I have a cake due next Wednesday for an office birthday. There are a few birthdays in January and they are celebrating with one cake. They want carrot cake. It will be a 9x13 iced with cream cheese, but I'm adding lemon zest and juice to the cream cheese icing for the filling. She originally asked for lemon zest curls combined with a birthday theme. She wants "Happy Birthday" written on top. Any ideas? I have never attempted roses and don't want to start on this cake. I don't want to decorate with "carrots" either. I have no idea if the January birthdays are for a man or woman (or both). I also don't want to go overboard on the buttercream decorations and over power the taste of the cream cheese. I've combed my W. yearbooks, but nothing fits the bill. Any ideas would be warmly welcomed! Thanks

Sorry, I think it's required by law that all carrot cakes have little frosting carrots piped on them.

Hah, just kidding--but you wouldn't know it by the grocery store cakes!

Whatever your heart desires! You can do anything!

I have heard of a lot of people decorating with cream cheese frosting, so why couldnt you do that? do your normal reverse shells, drop flowers, things like that.....I asked around and I heard all they did was add more cream cheese and refridgerated the frosting for a bit then went from there. I am sure you can do a great cake.....

You could write "Happy Birthday from Every Bunny" and make a little carrot patch with a bunny on the top. I use the crusting cream cheese from here and I am able to pipe borders etc with it. You might have to add a bit more powdered sugar to make carrots and a bunny though!

About 10 years ago Wilton did a cake with icing streamers piped onto it in 3 or 4 colors very simple and a lg. HB would do.

Well let's see the flower for january is the carnation. You could decorate with those. They are much much easier than roses. First, you pipe a center just like you would for the rose but the similarities end right there, second, you the park the fat part of your rose tip on the top center of the blob with the tip at a right angle to the nail top. Start with a jiggling up and down motion and go round and round on the blob, the farther down you go the more you angle your tip. kinda like starting at noon and ending at 3. you can either pipe it on a piece of wax paper and let em dry or use your flower scissors (lifter) and put it right on the iced cake. now remember carnation leaves are long and skinny as compared to rose leaves. but that's what I would do for a January b-day.

My computer was posessed for a moment-sorry it posted so many times

How about finely crushed walnuts pressed into sides of cake and then
take a vegetable peeler and make long carrot curls for top of cake

Can place them in a group at center or placed around message

mmm now I want some carrot cake

Maybe a basketweave with a few carnations and the writing in the middle

Also, just found this link for half carnations to go with chaptips recommendation.


http://www.wilton.com/decorating/technique_month.cfm