Celebrating Special Events

Nothing says "Important Event" better than a great tasting, beautifully decorated cake. There are so many options out there, from special flavors that the event honoree loves to a design that incorporates a motif from an invitation, a hobby or a special message. As a cake designer, I LOVE to get creative and come up with a cake that really speaks to the recipient. Some examples of this are a 40th birthday cake done for am avid golfer, a bright birthday cake for a a teenage girl's 16th birthday, which incorporated toe shoes to represent her love for dancing and a 16 year old boy's high school colors and school mascot. I've also done simpler designs such as a cake for a children's birthday cake that used a picture from an invitation and carved cakes, one of which was for a 4 year old who wanted a "green fish" as his birthday cake! The cowboy hat for a 40 something woman was also a big hit as it captured the theme of the "cowpoke" surprise party.

Cakes like this are so much fun to do but do require quite a bit of lead time. Expect most bakeries to have a minimum notice for such cakes, depending on the type of cake and the bakery's current bookings. I require a 2 week lead time or even more for elaborate cakes. Simpler cakes can sometimes be done the same week but expect to pay a rush fee if the bakery already has a heavy schedule on the books. Most custom bakeries also require a minimum order (as I said in a previous post, Duff from Charm City Cakes has a $1,000 minimum) so that will mean that no matter how small and "simple" the cake is, you will be paying at least the dollar amount of the minimum established by the designer.

The bottom line is, have fun with the theme of your event, try to use

something personal about the honoree to use in the design of the cake and give your baker enough time to come up with a fabulously executed design for your event.