15+ Coolest Graduation Cakes - Awesome Graduation Cake Ideas!

This cool collection of graduation cakes is sure to provide you with inspiration as you set off to create the coolest graduation cake ever. Good luck!

Coolest Preschool Graduation Cake

Graduation cakes submitted by Brie

This is my 4 year old son’s preschool graduation cake. The class was having a party at school and I wanted to make something REALLY special for them. It was a huge hit! Even the teachers loved it, telling me other teachers and staff were coming to take pictures. I was so pleased. It so much fun to make graduation cakes!

I am a stay at home mom and just make cakes for fun. They may not always be perfect, but they are certainly made with love! As for the cake, it was a butter yellow cake with vanilla frosting. The little graduates are made out of mini Nilla wafers. The cake had to be entirely peanut free for school, so this limited a lot of products! I hope this cake will also bring a smile to those who see it! Thanks for viewing it.

My Granddaughter’s Graduation Cake

Graduation cakes submitted by Bernadette K.

I made this graduation cake for my granddaughter when she graduated from high school. She is a very fun loving young lady and she wanted something different than everyone else’s graduation cakes.

I did a lot of searching, trying to find what I thought would fit her personality and then I found a picture of this graduation girl. It reminded me of my granddaughter, so I printed out the picture and then turned it over and traced it . I then put the picture on a piece of cardboard and covered it with wax paper. Next, I took my bag of black icing and outlined the picture. After I did that I filled it in with the different colored icing and used a small paint brush to smooth the icing . Then, I added a layer of white icing on the back to make it thicker so it wouldn’t crack after it hardened in the freezer. This is called the frozen transfer method . I did this the day before I made the cake.

The day my granddaughter graduated she looked at me and said, “I did it!” To some this might not be such a big deal, but to her it was. You see, she had an accident four years ago resulting in a severe head injury. She went from a perfectly healthy girl to one that has had many seizures over the last four years. She’s had so many obstacles to overcome but she did it. So I thought that is what I would put on her cake.

The best part of making this cake was the look on her face when she saw it. She loved it. Even though I know it’s far from perfect just knowing that she loved it made me feel so happy. My granddaughter starts college in a few days and I’m one proud grandma!

Zoology-Themed Graduation Cakes

Cool Zoology-Themed Graduation Cake — Zoology Cake

I was asked in 2012 to bake two graduation cakes for one family. I was told one would be a marine biology theme, the other zoology. When I asked what college, I was informed these were high school graduation cakes. Who knew? I asked the color and was told the graduates didn’t want their school colors, just their themes and to use my best judgment. The marine biology cake was to be somewhat serious; the zoology cake they wanted more comical and fun.

Well, all of the graduation cakes I had made to date revolved around school colors and simply said “Congratulations Graduate” with the year. This was going to be fun, especially since I didn’t know the students personally. I set out to see what I could come up with. Since I was given very little to go on, I hoped the customer liked my designs. The hard part was coming up with something I thought would work. The easy part was making the cakes. I actually ended up having quite a bit of fun doing them, and the customer was absolutely thrilled.

Graduation Cake for a High School Grad

This graduation cake was for a High School Graduate.

It is just a 1/4 Sheet cake decorated in golden yellow with red shell border.

The cap is an upside down cup cake with a thick piece of black card stock on top (if its not thick enough the “glue” icing will bleed through). On top is just a key chain tassel.

The Diploma is just plain white paper rolled & tied with a ribbon.

Green and White Graduation Cake

Graduation cakes submitted by Heather B.

My youngest sister was graduating the same year I started making cakes so I was very excited about this Graduation Cake! Her high school colors and college colors were almost the same! She was going into drama which is why I made theater masks in fondant. She was also studying journalism in fashion. For that I made tiny different shaped magazines and cut out the mini pics of real magazines from the order form cards!

That and the flags on the top are the only things that are not edible. Everything else you can sink your teeth into! The bottom cake is a full sheet cake. The top is a 2 layered 6 inch round covered in fondant. The bows are made out of gum paste and the name is fondant. Will be doing another one this summer, maybe more!

Kindergarten Graduation Cake

Graduation cakes submitted by Jennifer S.

For this homemade kindergarten graduation cake I started with a 9×9 cake pan and a small glass bowl pan. I used a yellow butter cake recipe. I then used fondant tinted to make the graduate, diploma and to cover the cap. The top of the cap is actually a piece of cardboard. The bottom of the cap is the bowl cake covered in fondant glued together with buttercream.

The cake kindergarten graduation cake is frosted with buttercream frosting and I used a shell border to finish it off. I would say the little graduate was the hardest part of the cake.

Book Graduation Cake

This is a homemade book graduation cake that my best friend and I made for our friend that graduated. We slaved for hours…lol :)

The books were made from baking three 13×9 confetti cakes. We took a piece of cardboard and covered it with notebook paper that we had doodled all over and placed the first cooled cake. We iced it according to the colors of her LEAST favorite subjects…lol. Then we used a wide ribbon tip overlapping to make the pages on the sides of the book. We did NOT ice the top for layering purposes – we were afraid the other books would slide off. We then placed the second book on top icing it to the desired colors using regular white icing that we had colored with regular food coloring.

For the final two books we cut the last cake into two books… one the size of a dictionary and the other a smaller text book. We then placed those and iced them as well. The cap was made from a small round cake pan that was purchased at Walmart for around $8. We cut a square piece of cardboard to match the size of the small cake and angled it with icing underneath to support it. We then iced it Kelley green which was surprisingly the color of her actual cap. The tassels were made of blue Twizzlers that were pulled apart cut and knotted.

The diploma was made from two Twinkies with one end trimmed off each. We then took the Twinkies and pushed the cut ends together using the seam as a guide for our ribbon which we used the smallest round piping end we had.

We had a blast making this homemade book graduation cake… but not recommended for long distance riding… the dictionary kind of started to fall due to the loooong ride!!

Good luck with your own graduation cakes!

Graduation Cake With Red Cap

The bottom layer of the graduation cake is a half sheet cake that I iced in white. I made the scrolls out of fondant and gumpaste and painted the ribbon black. I used a pampered chef bowl to make the cap and covered it in fondant and hand painted with food coloring the red so that it would match the school colors better.

The mortar is a piece of corplast covered in fondant and hand painted. I used the real tassel and attached it with the gumpaste on top. The letters were all cut from gumpaste and painted a darker black with food coloring.

Cool Graduation Cake

I was asked to make a cake for my brother in law’s graduation meal. I looked on the web and in books for some ideas for graduation cakes and I decided to make the cake into pile of books and put a mortorboard on the top.

To start I made three rectangle cakes, one chocolate, one lemon and one sponge. I also made an additional chocolate cake to use for the hat(it doesn’t matter what shape as you cut the correct size later). Using pre-made icing, which I coloured blue for the first book, I covered the chocolate rectangle cake. For the edges of the book I cut and rolled small piece of icing.

I used a mix of water and icing sugar to ensure that the icing stuck together. For the edges of the book (paper) I used edible sugar paper. I cut the paper into strips and again used a mix of water and icing sugar to stick to the cake.

Making the Second Book

For the second book I used yellow icing and for the third I used green. I made each book separately and then used jam to make the books stick together. I decided to place the books at different angles to give it a better effect. Then I used a white icing pen to write the subjects onto the books.

For the Mortorboard I used a small saucer as a template. I cut the template again using grease proof paper, placed the template on the extra cake and cut around using a sharp knife. Although usually black, my brother in law loves white chocolate, so I decided to make it more personal to him. I melted 2 bars of white chocolate in a glass bowl over boiling water. Then I briefly heated the icing knife over the steam so the chocolate didn’t harden too quickly. I poured the chocolate over the cake and using a icing knife spread the chocolate so it completely covered the whole circle of cake.

Then I put it in the fridge to stand. With the remaining chocolate I placed a grease proof paper onto a large square plate and spread the melted chocolate onto it. I put it into the fridge for about 30mins. Then I repeated the melting of the chocolate and spread over the hardened chocolate on the plate. I repeated this about 5 times till I had a thick layer of chocolate.

Using a heated knife I carefully cut out a square, slightly bigger than the circle. Using a little melted chocolate I placed the square onto the circle and then using the chocolate again placed it onto the top of the books. To complete I used red shoe lace tied together to make the hat tassels and used the last of the chocolate to attach it to the hat.

It took about 5 hours to complete, but I think it was worth it! I really enjoy making these graduation cakes!

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Graduation cakes submitted by Kerriann

My younger cousins and I decided to make a Stack of Books Graduation Cake for my mother’s college graduation. Book titles listed are courses she took! Edible gold stars hide the platform.

Diploma Graduation Cake

Graduation cakes submitted by Shari S.

I made this graduation cake in an 11 x 15 pan by Wilton. I used 2 white cake mixes which filled the pan well. After cooling, I cut a 3 inch strip off the top. Using that strip, I cut it into thirds. I placed one square on each corner- top left and bottom right.

I used a custard cup to trace and trim the cake into the rounded corners. Then I frosted the cake with buttercream icing. I printed the font off the computer. I traced this onto transparency paper. Next, I reversed it and traced the lettering with black frosting gel. I then used this to “stamp” the image into the cake. This method works quite well!

I traced over the stamped lettering with black icing. I did the same stamp technique for the U of H symbol which I got off the Internet and the name Sam.

Cool Graduation Cake

Graduation cakes submitted by Pam

This graduation cake was made in 2008 for a friend.

Bottom of cap: I baked the bottom of the cap in one-half of the Wilton ball pan (if you don’t have that pan, you could also use an ovenproof bowl). Iced it, then covered it with fondant, making the fondant come to sort of a point in the front. I used a pattern marking wheel (that I use only for cake-making) to create the look of “stitching” around the bottom edge.

Mortar board: I lined an 8×8″ pan with wax paper (it should be as smooth as possible), melted some Wilton candy melts and then poured them in. Popped it in the fridge to harden. Cut a square of fondant about the same size, used a TINY bit of light corn syrup to stick it to the top of the candy melt square, and then did the faux stitching around the edge and in an “X” shape across it as well. A flattened ball of fondant was the “button” on the top (but don’t put it on until you are ready to assemble the cake.)

Books: They were baked in rectangle pans, and then sculpted just a bit on the edges to get the outward curve on one side and the inward curve on the opposite side. (Do the sculpting after freezing the cake firm, or it will crumble.)

I tinted and rolled out fondant on a large sheet of textured plastic, Applied a sheet of freezer paper over the textured fondant, gently flipped the whole thing over and then peeled off the piece of texturing plastic that was then on top; I then had a smooth-looking piece of fondant, with the embossed side down. Cut to the size and shape needed to cover just the top and front side of one of the books.

Next, I flipped the whole thing over onto an iced book cake, positioning it correctly and tucking under the front edge of the book. Then ran a ball tool a little way out from one side, to create the look of the book cover crease. (All the flipping is necessary so you don’t stretch the embossing out of shape.) I did white strips of fondant for the sides, and used a pizza cutter to texture them to look like pages. (Save some book-cover-colored fondant; you’ll need it during assembly.)

Did the second book the same at the first.

Lettering: I used gumpaste cutters (let the letters dry before you apply them to the cake.)

Assembling the Graduation Cake

Assembly: First, I put the less-attractive book on the cake board. Then cut strips of the book-cover-colored fondant to put around the three “pages” sides of the cake, to look like the back cover of the book sticking out.

Next, I cut supports (I use bubble tea straws) and inserted several into the cake, to hold up the next book. I slid the next book onto a cardboard cake board, cut and positioned so that there was a tiny sliver extending out on the three page sides, but no edge showing at the other side. Put the cover-colored strips around the three page sides, completely covering the cake board. Then positioned the book atop the other one, angled slightly (it looks bettter if the books aren’t stacked straight).

Next, I cut supports and inserted them into the top book cake, where the cap would be. Then placed the bottom of the cap (which was on a cake circle, cut to hide all the edges) on one side of the books, angling it so the “point” of the cap would show.

Then hammered a dowel all the way through the center of the ball cake, down to the bottom cake board. (This holds everything together.) Next, cut some supports to insert in the ball cake to hold up the mortar board. Then I placed a dollop of frosting at the top (hiding the dowel hole) and positioned the mortar board.

Tassel: You need to wait to make the tassel until after the cake is assembled, so it can dry in the proper position. I used an extruder to make the long tassel strings and the “rope” at the top. Extruded some more strings to go around to look like a knot. Then draped the whole thing in position, and stuck the button on the top.

Last, I placed the lettering on the books.

Locker Graduation Cake

Graduation cakes submitted by Kelly

This Graduation cake was made for a family members high school graduation party. It is a white cake from a cake mix, 12 by 18 and iced in butter cream icing. The middle door of the cake is a piece of cardboard covered in tin foil and iced to match the rest of the cake. It is held open by two dowel rods.

The girl on the cake was my first attempt at frozen buttercream transfer. It is much easier and less stressful than drawing on the cake because if you mess up you can just wipe it off and start over. The directions for frozen buttercream transfer can be found online. Also, after I took this picture I bought a bottle of multi color candy confetti to add some color to this cake. The extra color really helped the look of the cake.

It is done in the girls school colors.

Red, White and Blue Graduation Cake

Graduation cakes submitted by Nanda

This Graduation Cake was for a kindergarten graduation party and my fourth “fancy” cake. I had to get into making cakes since my kid is allergic to eggs. The kids will be the class of 2023 when they graduate high school.

Step one:

Three days before, I made chocolate and vanilla vegan cakes, larger rounds, smaller rounds, and a cupcake for the top. I froze them wrapped up in plastic.

Step two:

I made marshmallow fondant two days before, dyed red/blue with basic food coloring to match our school colors. I dyed a small amount black with Wilton black dye. Fondant needs to be made day before using so that it can set, but heat slightly (10 sec) in the microwave before molding. I rolled out and cut the letters and hands using cutters. Left them out to dry. I wrote all the kids names on the hands using a food safe marker, Wilton brand.

Step three:

Day before, I frosted the thawing cakes in buttercream and decorated. I rolled out the white fondant. Covered the cakes, this takes practice. And there were flaws, but I had the hands to cover them. Then I put the cut-outs on with a little dab of water. I made the little balls, and strips at the end. I did the hat last (didn’t want to contaminate anything with black fondant). For the top of the hat, I used card stock. I rolled the black fondant out on top of a piece of paper cut the right size. I trimmed, let it sit overnight to harden a bit. Made tassel and a bow for the back and left that to harden too.

Step four:

Finalized and delivered (nervously). Placed hat brim on. It still drooped on the cupcake, so I propped it up with 3 toothpicks, strategically stuck under. I used a red strip around the hat, and placed the hat on a circle of blue because there was too much white on top. Then, I made those circular pieces with some bowls.

I took a pic before the final stage. I actually added more little blue balls ON the cake, but took all the little blue balls away from the base… left just the red ones there.

Blue and White Graduation Cake

Graduation cakes submitted by Rose

This Homemade Graduation Cake was my absolute first fondant cake. It was my daughter’s grade 8 graduation and I decided to give a shot (the decision came shortly after we tried to order a fondant cake for my niece on short notice -5 days) and all bakeries told us was they need at least 1 week for fondant).

This is a red velvet cake with butter cream topped with rolled fondant. Absolutely amazing and was a great hit. I rolled the fondant very thin, everyone ate it! I used things from the house like a bowl for the cap with some cardboard. The lettering I gotta work on.

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15+ Coolest Graduation Cakes – Awesome Graduation Cake Ideas!