappers. Homemade cupcakes were topped with ice cream sugar cones decorated with some little candies to look just like clown hats. Plus, I know you will be inspired by how easy these clown cupcakes are to put together.
17. Circus Birthday Cake
From Tutulicious via A to Zebra Celebrations
Gain inspiration from this big top cake and its smaller, coordinated smash version from an adorable circus themed first birthday party. The big cake is decorated to look just like a circus tent with red and white stripes and pulled back curtains. The smaller companion cake is decorated in the same colors, perfect for pictures of the birthday boy or girl smashing in to!
18. 1st Carnival
From Dreamer’s Joy
This party’s color scheme consisted of red, white, yellow, and teal with beautiful circus themed elements throughout. The whimsical cake was the centre of attention, with three beautifully decorated tiers that perfectly tied into the vintage carnival theme. Harlequin print, cute red banners, and a circus tent were tied together with adorable fondant characters.
19. Circus Birthday Cake
From Isa via Flickr
Now this is a cake that makes a statement. A cherry red fondant background is decorated with bold yellow and white harlequin diamonds, stripes, stars, and the birthday boy’s name in beautiful lettering. A friendly clown sits at the very top of the cake, pulling the whole theme together. This cake is ready for a party!
20. Conner’s 2nd Birthday
From J.Lynne Photography
Filled with bold patterns and bright colors, this second birthday celebration is a beautiful take on the circus theme. With a fun polka dot background, the two-tiered cake definitely stands out. Decorated in light teal, stark white, and cherry red, the cake boasts the birthday boy’s name in harlequin diamonds and a top tier that looks just like a circus tent.
21. Vintage Circus 1st Birthday
From IDEA! event + style via Spaceships and Laser Beams
A tame lion sets on top of yellow and green for a fresh circus color theme.
22. Circus-Themed 1st Birthday
From Piece of Cake via Cake Central
Any circus loving birthday boy would fall head over heels for this super fun birthday cake. It’s decked out with bright colors, beautiful patterns, and plenty of circus themed motifs. The top layer is a big container of popcorn, with fondant popcorn pieces overflowing onto the cake! You will also find a bunch of birthday balloons, the birthday boy’s age, and an elephant balancing right on top.
23. Christian’s Birthday
From Roxanne M. via Catch My Party
Whirligigs and lollipops take the starring roles on this happy looking cake. It’s filled with super fun decorations that will transport you to a day at the circus. I love how many small little details the designer included that really make this cake pop. The top tier looks just like a big circus tent and the admit one tickets along the bottom are so cute.
24. Carnival Birthday
From Adriana Garcia via Design Dazzle
There are so many young and fun colors in this first birthday circus themed cake. Sunny yellow is the predominant color with polka dots and carnival characters topping it off. The amount of detail in the cake topper is seriously impressive! I love all of the amazing bold patterns and brightly colored letters spelling out the birthday boy’s name.
25. Carnival Themed Birthday Cake
From Kawea via Cake Central
Made for a special niece’s fifth birthday, this impressive cake boasts so many wildly fundetails. All decorated in teal blue, cherry red, bright yellow, and crisp white, each layer offers a new pattern even more fun than the last. Stars, polka dots, stripes, and harlequin diamonds are all topped with a fondant circus tent and birthday age.
26. Circus Spectacular
From Partylicious via Catch My Party
A red and white tent is simple, but makes the perfect cake for a circus themed bash. Bold red and white stripes take me right back to going to the circus when I was a little kid and all of the excitement that came with it. Add some candy details, yellow fondant streamers, and a bright blue flag and you have yourself an adorable birthday cake.
27. Circus Birthday
From Cara Lee Cupcakes and Cake
A whimsical little elephant sits at the tent opening of this big top cake, just waiting for the party begin! You can recreate this cake yourself with some fondant and rice krispy treats. The rice krispy treats help keep the circus tent nice and sturdy and the cake underneath is perfectly decorated with red, blue, and yellow harlequin diamonds.
28. Vintage Circus
From 5 to 9 Blog via A to Zebra Celebrations
Sometimes simple is best! This beautiful white cake is dressed simply with confetti sprinkles and a mini pennant banner strung up between two striped straws. This would even be a great way to make a store bought cake a little more special and fit your circus themed birthday party. Add to the fun with some bright red polka dot wrapping paper wrapped around the base of a cake stand.
29. Dumbo Circus Birthday Cake
Bunting banners, a big top and the cutest little elephant – this cake has it all! This cake was originally designed for a christening, but it would make a wonderful cake for birthdays and other circus themed occasions. Dumbo sits front at centre at the entrance to the circus tent, a familiar face that all of your little circus loving guests will appreciate.
30. Carnival Circus
From Cake Sisters via Cake Central
Four tiers means four times the celebration. This carnival circus cake is seriously impressive and features so many fun and whimsical details. Bright yellow stars, bold yellow and red backgrounds, and a big top circus tent right on top are beautifully decorated with fondant clowns and circus animals. Any birthday kid would go crazy for this amazing cake.
Bonus: How to Make Clown Cake-pops
From Bird’s Party Blog
How stinking cute are these clown cake pops for a circus themed birthday or baby shower? They are super easy to make too – you can even get the kids involved! Follow the simple step by step instructions to create these clown pops yourself with normal cake pop ingredients, some little candies, and ice cream cones.
Create your own circus cake masterpiece with these great supplies:
(Amazon Affiliate Links)
- Non-Stick Silicone Baking Mat Set
- Elite 3-Tier Cooling Rack
- Reusable Silicone Baking Cups
- 3-Piece Silicone Spatula Set
- Cake Decorating Set
- Mixing Bowls Standard Weight Stainless Steel
- 6-Speed Classic Stand Mixer
- Heat Resistant Cooking Utensils
- 9 Inch Round Cake Pan Two Piece Set
- Mini Springform Pan
- Covered Cake Pan
Check out more great circus party ideas.
Plus, don’t miss out on these 26 Circus Birthday Parties…
