Cake Ideas 101

Cake Ideas and where to Browse on Wilton

I recently confirmed my subscription to the Wilton newsletter online. When it did that, there was a page that popped up that had links in it not only to take you to a page for cake ideas, but also cupcakes, cookies, candy, fondant, and Wilton classes. I thought I would share those links with you here just for a quicker way for you to find what you are looking for:

http://www.wilton.com/ideas/browse.cfm?cat=Cakes

http://www.wilton.com/ideas/browse.cfm?cat=Cupcakes

http://www.wilton.com/ideas/browse.cfm?cat=Cookies

http://www.wilton.com/ideas/browse.cfm?cat=Candies

http://www.wilton.com/decorating/fondant/

http://www.wilton.com/classes/local_classes.cfm

I hope these links will assist you in finding cake decorating ideas that you might be searching for – or any of the other topics included.

Be sure to sign up for our FREE eBook “Cake Decorating: How To Go From Beginner To Expert” by subscribing to our FREE Monthly Bulletin at the top of the right side about decorating cakes, and to receive contest notifications, recipes, and cake ideas.

Cake Ideas – Preparing for the Graduation Cake Rush

Cake ideas start coming around in May for 8th grade promotions and high school and college graduations. This is one time of year when everyone seems to want their cakes on the same day or couple of days. This definitely takes some planning and preparation. The last few years, I have had orders for 25 or more cakes to be done in about 3 days. The first time I had that many orders, I baked and decorated a certain number of cakes per day – till exhaustion, with only 4 or 5 hours of sleep between. The next year, I did it with a whole new routine. The week before all the cakes were needing to be decorated, all the cakes were baked and stuck in the freezer, and many batches of decorators icing were mixed up and put in the refrigerator. Then the week prior to the graduations, the number of cakes to be decorated each day (usually 6 or 7) were taken out of the freezer the night before. That way it was just a matter of decorating cakes for the day and no baking was involved. That made things go so much smoother! It's much easier to concentrate on one thing at a time, like either baking OR decorating – not both 😉 So how do you prepare the cake for freezing? In one of my earlier posts, I explained how I line my cake pans with waxed paper before baking. Once baked and cooled, I dump the cake out on the waxed cardboard and leave that waxed paper on them to seal them for freezing. I also have 1/4" boards I put under those cardboards to help support the cake to keep it from splitting. I then insert the whole thing – cake, cardboard, and 1/4" board into a white unscented 13 gallon tall kitchen trash bag and seal it up. This helps protect the cake in the freezer. Pull the cake out of the freezer the night before and let it thaw in the bag overnight. This is also the time to set the frosting out of the refrigerator so it will be softer for spreading the next day. The next morning, take the cake out of the bag and remove the waxed paper from the cake. This whole process has kept the moisture sealed in the cake. Doing cakes for graduation if you have several orders can be a little stressful, but if you can establish a routine that works for you, it will go much smoother. If you have any other cake decorating ideas for the graduation rush, please feel free to post them here as a comment to share with others.

Cake Ideas – Mother’s Day Cakes

Cake ideas turn to the feminine side for Mother's Day, which is the second Sunday in May. Many people try to have a family get-together on that day to honor mothers. Often times they treat her to a meal out so she doesn't have to cook. And then in the afternoon they continue the celebration with refreshments of some kind. What a perfect time to have a decorated cake on hand – made just for her! So what are some cake ideas for Mother's Day? Well, first of all, it would be a good idea to find out ahead of time (not the day before if you plan to surprise her) what her favorite cake flavor and colors are. This way you will have something made especially to her liking. Decorations of flowers, ribbons, or bows can be applied to the cake for that feminine look for the cake. With an edible cake image, many pictures can be chosen from to put on the cake. Some ideas for that could be a picture of her when she was young (before children) like her high school graduation, a comparison of her in younger years and a current photo side-by-side, a family picture with her children, her with her favorite pet, or something in reference to her favorite hobby or interest. Below are a couple of cake ideas that can be used for Mother's Day. These photos are in reference to a birthday, but it can still give cake decorating ideas as to what can be used for your masterpiece for this yearly occasion.

Old Graduation Pic interest in cats

So with the approach of Mother's Day, get the facts and materials you will need to make that special cake: favorite cake flavor, favorite color(s) for decorations, and favorite photo if using edible cake images. Remember, your mother loves you so much and this cake will be a little token of how much you love her. 🙂

Cake Ideas – Easter Cakes

Cake ideas start "hopping" when it's Easter. What are some cake decorating ideas for that special holiday? Easter is known for its soft pastel and spring colors. So what about the cake itself? Good choices are white, pink (strawberry or cherry chip), yellow, rainbow chip, or a white mix with food coloring added to make a noteworthy appeal – like baby blue or mint green. There are several pans out there: bunny, egg, cross, or lamb. These all make very nice looking cakes, but can require some time to get them done for sure, as you can see from the pictures below.

We had an order for an Easter cake and since it was our 27th wedding anniversary on the day I needed to make it, I didn't have too much time to put in to it. This is where the edible image cake came in very handy! Bake the cake, put some frosting on, smooth it, apply the edible cake image, put trim around the top and bottom edge, and presto – an Easter cake that will thrill any little kid!

Easter bunny cake

Of course the cake can always be trimmed out with Easter candy or decorations of some sort to just put on that little finishing touch. Just let those cake ideas hop!

Cake Ideas – St. Patrick’s Day Cakes

Cake Ideas for St. Patrick's Day are generally geared towards something green. The cake itself can be made green by adding green food coloring to a white cake mix. When applying the icing, it can be frosted in green or frosted in white and then trimmed with green. Of course there are a few cake pans out there that can be used for the holiday theme. There is a Care Bear pan, a shamrock pan and a horseshoe pan, of which the latter can be turned the one way to look like a good luck Irish horseshoe and turned the other to make a rainbow where you can find the pot of gold. To accent the cake, gold, foil-wrapped coin candy can be scattered around the base of the cake to make it look like someone got into the pot of gold.

There are also gold sprinkles or shamrock confetti that can be added for a little glitter or glamour when decorating cakes.

Sometimes little trinkets for St. Patrick's Day can be found to add to the cake or placed on top of cupcakes that are baked in gold foil cupcake papers.

Maybe you are of primary Irish descent or at least can trace your lineage back to include some of it in your ancestry. Keep the Irish event as a tribute to your family history by celebrating this sometimes almost overlooked holiday. Have fun with it and even put up St. Patrick's Day party decorations. But most of all, remember to wear green so you don't get pinched!