Birthday Cakes that Take the Cake

Let's face it, birthday cakes are one of the biggest highlights of a party. With that in mind, your cake should be nothing less than spectacular!

Don't worry if you don't have any cake decorating experience; this is something that ANYONE can do! With a little bit of imagination and a little more effort, you'll be able to create cakes that will knock their socks off!

How to Make Unique and Creative Birthday Cakes

Creative birthday cakes are the best birthday cakes!

They can be anything from simple to spectacular, but the important thing is that they are unique. When the guest of honor sees what you have created especially for them, they will be thrilled!

Here are simple steps to help you make the coolest birthday cake ever:

• Get creative! Use your imagination to come up with an idea that is a "custom-fit" for the birthday guy or gal. Think about things that they like to do, or things that they are interested in to get you started.
• Find a picture of your idea, or sketch one out on paper. For example, if the guest of honor really likes the New England Patriots football team, copy a picture of the team logo. Scale it to fit whatever size cake you plan on baking and get it made into a sugar transfer. You could also transfer the design onto the cake yourself using a frozen buttercream transfer.
• Think outside the box: Add some dimension to your cakes by using food, flowers or cake toppers. For example, create a forest of evergreen trees by covering upside down ice cream cones with green frosting.
• Lay it out on the table. Once you have an idea of what you want to do, create a layout. Decide how you want the cake to look, and where you are going to place your picture, your writing, or any cake toppers/decorations you plan on using.
• Decorate! Transfer what you've envisioned into reality by decorating your cake.

Design Inspiration

Do you need some birthday cake design ideas?

We've got a birthday cake photo gallery full of ideas, complete with instructions on how to make each cake.

You can also find some really unique birthday cakes at EasyCakeIdeas.com.

Birthday Cake Recipes

Deciding whether to use a boxed cake mix or to make your cake from scratch is totally up to you.

Some people don't have a lot of confidence in the kitchen, so using a boxed mix helps relieve a little bit of anxiety. I have made my share of these and they come out deliciously moist and yummy.

BUT...

For those of you that want to give it a whirl, making your cake from scratch can be a lot of fun! Once the compliments start rolling in about how incredibly scrumptious your homemade cake was, you will never go back to a boxed mix again!

There are some irresistible recipes for homemade cakes at Easy-Cake-Ideas.com, along with some pictures that will make your mouth water! I really recommend that you check them out.

The Icing on the Cake

Canned frosting is fine for when you're in a pinch, but when you're trying to decorate a cake it's best to have an icing with a better consistency.

Homemade buttercream frosting is perfect for cake decorating, and also tastes delicious...my husband refuses to eat anything else!

Use it at normal consistency for piping designs on a cake, or thin it a bit with some corn syrup for a good spreading consistency.

When you're ready to decorate, use some coloring pastes or gels to tint your frosting. They are available in a huge variety of colors and the results are much more vibrant than regular food coloring.

Chocolate buttercream frosting is also really yummy and is a nice variation from white icing. Use it in place of brown-tinted frosting, or use it as a filling. It's also great on cupcakes!