9 Ridiculous Graduation Cakes Slideshow

This is how cakes used to be. Because there is no need to go way over the top when honoring a graduating class.

On this cake from New York City's Duane Park Patisserie, the name of each graduate is written on star (they are the stars of the day), adding a personalized element to an otherwise simple cake. Cute and simple.

Inspired by the classic Dr. Seuss book that addresses the challenges and the ups and downs of life (sales of the book spike every graduation season), this cake from the Philadelphia-area Clay's Creative Corner Bakery is perfect for any high school or college graduate. But it's big... 

Ah, a three-tier ode to academia. Honoring just one student.

This cake from New Jersey-based Pink Cake Box takes a simple design and makes it amazing. Three towering books covered in neon-colored fondant are stacked atop each other and topped with a white mortarboard. We wonder how big that graduation party was.

Some of the world's most famous people are honored with busts — just like those of past presidents that can be found in the Senate. So, why not honor your graduate by commissioning a design inspired by those busts of historical figures in our past just as Clay's Creative Corner Bakery did here?

Made for the graduation of a pre-school class (!!!), this schoolhouse-shaped cake from Duane Park Patisserie is a truly over-the-top way to commemorate the graduates' special day. (We wonder if a replica of a college campus will one day be created for a student's college graduation...)

For the graduate who has worked their hardest on papers, theses, and exams, a trip to the beach after graduation seems like the ideal escape — yet is more likely a dream. (Do you hear the real world calling?) In honor of one day-dreaming grad, Pink Cake Box brought the beach to the graduation party with this three-tier, topsy-turvy cake featuring the graduate resting on a hammock on the top tier, surrounded with palm trees, a portable DVD player, and a tiki cocktail hut. Too bad it doesn't serve drinks, too...

Celebrating a high school graduation is quite normal, same for college. But a decadent cake for a culinary school graduate? Upstate New York-based Tanya's Cakes decorated this creation with a canister of kitchen utensils and a statue of one new chef-to-be. Cool, but we'd rather be treated to a memorable meal.

And the three-tier masterpieces don't stop...

Inspired by the adventures one graduate has been on (and has yet to embark on), this cake (with a different flavor and filling in each layer) from Pink Cake Box features a mountain climber and a whitewater rafter along the sides. What you don't see here is that it was accompanied by 36 additional cupcakes in a variety of flavors and fillings, too. 

Even if you're finished with college, crazy cakes are created to celebrate those getting post-graduate degrees, too. Take this cake for one MBA grad from Tanya's Cakes as an example. The multi-faceted design pays tribute to the graduate's penchant for wine, cheese, and golf — and their new employer with a replica of the office building. We just hope that graduate is now making enough to pay off those student loans — and for this over-the-top cake.